Aistaland Set to Be First Huawei-Backed Brand on CATL's Battery Swap Network

Aistaland, the premium EV marque formed by GAC Group and Huawei, has battery swap models in its product pipeline, according to a report from Chinese outlet Lanjinger citing a person familiar with the matter.

The same source indicated that Aistaland will almost certainly lead the rollout of models connected to CATL’s Choco swapping ecosystem — an edge attributed to how tightly the brand works with Huawei’s Qiankun intelligent vehicle unit.

Neither the number of swap-capable models, the expected launch window, nor the battery specs involved have been disclosed.

A Partnership That Is Barely Two Days Old

The claim lands just 48 hours after Huawei’s Newcool (also known as Yinwang), CATL and CATL’s swap operating arm CAES signed a strategic cooperation framework in which Newcool formally entered the Choco ecosystem.

That agreement pointed to adapting partner vehicles built on Huawei Qiankun solutions so they can access Choco stations. It named no specific cars and set no dates.

Since then, Chinese media have filled the gap with conflicting accounts. LatePost put the first wave at roughly five partner models, arriving in 2027. Cailian said the debut partner car would come in 2027 under Epicland, the brand Dongfeng and Huawei run together. Lanjinger’s reporting pulls in the opposite direction, naming Aistaland as the surefire first mover.

No official confirmation has settled the question of which brand actually ships first.

“Given the depth of the collaboration between Aistaland and Huawei Qiankun, it will certainly be the first to land.” — source quoted by Lanjinger

What Aistaland Gets From the Deal

For Aistaland, plugging into an already-built public swap network removes the burden of constructing its own energy replenishment infrastructure. It can lean on CATL’s footprint and skip the capital-intensive work of station rollout.

The brand was set up by Huawei Qiankun and GAC as a premium joint venture, with a Huawei team based in Guangzhou working alongside GAC engineers to define and develop vehicles. Huawei senior vice president and Newcool CEO Jin Yuzhi has described the arrangement as something between a supplier contract and a full-stack handoff, noting that Huawei opened its most critical underlying interfaces and tuning data to GAC.

Aistaland’s line-up currently numbers two vehicles: the GT7 shooting brake, which went on sale June 26, and the GX7 extended-range SUV with CATL-supplied batteries, launched September 23.

Sales Still Searching for Traction

Volume has been modest so far. GAC figures show 2,658 vehicles delivered in July, a drop to 1,100 in August, then a partial recovery to 1,375 in September. Hardly a runaway start.

For CATL, every additional Huawei Qiankun partner brand widens the pool of drivers feeding its Choco network. As of September 29, the company had 2,520 swap stations running across 200 Chinese cities, with a long-term ambition of 30,000. It also intends to add 1,000 highway stations between 2026 and 2027, pushing the network from urban coverage into long-distance routes.