TLDR
- NIO’s U.S.-listed stock rose 4% overnight after a new deal with Geely.
- Geely will hand over its Yiyi battery swap unit and 640 million yuan cash for a 30% stake in NIO Power.
- The deal values NIO Power at roughly $2.4 billion (16 billion yuan) after the investment.
- NIO China will keep control with a 63.6% stake, while also taking a 10% stake in Geely’s Haohan Energy.
- The news comes after NIO’s stock fell 13% in September, its worst month since November 2025.
NIO’s U.S.-listed stock climbed 4% overnight late Sunday. The move came after the EV maker announced a new deal with longtime partner Geely Holding Group.
The Hong Kong-listed stock also rose, gaining 1.4% to trade at HK$28.44 on Monday. The broader Hang Seng Index was up 0.5% at the same time.
The deal centers on NIO Power, the company’s battery swapping and charging arm. Geely has agreed to hand over full ownership of Yiyi Internet Technology, a commercial fleet battery swap operator, plus 640 million yuan in cash.
In return, Geely will get a 30% stake in NIO Power. The transaction values the unit at approximately 16 billion yuan, or about $2.4 billion, after the investment.
What NIO Keeps and What Geely Gets
NIO China will retain a controlling 63.6% stake in NIO Power once the deal closes. Existing investor Wuhan Guangchuang keeps its 6.4% slice.
Geely’s stake could actually fall to as low as 20% if certain operating milestones are missed. On the flip side, Geely holds an option to invest another 640 million yuan later.
If Geely exercises that option, its stake would rise to 34%, pushing NIO China’s holding down to 60%. That option runs out either two years after closing, or once NIO Power lines up another funding round.
There’s a second piece to this arrangement too. NIO China has agreed to buy a 10% stake in Geely’s charging business, Haohan Energy.
Haohan will use that cash to purchase certain charging assets directly from NIO. It’s a swap of sorts, tying the two companies closer together on both sides of the ledger.
A Partnership Years in the Making
This isn’t a new relationship. NIO and Geely first struck a battery swap deal back in 2023, then expanded into charging network connectivity in 2024.
The companies are also weighing whether to bring battery swapping to more Geely-related vehicles, including commercial mobility fleets. Those talks are still early, and both sides say implementation details need more work.
Geely’s brand portfolio includes Zeekr, Volvo Cars, Polestar, and Lynk & Co. Having that kind of scale behind NIO’s swap network is a nice vote of confidence for the model, even if it’s not a golden ticket on its own.
The timing matters here. NIO’s U.S. stock fell 2% last week, marking a fifth straight weekly decline.
The stock is down 13% for September so far. That puts it on pace for a fifth consecutive monthly drop and its worst month since November 2025.
Away from the deal, NIO’s swap network keeps expanding on the ground. Last week the company opened a solar-powered battery swap station at Xingxingxia in Xinjiang.
That station runs entirely off-grid, using solar generation and stored battery power. It serves drivers along a highway route in a region where grid access is limited.
As of September 23, NIO operated 4,109 swap stations across China. That includes 1,060 stations along highways, plus 5,301 charging stations nationwide.
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