CATL is planning to build 10 battery swap stations for electric vehicles across Hong Kong by the end of 2026, in a move the battery giant expects to significantly reduce the time it takes to charge an EV in the city and to improve working efficiency for local taxi drivers. The company said on June 13 it will collaborate with Chinese state-owned automaker FAW and Dragon Rise New Energy Holdings Ltd, a Hong Kong-listed energy infrastructure provider, to push the adoption of the technology in Hong Kong. As part of the move, a number of right-hand-drive versions of FAW’s E-QM5 electric sedan under its Hongqi or Red Flag marque, known to be former state leader Chairman Mao Zedong’s favorite car brand, will incorporate CATL’s swappable EV batteries and be distributed in the city. CATL in December announced plans to build 1,000 battery swap stations in China in 2025. A joint venture between CATL and Orange Energy, the energy unit of ride-hailing platform Didi, will render development and operative support for the battery swap online platform. [TechNode reporting, The Paper, in Chinese]
Updated: The story was updated on June 16 to better reflect Didi’s role in the joint collaboration.
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