On October 19, Yinwang, CATL, and CATL Electric Service formally signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement focused on smart battery-swapping ecosystem development and creating seamless energy replenishment experiences for the autonomous-driving era. The Yinwang CATL battery-swapping cooperation marks the first major partnership announced since Yang Jun, head of CATL’s battery-swapping business and CEO of CATL Electric Service, assumed the concurrent role of co-president of CATL’s market system, succeeding Han Wei.
According to multiple sources, cooperative vehicle models equipped with Huawei Qiankun ADS will gradually integrate with CATL’s Chocolate battery-swapping ecosystem. Reporters have also learned that Yijing Auto, the result of Huawei’s earlier collaboration with Dongfeng, has included battery-swap variants in its new-vehicle development considerations.
Qiankun ADS and CATL Chocolate Network Integration
Under the strategic cooperation agreement signed by the three parties, Yinwang, CATL, and CATL Electric Service will strengthen collaboration on battery-swapping batteries and swap-station networks while jointly building a smart battery-swapping ecosystem with ecosystem partners. Through deep coordination between Huawei Qiankun ADS and CATL’s Chocolate battery-swapping network and underlying ecosystem interconnection, the parties will establish system-level integration across vehicle, station, and cloud data and service ecosystems.
Based on intelligent prediction and proactive scheduling informed by real-time battery status and user travel characteristics, vehicles will achieve a fully autonomous intelligent loop: independently determining energy-replenishment needs, autonomously locating stations, autonomously entering the bay, automatically aligning, completing a 99-second fully automatic battery swap, and autonomously exiting.
The three parties stated they will adhere to principles of “equality and mutual benefit, resource sharing, complementary advantages, and shared development,” actively embrace the smart battery-swapping ecosystem, and comprehensively deepen long-term strategic cooperation through strategic coordination and business collaboration, jointly committed to constructing a systematic ecosystem and a new pattern of collaborative development.
Expanding the Qiankun ADS Mobility Ecosystem
The cooperation means that Qiankun ADS, already integrated with one million charging-pile ecosystems, will further enhance its capabilities through smart battery-swapping development with CATL, forming a leading smart charging-and-swapping ecosystem that makes driving safer and vehicle use more convenient for users.
By the end of 2025, Yinwang launched the “10-minute Qiankun ADS Life Circle,” deeply integrating assisted driving with high-frequency vehicle-life scenarios including parking payment, smart charging, and smart vehicle care. As of now, convenient payment covers more than 300,000 parking lots, smart charging covers 2 million charging-pile stations, and smart vehicle care covers more than 3,000 car-wash locations.
Battery-Swapping Competitive Landscape
The battery-swapping sector currently includes participation from multiple enterprises such as Geely, NIO, Yinwang, and CATL.
