Battery and electric vehicle firm Kandi Technologies Group has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary to commercialise its battery swap systems.
The subsidiary China Battery Exchange Technology aims to attract strategic investors to participate in its business model, which includes battery swapping and used battery recycling.
Kandi Chairman and CEO Hu Xiaoming said: “As the inventor of the ‘vehicle/battery separation’ battery swap model, we have overcome many obstacles in the development of our company due to past controversy around this concept.”
On April 23, 2020, the China Ministry of Finance and other three Ministries in China jointly issued a paper supporting the ‘vehicle/battery separation’ battery swapping model.
Last month, Kandi announced it had delivered its fully automatic intelligent battery exchange system to a rideshare operator in Haikou City, Hainan Province.
The system was developed and is produced by Kandi’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Zhejiang Kandi Smart Battery Swap Technology Company (formerly Jinhua Ankao Power Technology Company).
Installation is expected to be completed shortly, after which the operating company will use the firm’s K23 model EV’s battery swap service for its online car-hailing business in Hainan.
In August, Kandi announced it was actively exploring the possibility of opening a manufacturing base in North America for its electric vehicles and off-road vehicles.
The company is in preliminary discussions with various potential partners, including government agencies from the US/Mexico border.
Kandi said the exploration was in its early stage and any negotiations would not guarantee a North American plant would be built.