XPeng,VW join forces for ultra-fast EV charging networks

Reuters and staff reporter

China's XPeng Motors (9868) and Volkswagen have agreed to expand their partnership to cooperate on ultra-fast electric vehicle charging networks in China, the automakers said yesterday.

The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to open their respective fast-charging networks to each other's customers, which comprise more than 20,000 charging piles across 420 cities in China, they said in a joint statement.

They will also explore the joint construction of co-branded ultra-fast charging stations.

XPeng and Volkswagen forged a partnership in 2023 when Volkswagen bought 4.99 percent of XPeng for around US$700 million (HK$5.46 billion) with plans to jointly launch two Volkswagen-branded EV models by 2026.

Volkswagen later said it had developed a new architecture for intelligent and electric cars with XPeng which the German automaker said would help it offer more affordable EVs in its biggest market.

This came as mainland media reported that Volkswagen is aiming to launch around 40 new car models, including 20 new energy vehicles in China by 2027 with a goal to have more than 30 EV models on the market by 2030.

Meanwhile, Geely Holding on Sunday said it aims to sell more than 5 million vehicles annually by 2027, a big jump from 2023, which it hopes to achieve by accelerating the consolidation of its sprawling brands and improving efficiency.

The goal represents about 79 percent growth from 2023 when Geely sold 2.79 million units of vehicles. The group sold 3 million vehicles in the first 11 months of 2024, a 20 percent growth compared to 2023.

It would also deepen the alignment of research and development of key technologies in seven aspects including architecture, smart driving and cockpits and batteries among the group, which has made redundant investments with separate R&D teams under each brand.