Huawei's intelligent automotive business unit, Yinwang, or Newcool, has partnered with CATL (HKEX: 3750) on battery swapping, joining the battery maker's Choco ecosystem to further connect smart driving with energy replenishment services.

Newcool, CATL and Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology (CAES) have signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement to jointly develop a smart battery swap ecosystem, according to a statement released by CATL on Monday. CAES operates CATL's battery swap business.

The partnership will focus on vehicles using Huawei Qiankun intelligent automotive solutions, making them compatible with the Choco network and strengthening cooperation on swappable batteries and station networks.

The 3 parties plan to integrate data and services across vehicles, swap stations and the cloud, using real-time battery status and users' travel patterns to anticipate energy needs and proactively schedule battery swaps.

Under the proposed system, vehicles would independently determine when they need energy, locate and enter a station, align themselves for a fully automated 99-second battery swap, and drive away afterward.

The partnership aims to extend assisted driving capabilities to battery swapping, creating a "seamless energy replenishment experience" for the autonomous driving era. However, the announcement did not identify specific vehicle models, a service launch date or initial coverage areas.

This is similar to functionality Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) already offers at some battery swap stations, where vehicles can automatically enter a station and complete a battery swap while using navigation-assisted driving.

CATL chairman and CEO Robin Zeng, Huawei senior vice president and Newcool CEO Jin Yuzhi, and Yang Jun, co-president of CATL's marketing system, attended and witnessed the signing.

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