The smart driving leader Huawei and the battery leader CATL are joining forces to develop battery swapping!
The two sides have cooperated before, and CATL's battery swap service is not exclusively used by Huawei, but this move is highly significant:
The technological chain is unprecedented, the product solutions are highly innovative, and the scope of implementation is virtually unlimited...
The combination of these factors signals a disruption to traditional business models.
What Exactly Are Huawei and CATL Going to Do This Time?
Let's first clarify the division of labor among the parties involved.
The entities signing the agreement include Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Huawei, CATL, and its battery swap business-related entity, Shidai Dianfu.
Broadly speaking, Yinwang provides intelligent vehicle solutions, CATL provides battery technology and the Chocolate battery swap system, while Shidai Dianfu participates in the battery swap network and operational services.
The goal proposed by the three parties is to integrate Huawei Qiankun cooperative vehicle models into CATL's Chocolate battery swap network, and to connect the vehicle end, station end, and cloud end.
This means the cooperation is not just about adding a few battery swap station locations to the vehicle navigation system, nor is it merely equipping a car with a swappable battery.
The three parties aim to establish a collaborative mechanism from vehicle demand to station service: when a vehicle needs energy replenishment, it can plan a suitable battery swap station; upon arrival, the vehicle connects with the battery swap equipment; after the swap is completed, the vehicle resumes its normal journey.
The 99-second battery swap metric announced by CATL corresponds to the battery replacement phase.
It cannot be directly equated to the total time consumed from the vehicle's decision to replenish energy to its departure from the battery swap station, nor can this single metric be used to conclude that the entire unmanned intervention battery swap process has been realized.
What is truly worth dissecting is how the intelligent driving system and the battery swap station coordinate with each other.
After all, there are still many technical details between a vehicle being able to complete navigation and driving on open roads and its ability to accurately drive into a specific workstation and park in the position required by the equipment.
From Finding Stations Independently to Automatic Battery Swapping: How to Connect the Technological Chain?
Breaking down the entire process, the first thing that happens actually occurs within the vehicle itself.
The vehicle first needs to combine battery status, remaining range, and route planning to determine whether energy replenishment is required.
This capability can be provided by Huawei's on-board models, provided that the automakers grant Huawei sufficiently high-level underlying permissions; alternatively, automakers can solve it independently.
If battery swapping is chosen, the destination must be determined by comprehensively considering station locations, compatible vehicle models, and actual availability.
Next, the vehicle needs to switch from road driving to station operations, which is the core value of Huawei in this cooperation.
On open roads, the advanced driver-assistance system primarily handles road structures, traffic participants, driving routes, and dynamic obstacles.
However, upon entering the battery swap station, both the environment and tasks change: the entrance may be narrow, there are clear restrictions on internal passages and parking spaces, and the vehicle must ultimately park in the precise position where the battery swap equipment can operate.
This poses higher requirements for the vehicle's positioning, environmental perception, and low-speed control:
Navigation bringing the vehicle near the station only counts as completing the first half of the journey; the vehicle still needs to identify the entrance, understand the internal traffic path, and complete parking alignment according to the requirements of the battery swap workstation.
Of course, the current ADS 5 version can easily pass through toll gates, toll stations, and other scenarios, and is equally adept at handling narrow and complex parking spaces.
The only thing left to do is to collect sufficient scenario data from CATL battery swap stations to ensure absolute reliability.
After the vehicle is parked securely, the battery swap equipment takes over, which is CATL's home turf.
CATL's standard battery swap station itself can accommodate vehicles with a wheelbase ranging from 2.55 meters to 3.1 meters. Each standard station is equipped with 14 to 30 battery compartments, achieving a battery swap success rate of 99.99% and a swap duration of 99 seconds.
In practice, battery swapping is as convenient for users as refueling, but with significantly reduced costs.
After the battery swap is completed, the process is not yet over.
The vehicle needs to confirm the battery status, safely drive out of the workstation, and then reconnect with navigation and driving tasks. Only when all preceding and subsequent links are connected can users obtain a continuous experience from the road to the station and back to the road.
From the perspective of technical division of labor, Huawei Yinwang's intelligent driving capabilities primarily handle the vehicle's perception, decision-making, and control, while CATL's Chocolate battery swap provides standardized batteries and station networks.
Autonomous driving and automatic battery swapping have both had their respective technical practices previously, but connecting them requires unifying the interfaces, status information, and operational processes between the vehicle and the station.
This is also the most valuable aspect of the cooperation between the two "industry leaders"—
The Most Difficult Part of Battery Swapping is Finally Pieced Together
CATL does not manufacture cars, so battery swapping is naturally not a "vehicle purchase benefit," but rather an intention to establish industry-wide technical standards and industrial norms, turning battery swapping into a business like gas stations.
However, battery swapping differs from complete vehicles; the moat does not lie in the battery technology itself, let alone ternary lithium, lithium iron phosphate, solid-state or non-solid-state... CATL has them, BYD has them, and battery suppliers of all sizes have them.
Nor does it lie in capital investment, since players with insufficient cash on hand who cannot leverage extensive resources would not enter the battery swap arena in the first place.
It is not even in the infrastructure itself; the planning, design, construction, and logistics of battery swap stations pose no difficulty for China's comprehensive manufacturing industry.
The true focus of competition in the battery swap model lies in standards: standards for battery pack dimensions, voltage platform standards, grid connection standards, vehicle chassis interface standards, battery swap process standards, and related financial and insurance service standards...
It involves all aspects beyond the automotive industry itself: automakers, ride-hailing platforms, battery enterprises, the energy industry, power grids, insurance, urban road administration, infrastructure, industry associations, and so on.
Only by enabling more players to join the "alliance" and more automakers to adopt the standards it sets can the cost of the battery swap model be lowered sufficiently, the scale expanded adequately, and competitiveness strengthened.
Robin Zeng has long said, "Battery swapping cannot be won by fighting alone."
But the premise for this ecosystem to thrive is that automakers must first recognize and embrace CATL's battery swap system.
This is Huawei's irreplaceable value.
Yinwang itself is the front-facing, To-B role of Huawei's intelligent vehicle technology, and also the common "technology middle platform" behind Huawei's automotive businesses such as the well-known Harmony Intelligent Mobility and Qiankun ecosystem.
Of course, Yinwang itself also has investments and bets from automakers.
More core to this is the Huawei Qiankun ecosystem.
A brand can start by testing the waters with single-point procurement, and if they find it effective, upgrade to module procurement or even full-stack cooperation.
Conversely, a brand engaged in full-stack cooperation can also choose only certain modules for subsequent models. The openness of the Qiankun ecosystem lies here—it does not bind or lock in; automakers can adjust the depth of cooperation at any time.
It is precisely this open posture of "flexible options for all budgets" that makes the growth curve of the Qiankun ecosystem increasingly steep.
From 2024 to October 2025, the number of cooperative vehicle models increased from 15 to 33, with an average monthly growth of about 1.8 models. This was the initial stage, where automakers were still observing and testing the waters.
From October 2025 to July 2026, it increased from 33 to 50 models, with an average monthly growth of about 1.9 models. The growth rate increased slightly, but the change was not significant.
But by the end of 2026, the Qiankun ecosystem will quickly exceed 80 models, meaning 30 new models added within 5 months, with an average monthly growth of 6 models—more than three times the previous growth rate.
In other words, there is virtually no suspense that Huawei Qiankun will 100% cover all cooperative automakers in China, regardless of whether they are state-owned or private, independent or foreign-invested;
And all automakers cooperating with Huawei now have the option of a battery swap model characterized by high standardization, long-term investment, and joint betting by multiple stakeholders' interests—the robustness and certainty most valued by the automotive industry are provided by CATL.
As for the battery swap business, the entire chain of technology, standards, infrastructure, and users has been connected for the first time.
Starting from the cooperation of the two "industry leaders," it transforms from a "user service" for high-end brands into infrastructure just like gas stations.
NIO's William Li can also be said to be "smiling amidst the blooming flowers."
On the other hand, of course, many traditional business models will be impacted.
According to the latest data, the proportion of pure internal combustion engine vehicles in domestic new car sales has already fallen to less than 1/3. Huawei + CATL represents the "beginning of the end" for traditional automobiles.
Another example is battery swapping + Robotaxi, which will have a huge impact on traditional ride-hailing, from vehicle model sales to operational management.
Objectively, this also becomes a channel and opportunity for Huawei to enter the L4 and Robotaxi tracks, which is difficult for others to replicate.
After all, at the technical level, the underlying paradigms of L2/3 and L4 have long reached a consensus and unification...
DiDi's Robotaxi, it seems, needs to accelerate.
One more thing
According to a Caixin report on October 20, the first cooperative vehicle model will point to the Yijing brand.
Yijing is created through the cooperation between Dongfeng and Huawei Yinwang. Previously, media reported that its second vehicle model considered a battery swap version, which was still in the pre-research stage at that time.
With the implementation of this tripartite cooperation, Yijing has also become an important clue for observing how battery swap solutions enter mass-produced vehicle models.
However, it is currently unclear which specific vehicle model it will be, when it will be launched, what battery specifications it will adopt, and how many battery swap stations it can connect to after launch.
Nevertheless, the "first Huawei battery swap car" sounds very promising~