Wuhan Nio Energy Co., Ltd., an energy affiliate of EV maker Nio, has more than doubled its registered capital just months after CATL invested over $340 million in the energy unit of the carmaker.
Business registration records show that Wuhan Nio Energy increased its registered capital to 1.784 billion yuan ($245 million) from 784 million yuan ($109 million), an increase of about 128%.
Founded in May 2017, exactly one year before the company opened its first-ever battery swap station in China, Wuhan Nio Energy is fully owned by Nio Energy Investment (Hubei) Co., Ltd. — also known as ‘Nio Power’.
According to official documents, its operations span energy recovery systems, research and development of electric motors and automotive parts, sales of battery swapping equipment, and related big data and AI software services.
The company’s legal representative is Shen Fei, one of Nio’s earliest employees and a key figure in its energy business.
The executive joined Nio in 2015 as its 274th employee and previously served as Vice General Manager and Product Director at Sieyuan Electric. He holds a doctorate in electrical engineering.
Earlier this year, Nio appointed Shen Fei to lead its new mass-market brand, Onvo, replacing Alan Ai after the unit fell short of initial sales targets.
Shen now reports to Nio co-founder and President Lihong Qin.
His previous responsibilities overseeing Nio’s battery swapping and charging business have been assumed by Chief Financial Officer Stanley Qu, who now holds both titles.
A few days after Shen Fei took over Onvo, Reuters reported that CATL was “in talks to buy a controlling stake” in Nio Power.
“Nio and CATL will deepen collaboration on capital and business and further consolidate the strategic partnership to jointly build the largest battery swapping network globally,” Nio told Reuters back then when requested to comment.
In May 2024, Nio Power — the parent of Wuhan Nio Energy — secured a 1.5 billion yuan ($208 million) investment led by Wuhan Guangchuang Emerging Technology Venture Capital Fund Phase I, affiliated with the Optics Valley Industrial Investment Fund.
The fund acquired a 10% stake in Nio Power, which subsequently raised its registered capital to about 2.222 billion yuan ($308 million).
Nio announced last August that it would build a new 20,000-square-meter battery swap equipment plant and establish a dedicated headquarters for its Nio Power unit in Wuhan to accelerate deployment of its energy infrastructure.
