Geely JV Livan to focus on battery-swapping EVs

Livan Automotive, a joint venture between Volvo-owner Geely and Lifan, said on Tuesday that it is planning to launch at least six battery-swapping electric models in three years.

The first model, a compact coupe SUV called Livan 7, will make its premiere later this week at an auto show in Chongqing, where the carmaker is headquartered, and its production will start in 2023.

Lou Yuanfa, Livan's chairman and CEO, said the carmaker is dedicated to battery swapping, which he believes holds the key to the future of the electric vehicle segment.

Livan also unveiled its battery-swapping architecture on Tuesday. It consists of a complete vehicle platform, a battery swapping power supply platform, as well as a cloud-based big data platform.

The architecture adopts the unified battery that offers 50kWh to 100kWh packs. Vice-president Yang Quankai said the battery has been proven to support 2,500 charge-discharge cycles and allow a car to drive for 800,000 kilometers in eight years.

By the end of this year, Livan is expected to have over 200 battery-swapping stations in the country.

A number of companies including CATL, Nio and BAIC have been exploring the battery-swapping segment.

CATL is planning to open 30 fast battery-swap stations in Xiamen, Fujian province, by the end of this year.

There were 1,298 battery-swapping stations by the end of 2021 in China, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.