The Changan Oshan 520's support for battery swap has sparked some speculation that the electric sedan could come from the Nio battery swap alliance, but that seems unlikely.
Chinese auto giant Changan Automobile (SHE: 000625) has filed for a battery-swap-enabled electric sedan that may not come from the Nio-led (NYSE: NIO) battery swap alliance, despite their partnership.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) today released its latest catalog of models that will soon be allowed to be sold for public comment, and one of the models drawing attention is a battery swap-enabled Changan sedan.
The public can submit feedback between October 16 and 22. Entry into the catalog is the last major regulatory process before a model can be allowed to be sold in China.
The model is the Oshan 520 electric sedan from Oshan, Changan's passenger car sub-brand, and will be built at Changan's Chongqing plant, where it is headquartered.
The sedan measures 4,770 mm in length, 1,840 mm in width and 1,470 mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 2,765 mm.
It weighs 1,535 kilograms and supports a top speed of 135 kilometers per hour. It is powered by a single motor with 105 kW of power output.
These specifications suggest that the Oshan 520 is a typical budget sedan.
Oshan is targeting the low to mid-range market, with its website showing models in the price range of RMB 49,900 ($7,010) to RMB 175,800.
The Oshan 520's support for battery swap has sparked some speculation on Chinese social media that it could be a collaborative model between Nio and Changan.
Changan and Nio entered into a partnership on battery swap in November 2023, becoming the first carmaker to do so.
However, it's worth noting that the Oshan 520 is powered by a lithium iron phosphate battery with cells from CATL and SAIC's joint venture United Auto Battery Co Ltd.
For reference, the Nio's CATL battery pack gets its cells directly from the latter, not from CATL's joint ventures with other automakers.
Changan hasn't had any battery swap-enabled models before, though SAIC's Rising Auto had launched battery swap-enabled models and set up a handful of battery swap stations.
It is not clear if the Oshan 520 will use Rising Auto's battery swap system.
($1 = RMB 7.1162)
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