CATL Targets 6,000 China Battery Swap Stations for 2027

CATL (HKEX: 3750), a Tier 1 battery supplier (direct supplier to automakers), targets 6,000 passenger-car battery-swap stations in China by 2027, potentially overtaking Nio (NYSE: NIO) if both meet their schedules. A swap exchanges a depleted battery pack for a charged one. The network would cover 297 Chinese cities.

CATL disclosed the target in a Friday statement: 5,000 urban stations and 1,000 highway stations. The proposal remains an announced network target, not a completed station footprint; CATL reported 2,520 Choco stations by Sept. 29.

The race with Nio

Nio had 4,254 battery-swap stations in China as of Nov. 13, including 1,081 along highways, according to real-time data from Nio Power. If CATL reaches 6,000 and Nio keeps adding about 1,000 stations annually, CATL could pass Nio in 2027.

The comparison depends on actual construction and stations entering service, not the announcement alone. Nio has maintained a target of adding more than 1,000 stations this year. It added 679 in 2024 and 681 in 2025, according to CnEVPost.

The proposed build

CATL says the 5,000 urban stations should place battery swapping within a 10-minute reach in core urban areas. The 1,000 highway stations would sit along 11 north-south and nine east-west routes.

The company says the network would cover all prefecture-level cities (the administrative tier below provinces) and directly administered municipalities in China except Sansha. Those coverage figures remain CATL claims until construction, stations entering service and compatible vehicle deployment support them.

Expansion to date

CATL had built 1,020 Choco stations by the end of 2025, reached 2,000 in July and 2,520 by Sept. 29. It previously announced plans for more than 3,000 passenger-car stations by the end of this year.

The 2027 goal would put Choco at roughly twice that year-end target as CATL expands its lineup of compatible vehicles. Sustaining that expansion will determine whether the network reaches its proposed scale.

What does this change for vehicle makers and suppliers?

BAIC Group (Beijing Automotive Group), an automaker, signed an agreement with CATL in October to deepen their battery-swap cooperation. The partners plan to connect models from multiple BAIC brands with Choco and open BAIC's dealer network to support station construction.

They aim to build a battery-swap system serving 1 million vehicles, but have announced no timeline for reaching that scale. The practical change is a multi-brand infrastructure project: vehicle makers need compatible packs and clear warranty and service handoffs, while CATL needs dealer support and construction to meet the station target.

BAIC's Arcfox brand launched a battery-swap version of the Beta T1, using CATL's Choco swap batteries and supporting 99-second swaps. The model adds a mass-market vehicle to the network.

At the same event, CATL introduced its Choco battery management service, combining battery health checks, early warnings, and repair and replacement services. CATL says the system performs 53 checks on board and 13 deeper checks during a swap, covering insulation status, thermal runaway (uncontrolled battery heating) and voltage differences.

CATL pledged lifetime monitoring and warranty coverage, plus free repairs and replacements, for all Choco batteries while they remain in its network. Those commitments define the service package automakers must account for when integrating vehicles.

The network expansion also supports CATL's push to promote sodium-ion batteries. Chairman Robin Zeng said the range of its sodium-ion batteries (using sodium rather than lithium) “is sufficient for everyday urban driving.” He added that more swap stations could ease concerns about long-distance travel.

What to watch next

The next checkpoints are CATL's delivery against its more-than-3,000 year-end target, stations entering service along the 11 north-south and nine east-west highway corridors, and the first additional BAIC-brand model launches. The 6,000-station plan carries a 2027 deadline; the 1 million-vehicle system does not. Actual build and compatible-model data, rather than the announcement, will determine whether CATL passes Nio.