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Electric & new energy vehicles
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Chinese EV builder Nio says it is working with CATL to develop batteries with longer lifespans

  • ‘An urgent solution to the issue of battery life is much needed,’ Nio’s William Li says
  • Details of the new batteries to be developed have not been revealed

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A Nio battery swap station in Taicang, in China’s Jiangsu province. The EV maker and CATL are already partnering on swappable batteries. Photo: Getty Images
Daniel Renin Shanghai
Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) maker Nio has teamed up with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) to develop batteries with longer lives as a way of lowering overall costs for users.
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The two companies aim to churn out EV batteries that can last for as long as 15 years, nearly double the current average lifespan of such batteries of about eight years, which could help EV users save tens of thousands of yuan, they said.

“Battery safety, driving range, battery costs, charging efficiency, charging convenience and battery life” are among the major concerns that still deter drivers from owning EVs, William Li, Nio’s co-founder and CEO, said in a media briefing on Thursday. Details of the new batteries to be developed were not revealed.

“An urgent solution to the issue of battery life is much needed now.”

About 20 million pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in mainland China will have to replace their batteries by 2032, which translates into high costs for EV owners, Li said.

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An EV battery that can power a car for as much as 500 kilometres costs about 50,000 yuan (US$6,954) to produce, according to Davis Zhang, a senior ­executive at Suzhou Hazardtex, a supplier of specialised vehicle batteries.

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