China’s First Technology Expands Battery-swap Service for BEVs

China’s Hangzhou First Technology Engineering, headquartered in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, is engaged in battery-swap business for BEVs. The company’s sales revenue in 2019 increased 43.6% compared to the previous year to 260 million CNY. The company’s business is expanding rapidly as there is rising demand for battery-swap, which is can be carried out in a shorter time than charging a battery. In addition to the sales of battery-swap BEV parts and joint development of battery-swap BEVs with automobile manufacturers, First Technology operated 55 battery-swap stations in 14 Chinese cities as of November 2020. As of July 2020, the company had 24 invention patents, 73 utility models, 19 designs and 51 software copyrights.

First Technology’s main client is China’s Dongfeng Motor. The two companies have already jointly developed five battery-swap BEV models. In 2019, Dongfeng Motor accounted for 42.8% of First Technology’s total sales revenue. In an effort to reduce its dependence on Dongfeng Motor, First Technology is forging new alliances with other automakers such as Karry New Energy and Changhe Automobile.