Three Major Positive Developments! This Category of Assets is Booming
New Energy Vehicles are on the rise! In the morning session today, the most heated sector was undoubtedly charging stations. Companies such as Futec Technology, Yingkerui, and Jinguang Co. hit their upper limit with a 20% surge, while Autonomous, Jingquan, Taiyong Changzheng, and Tongda Electric also reached their limits. Other companies like Zhongrong Electric, Yingfeng Environment, Shuangjie Electric, and Green Energy Huichong exhibited noticeable fluctuations. Subsequently, shares of NIO and Li Auto on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange soared, with NIO rising over 16% and Li Auto experiencing a near 9% increase at one point.
In terms of news, today saw a significant outburst of positive developments in the new energy vehicle sector. NIO and CATL signed a strategic cooperation agreement, where CATL is advancing a strategic investment of up to 2.5 billion RMB in NIO Energy. The head of autonomous driving research at Li Auto stated that their MindVLA technology can transform vehicles into intelligent entities capable of independent thought. Additionally, at a recent event on March 17, BYD unveiled its “Megawatt Flash Charge” technology, which allows for a maximum charging voltage of 1000V, a maximum charging current of 1000A, a peak charging power of 1MW, and the ability to achieve a peak charging speed of 2 kilometers in 1 second or 407 kilometers in 5 minutes. Moreover, BYD plans to build over 4000 Megawatt Flash Charge stations. Recently, various regions have also been accelerating the construction of charging stations.
NIO Partners with CATL
According to a recent announcement, on the evening of March 17, NIO and CATL signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Ningde, Fujian. The two parties aim to establish a battery swapping network covering all passenger vehicles, standardize industry technology, and deepen capital and business cooperation to provide more efficient energy solutions for users, propelling the new energy vehicle industry into a new phase of high-quality development. On this foundation, both parties will engage in capital collaboration, with CATL pursuing a strategic investment not exceeding 2.5 billion RMB in NIO Energy, further solidifying their strategic partnership.
The collaboration will leverage both parties’ advantages in technology, management, platforms, and brand resources to create the world’s largest and most technologically advanced passenger vehicle battery swapping service network. In response to national strategies for developing new energy vehicles, they will deepen the sharing of battery swapping networks based on unified battery standards, promoting the popularity and upgrading of battery swapping services. CATL will support the development of NIO’s battery swapping network, and future models developed under NIO’s Firefly brand will integrate CATL’s battery swapping standards and network. Their battery swapping network will operate in a “dual network parallel” mode, providing more convenient and efficient battery swapping experiences for users, thereby enhancing the convenience of electric travel.
As a result of this news, NIO’s stock price on the Hong Kong exchange surged by 16% by midday.
Li Auto Also Rises
Li Auto clearly does not want to fall behind in this wave of momentum. On March 18, Li Auto’s head of autonomous driving technology, Jia Peng, delivered a keynote speech at NVIDIA GTC 2025, revealing advancements in their next-generation autonomous driving technology, MindVLA. Jia stated that the self-developed VLA model—MindVLA—will transform vehicles from mere transportation tools into attentive personal drivers that can understand, see, and find their way. “We hope that MindVLA can endow vehicles with cognitive and adaptive abilities similar to humans, turning them into intelligent entities capable of thought,” he added.
Li Auto’s CEO, Li Xiang, explained that “MindVLA is a visual-language-behavior model, but we prefer to call it a ‘robot model’ as it integrates spatial intelligence, linguistic intelligence, and behavioral intelligence into one model, allowing autonomous driving to perceive, think, and adapt to the environment. This is a crucial step towards achieving Level 4 autonomy.” He further stated: “MindVLA will redefine autonomous driving just as the iPhone 4 redefined mobile phones.”
BofA Securities released a report reaffirming its “Buy” rating for Li Auto (02015), increasing the target price from 121 HKD to 125 HKD due to updated free cash flow forecasts. The firm noted that Li Auto maintains good gross margin management and strong free cash flow.
BYD Unveils Major Developments
The market focus has gradually shifted, and today it was all about charging stations. Stocks related to high-voltage fast charging opened actively, with Autonomous hitting its upper limit, and companies like Yonggui Electric, Shenghong Co., Zhongrong Electric, Taiyong Changzheng, and Green Energy Huichong also opening more than 5% higher, followed by some stocks firmly sealing their gains. At the BYD Super e-Platform technology launch on March 17, Wang Chuanfu, Chairman of BYD Group, announced the “Megawatt Flash Charge” technology, highlighting its capabilities including a maximum charging voltage of 1000V, a maximum charging current of 1000A, a maximum charging power of 1MW, and peak charging speeds achieving 2 kilometers in 1 second and 407 kilometers in 5 minutes. Wang emphasized, “To completely alleviate users’ charging anxiety, our goal is to make electric vehicle charging times as short as refueling a gasoline vehicle, achieving parity in charging speeds.”
