NIO (NYSE: NIO) is a Chinese automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shanghai, specialized in designing and developing electric vehicles. The company is also involved in the FIA Formula E Championship.
NIO has announced its creation of a battery asset management company that will launch in August, dedicated to BaaS (Battery as a Service) products, Pandaily.com reports. NIO is seeking a raise in funds for the newly founded company. Among potential investors is Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), China’s largest automotive lithium-ion battery maker. The new company is expected to take over NIO’s power battery assets.
Li Bin, chairman and CEO said, “NIO’s battery service business model of rechargeable, replaceable, upgradeable, and vehicle electricity separation (BaaS) has made remarkable progress. NIO will gradually achieve the full separation of vehicles and electricity in the third quarter under the new national policy”.
On April 23, China’s Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and other departments jointly issued a new subsidy policy for the promotion and application of electric vehicles, supporting the development of new business models, adopting the separation of vehicles and electricity. NIO is said to be the only domestic EV firm qualified to receive the subsidy. Up to now, NIO has built 137 battery swap stations, covering 61 cities in China.