Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell and Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio last week announced a partnership agreement to expand charging stations and battery swaps in Europe and China.
The deal covers a network of co-branded battery swapping stations, starting with two pilot sites in China, the two companies said in the press release. Shell and Nio hope to establish 100 sites in China by 2025.
In Europe, the two companies plan to start “exploring” options for pilot battery swap sites in 2022 and scale from there. According to the automaker, Shell’s European charging network will also be available to Nio drivers.
Nio ET . preview concept
The agreement also includes potential joint projects in battery asset management, fleet management, membership systems, home charging services, technology development and charging networks in China, Nio said.
While other companies failed to find a sustainable business model, Nio continued to invest in battery swaps — with target 700 swap stations use by the end of 2021.
Automakers teased a next generation battery swap system, as well as a rental battery pack, was only available earlier this year, so it’s also focused on future technology.
Shell logo
Earlier this year, Nio start selling in Norway—It is the first market outside of China — with the intention of selling in European Union markets soon. The partnership with Shell paves the way for that by providing customers with access to the oil company’s filling stations.
Shell considers the industry to be peak oil in the pastand they are investing significantly in electric vehicle charging.
One such example is in Ubitricity, in the United Kingdom, which Shell announced plans to buy in January. Ubitricity has designed charging hardware that can fit into a street light pole, providing the ability to charge cars parked on the street without taking up extra space. Shell and Ubitricity plan to install 50,000 of these charging stations in the UK by 2025.
