In late January, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) held its annual Choco-Swap partner conference in Xiamen. The event passed without media fanfare or a sweeping press campaign. But in footage later released through its official video channel, familiar names appeared in the crowd: Sinopec, Gresgying Digital Energy, and Didi’s Xiaoju Charging.
On paper, some of these companies might seem to compete with CATL’s subsidiary, Era Electric Service Technology. Yet at the venue, executives shook hands, exchanged smiles, and mapped out cooperation plans for the year ahead. In China’s new energy sector, competition and collaboration often intersect. CATL is expanding its network of partners, aiming to build a shared energy ecosystem rather than working alone.
CATL built its business around power batteries for electric vehicles. Its next ambition targets the charging infrastructure, and the company seems to recognize that it cannot pursue that alone.
The blueprint is taking shape. By the end of 2024, CATL’s Era Electric began mass construction of Choco-Swap stations. By the end of 2025, it had completed more than 1,000 across 45 cities.
For context, China has more than 100,000 gasoline stations nationwide. CATL has set a long-term goal of building 30,000 battery swap stations across the country.
Now that the first 1,000 stations are operational, the pace is accelerating. Era Electric plans to add another 2,000 Choco-Swap stations in 2026, bringing the total to more than 3,000.
What does 3,000 stations mean in practice? Nio, the automaker most closely associated with battery swapping, currently operates about 3,700 swap stations. It took nearly a decade of sustained investment to build that network, which underpins its premium brand positioning with a refueling-like user experience.
Era Electric aims to compress that timeline to roughly one quarter.
Infrastructure is complex. Site selection, approvals, and construction all require time and capital. Qu Guojun, head of energy development at Era Electric, told 36Kr that even choosing suitable sites was a major challenge. “Throughout 2025, we evaluated more than 10,000 plots of land and ultimately secured about 1,000 sites,” he said.
Charging and swapping infrastructure has become a focal point among new energy vehicle makers. Tesla, Li Auto, and Xpeng have each built large-scale proprietary fast-charging networks. Nio has invested heavily in swap stations. Beyond financial and human capital, such efforts demand exceptional execution.
By that measure, building 1,000 Choco-Swap stations in a single year demonstrates strong operational efficiency and organizational capability. Internally, it allowed Era Electric to establish mature operating systems and on-the-ground teams. Externally, it signaled commitment, easing doubts among industry partners, automakers, and consumers.
At CATL’s 2024 Choco-Swap ecosystem conference, Yang Jun, general manager of CATL’s battery swap business and CEO of Era Electric, outlined a phased roadmap: CATL would fund the first 1,000 stations and later co-build 10,000 with partners. Ultimately, it aims for 30,000 through broader industry participation.
CATL wants Choco-Swap to prove two things: that battery swapping is viable at scale and that a shared ecosystem can thrive.
According to Deng Xu, vice president of Era Electric, partnership inquiries are increasing, and more vehicle models are becoming compatible with Choco-Swap.
For CATL, this focus on battery swapping reflects a vision long articulated by its chairman, Robin Zeng.
Closing the battery lifecycle loop
Era Electric was founded in 2021. At the 2024 ecosystem conference, Zeng shared his view that in the future EV market, battery swapping, home charging, and public charging will each account for roughly one-third of the energy mix. With robust battery technology as its foundation, expanding into swap services was, in his view, a logical step.
Battery swapping extends beyond energy delivery. It enables financial services, secondhand vehicle solutions, and renewable power integration while closing the loop on battery lifecycle asset management.
Lithium salts, a core battery raw material, differ fundamentally from gasoline. While gasoline is burned and consumed once, lithium can be refined and regenerated repeatedly through metallurgical processes.
China, however, is not rich in lithium resources. High-quality deposits such as spodumene and salt lake brine are concentrated in Australia and South America. As the industry scaled rapidly, supply constraints emerged. In 2023, amid supply-demand imbalances, lithium salt prices surged from RMB 60,000 per ton (USD 8,400) to RMB 600,000 (USD 84,000), a tenfold increase that rippled through the entire supply chain.
That volatility reinforced Zeng’s vision of a closed-loop ecosystem. CATL’s recycling arm, Brunp, can now supply part of its raw materials. Still, the company invests heavily each year to recover retired batteries. As Era Electric scales, it can help close the loop by keeping batteries within a managed circulation system.
At the same time, the search continues for superior energy solutions.
China’s new energy vehicle penetration rate reached 52% in 2025, with 15.32 million passenger EVs sold. By 2030, total vehicle ownership is expected to reach 136 million. Such scale demands a safe, efficient, and sustainable energy infrastructure.
Fast and ultra-fast charging have become key selling points. Yet power outputs reaching hundreds of kilowatts, or even approaching one megawatt, pose grid challenges. A 480 kW charging station, for example, can consume as much electricity as a midsize office building. Charging peaks often coincide with residential demand peaks, while grid operators prefer balanced loads.
Home charging is grid-friendly but limited. Government data shows that as of November 2025, China had 14.697 million private charging piles. As of June 2025, there were 36.89 million new energy vehicles on the road. Fewer than half of owners have access to home charging.
Battery swapping may bridge those gaps, combining efficiency with safety.
“Imagine 30,000 swap stations,” Qu said. “Conservatively estimating 4,000 kWh per station per day, that’s 120 million kWh of daily electricity consumption.”
Skepticism persists, particularly over capital intensity, operational efficiency, and network density. CATL’s response is standardization.
It introduced standardized Choco-Swap battery pack models, coded #20 and #25, that together cover 95% of pure electric passenger vehicles. For light trucks, it offers model #35, achieving full compatibility within that segment.
“We use standardization to find the greatest common denominator in energy services,” Deng told 36Kr. Even battery management system outputs are unified. Working with automakers, Era Electric offers energy efficiency recommendations, including aerodynamic optimization.
Making battery swapping mainstream
Throughout automotive history, refueling has been universal. In the EV era, however, energy replenishment has become a differentiator, especially among premium brands. Fast charging and battery swapping are still concentrated in higher-end vehicles.
Swapping offers refueling-like convenience, restoring a car’s energy in minutes. Through battery-as-a-service financing models, it separates vehicle and battery assets, lowering upfront costs while shielding users from depreciation tied to battery aging or technology upgrades. Real-time diagnostic checks during swaps also enhance safety.
This value proposition helped Nio’s ES8 establish a distinct position in the premium EV segment. In November 2025, the Nio ES8 outcompeted hybrid rivals in China in the over-RMB 400,000 (USD 56,000) category.
The value of swapping has been validated. What remains is scale.
Era Electric positions itself as a standardized public infrastructure provider backed by CATL’s manufacturing, technology, and supply chain capabilities.
In Chongqing, it has tested its model. In 2025 alone, it built more than 70 stations there, opened 52, and served nearly 5,500 vehicles, with user satisfaction above 99.8%. According to Qu, daily usage of 5,500 kWh per station marks the breakeven point. After beginning operations in April, the city reached gross profit positive by September. By December, daily swaps reached 300,000 kWh citywide, peaking at 370,000 kWh on January 1.
With the model validated, the company is expanding from commercial fleets to the personal vehicle market.
The Aion UT Super, developed by GAC with CATL and JD.com, supports Choco-Swap. It starts at RMB 49,900 (USD 6,986) with a RMB 399 (USD 55.9) monthly battery rental plan, attracting significant attention.
In 2026, more than ten additional Choco-Swap-compatible models will launch, about half aimed at personal users.
Deng said that while the premium segment will remain a focus, the company’s mission is to make battery swapping accessible to the mass market.
Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that from January to November 2025, China sold 6.906 million pure electric passenger vehicles, more than 4.5 million of which were priced below RMB 200,000 (USD 28,000). The surge in affordable models has driven overall EV adoption.
Expanding swapping into this segment aligns with both infrastructure logic and market demand.
CATL’s focus has always been leveraging technology and product quality to improve efficiency. Era Electric applies the same principle. Both swap stations and Choco-Swap batteries are designed to serve multiple vehicle generations, easing amortization pressure.
Wu Yuanhe, head of product development, said the cloud platform monitors batteries around the clock. “If there’s any early warning, we can isolate a battery within 60 seconds and transfer it to a fire isolation bay.”
The batteries reportedly comply with China’s latest national safety standards and undergo vibration and road testing equivalent to 1.2 million kilometers, enough for two vehicle generations.
Swap success rates have reached 99.96%, including all potential disruptions from user error to signal issues.
Site selection is equally rigorous, excluding flood-prone areas and ensuring proximity to fire services within a ten-minute response radius.
As the network grows, the company is optimizing electricity procurement by using data and peak-valley pricing to lower costs.
After building 1,000 stations in a year, Era Electric now has teams capable of constructing more than 300 per month, cutting the average cycle from 24 days to 16.
Within CATL’s battery factories, defect rates are measured in parts per billion. Era Electric aims to apply that same precision to swapping infrastructure, transforming a service once seen as slow and difficult to scale into a nationwide system.
Deng summarized the company’s approach in one word: focus. While many tier-one suppliers offer customized full-stack solutions, Era Electric sees itself as a standardized public service platform, not exclusive to any automaker.
With technology, capacity, and partnerships aligning, the milestones of 3,000, 5,000, and ultimately 30,000 stations appear within reach.
After making its name in battery manufacturing, CATL is now pursuing a new frontier in energy services. This time, it does not plan to do it alone.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Xiao Xi for 36Kr.