On November 4, Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “SAIC”) and Aulton New Energy Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Aulton”) signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Beijing. Zhang Xiyong, Deputy Secretary of Communist Party of China, Director and General Manager of SAIC Group, Jiang Zili, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of SAIC Group, Zhang Jianyong, Deputy General Manager of SAIC Group, Wu Jie, Director of the Rental (Leasing) Division of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transportation, Li Song, Deputy Director of the Rental (Leasing) Division of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transportation, Wei Gang, Director of Strategic Planning of SAIC Group, Ma Fuxiangli, General Manager of SAIC New Energy, Chen Qingshan, Director, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of SAIC FOTON, Li Yixiu, Director of Marketing Business Committee of SAIC Group, Ye Xiaohua, Deputy General Manager of SAIC New Energy, Cai Dongqing, Chairman of Aulton, Zhang Jianping, Co-Chairman of Aulton, and Yang Ye, Vice President of Aulton attended the meeting.

Based on the agreement, SAIC Group and Aulton will establish a strategic partnership in accordance with the principles of “Market Guiding, Technology Leading, Innovation Driven, Mutual Benefit and Win-Win”, and will cooperate deeply in the field of new energy vehicles to jointly promote the development of China's new energy vehicle industry.

n Regarding the passenger vehicle sector, SAIC New Energy, a subsidiary of SAIC Group and Aulton intend to cooperate in the promotion of battery swapping model and battery swapping services in major large and medium-sized cities across China, and jointly invest in the battery swapping operation service company in Beijing to serve the users in Beijing area.

n Regarding the commercial vehicles sector, based on customer demand and the specific use scenario of new energy logistics vehicles, SAIC Foton, a subsidiary of SAIC Group, intends to work with Aulton to research the application of the battery swapping model in the field of new energy commercial vehicles.

[Wei Gang, Director of Strategic Planning of SAIC Group, and Zhang Jianping, Co-Chairman of Aulton signed the strategic cooperation agreement on behalf of both parties].

The witness from left to right are Zhang Jianyong, Vice General Manager of SAIC Group, Jiang Zili, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice General Manager of SAIC Group, Zhang Xiyong, Deputy Secretary of Communist Party of China, and General Manager of SAIC Group, Wu Jie, Director of the Rental (Leasing) Division of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transportation,  Cai Dongqing, Chairman of Aulton, Zhang Jianping, Li Song, Deputy Director of the Rental (Leasing) Division of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transportation, Shi Youyou, Special Advisor to the Chairman of Aulton and Yang Ye, Vice President of Aulton.

“SAIC Group is the leading enterprise of new energy vehicles in China and the leading state-owned enterprise in Beijing, and Aulton is the leading enterprise in the construction and operation of battery swapping stations in China. The two parties have worked together in key cities across the country to carry out the operation of battery swapping model, and have accumulated rich operational experience, which has been highly evaluated by the government, industry and customers. In the future, the two parties will start new cooperation around the construction and promotion application of pure electric vehicle battery swapping operation, so as to jointly promote the development of China's new energy vehicle industry, and help promote the application of pure electric taxi in Beijing and large and medium-sized cities across China. At the same time, we will jointly explore the application of the battery swapping business model in more public use scenarios such as commercial vehicles, logistics vehicles and online car-hailing services.” said Zhang Xiyong, Deputy Secretary of Communist Party of China, and General Manager of SAIC Group.

“This is the third important milestone of cooperation between SAIC and Aulton,,” said Cai Dongqing, Chairman of Aulton. “The two parties are working together in good faith to promote the development of the battery swapping business. Up to now, Aulton has established and operated more than 160 battery swapping stations in 11 cities, providing safe, efficient and convenient energy replenishment services for SAIC New Energy EU series taxi users. Today, SAIC and Aulton have established the strategic cooperation direction of “deepen integration vertically and develop rapidly horizontally” at the group level to jointly promote the comprehensive promotion and application of the battery swapping model, which is an encouragement to Aulton and marks a new world for the battery swapping model in China's new energy vehicle industry.”

“Thanks to the strong support of SAIC Group and Aulton for Beijing to fight air pollution. This year, Beijing has clearly defined the technical route of pure electricization of taxi and the charging and switching compatible, mainly by switching. Since the release of the taxi electrification policy on May 20, the taxi battery swapping operation has been recognized by all sectors of society and affirmed by drivers, forming a better reputation and laying the foundation for the next step of promotion.” said Wu Jie, Director of the Rental (Leasing) Division of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transportation.

Combined forces to create a new model of battery swapping operation

Impressive Achievements

In 2016, SAIC New Energy signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Aulton, which opened a new era of taxi battery swapping in China against the backdrop of national efforts to promote innovation in the new energy vehicle industry model.

The battery swapping operation model adopts an innovative use scenario design. From vehicle entry to exit, the whole process takes only 2 minutes and 46 seconds to complete the energy replenishment of the battery swapping vehicle, which better meets the use needs of taxi, online car-hailing services and a considerable part of specific people, and effectively solves the charging anxiety of long-distance and all-weather use. Over the past three years, the two parties have been working together, exploring and innovating, and have achieved remarkable results. Up to now, Aulton has built more than 160 battery swapping stations in 11 cities across the country, and provided battery swapping operation service for SAIC New Energy EU series taxi, with the accumulated operating mileage of the battery swapping vehicles exceeding 470 million kilometers, the longest driving mileage of a single vehicle exceeding 700,000 kilometers, and the total number of replace the battery 3.37 million times. The battery swapping model advocated by Aulton and SAIC New Energy make the energy replenishment safer, more efficient and more convenient, and the whole lifecycle safety management system of the battery can be implemented a unique advantageous battery gradual utilization program. Under the battery swapping model, it can also implement the innovative vehicle-electricity separation business model, empower the main engine factory and operators, and rapidly promote the popularization of new energy vehicles. Aulton's more than 3 years of experience in battery swapping operation fully validates the success and maturity of the battery swapping model, which has won high praise from the industry and customers, driven the development of the industry, and received strong support from the government. Recently, a Development Plan of New Energy Automobile Industry (2021-2035) (draft for comment) drafted under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology flows out. As a programmatic document for China's new energy vehicle policy for the next 15 years, the plan clearly states that the construction of charging and switching infrastructure should be accelerated and the application of the battery swapping model shall be encouraged.

SAIC Passenger Vehicle, Logistics Vehicle

Full Acceleration into the Battery Swapping Era

SAIC Group is the leader in China's pure electric vehicle industry and has been leading the development of China's new energy industry. SAIC New Energy, a subsidiary of SAIC Group, has been the No. 1 seller of pure electric Passenger Vehicle in China for six consecutive years, and SAIC Foton has developed into the company with the most comprehensive range of new energy commercial vehicles in China. As a leading enterprise in the construction and operation of battery swapping stations in China, Aulton has good channel and market development capabilities in the promotion of electric vehicle rechargeable batteries and the construction and operation of battery swapping stations.

In the past few years, SAIC and Aulton have worked together to carry out the operation of the battery swapping model in key cities across China, accumulating rich operational experience and receiving high praise from the government, industry and customers. The strategic cooperation agreement between SAIC and Aulton also points out that both parties will cooperate in the promotion of battery swapping model and battery swapping service in major large and medium-sized cities across China based on their respective advantages, and jointly invest in a battery swapping operation service company in Beijing to serve the users in Beijing area.

Combining the mature technology and successful operation experience of both parties in the field of taxi battery swapping in the past, SAIC intends to promote the battery swapping model in the field of new energy commercial vehicles. The strategic cooperation agreement proposes that Aulton and SAIC Foton will jointly research the application of the battery swapping model in the field of new energy commercial vehicles based on the good resources of large customers, the huge market demand and the specific use scenario of new energy logistics vehicles, aiming to help win the national plan to “Fight Air pollution” in all aspects.

This marks that BAIC Group attaches great importance to the battery swapping model and will vigorously promote the battery swapping model in the field of passenger vehicle and commercial vehicles and enter the battery swapping era comprehensively.

Aulton

Industry Leader of Battery Swapping

As the forerunner and benchmark enterprise of domestic electric vehicle switching and charging service sharing platform, Aulton has focused on the research and development of electric vehicle switching and charging technology and commercial operation for 20 years. After a long period of innovative research and development and operational practice, Aulton has mastered the core technology in the field of battery swapping and won the “China Automotive Industry Awards for Science and Technology”, ISO9001 certification and the world's first EU CE certification for electric vehicles with its safe and efficient pure electric passenger vehicle battery swapping technology, and drafted and established six national and international industry standards. With more than 300 technology patents in the field of battery swapping, Aulton has mastered many key technologies such as quick switching connection system, chassis battery swapping system, battery lifecycle management technology, quick switching battery box, and battery swapping network operation management.

In the future, Aulton will unite the advantageous resources from all sectors of society, jointly explore new ideas of battery swapping business model, actively promote the application of battery gradient utilization solutions, accelerate the layout of battery swapping network, plan to enter 50 provincial capitals and economically developed cities within 5 years, build 5,000 battery swapping stations, support the operation of 1.5 million electric vehicles, provide more efficient energy replenishment services for the city, and win the fight against air pollution!