China’s Xpeng Motors and Volkswagen have expanded their partnership to include collaboration on ultra-fast electric vehicle charging networks in China.
The companies signed a memorandum of understanding to open their combined 20,000 charging piles across 420 cities to each other’s customers. They also plan to explore the joint construction of co-branded ultra-fast charging stations.
In 2023, Volkswagen acquired a 4.99% stake in Xpeng for $700 million, with plans to jointly launch two Volkswagen-branded EV models by 2026. Volkswagen stated that its collaboration with Xpeng on a new architecture for intelligent and electric vehicles would enable the production of more affordable EVs for the Chinese market.