CATL will officially launch its battery swap brand called EVOGO on January 18.
After several rumors, Chinese power battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) has officially confirmed that it will enter the battery swap space.
The company said today on its official WeChat account that it will hold a launch event to unveil its battery swap brand called EVOGO.
The launch will take place on Tuesday, January 18 at 3:30 p.m. Beijing time, according to the company, which did not reveal any more information.
Late last month, CnEVPost noted that CATL (SHE: 300750) signed a cooperation agreement with Guizhou province in southwestern China on December 24 to jointly build a battery swap network, signaling the power battery giant's personal involvement in building this emerging form of energy replenishment for electric vehicles.
According to the agreement, the two sides will cooperate in building a network of battery swap facilities for NEVs, promoting the improvement of battery swap capacity for NEVs and promoting the high-quality development of the new energy industry, CATL said.
CATL's announcement provides no further details at that time, and it's unclear whether the company will build its own brand of battery swap stations directly or work with other operators of the facility, or whether the facility will be for the cab market or for regular car owners.
It is worth noting that earlier in December, images circulated on social media showing that CATL had already started to have its own brand of battery swap stations.
This is not the first time CATL has shown support for the battery swap model.
In August 2020, Nio launched its BaaS (Battery as a Service) battery rental business, and Mirattery, a joint venture between CATL, Nio, Guotai Junan and Hubei Science Technology Investment, is the manager of these battery assets.
Mirattery was established with a registered capital of RMB 800 million, and the four companies each contributed RMB 200 million for a 25 percent equity stake.
In August 2021, Shangdong Weida Group, one of the shareholders, said Mirattery plans to launch a Series B financing with an overall valuation of RMB 2.5 billion before the financing.
After the completion of this financing, Mirattery will have an additional registered capital of RMB 321 million and the registered capital will increase from RMB 1.512 billion to RMB 1.833 billion.
Nio will become the largest shareholder of Mirattery, accounting for 19.84 percent of the registered capital. Previously, Nio, Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited, Hubei Science Technology Investment Group Co and CATL all held 13.32 percent of the shares.
