Partnership is fourth major collaboration between the brands since VW invested $700 million to co-develop EVs for China last July.
XPeng and Volkswagen have announced their intention to merge their super-fast charging networks to create one of the largest such networks in China.
By granting mutual access to each other’s existing charging network, customers of VW and XPeng will have access to more than 20,000 charging piles covering 420 cities in China
The agreement, in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), also teases the possibility of co-branded super-fast charging stations being built in future, utilising the technological advantages of high-power liquid-cooled super-fast charging to enhance the customer charging experience.
The collaboration is the fourth major partnership announced between the two brands in just 18 months since Volkswagen invested $700 million in XPeng in July 2023 with the plan to co-develop EVs for China.
XPeng announced in December that their network operates at least 1,790 charging stations with a collective 9,070 charging piles.
Their latest S5 supercharger boasts a peak charging speed of 800kW enabling their models to add as many as 300km of range in just five minutes.
Volkswagen currently operates the CAMS New Energy Technology (CAMS) network which boasts at least 1,621 stations with 7,670 charging posts and 13,121 charging terminals.
In contrast to XPeng’s chargers, theirs have a peak power of 600kW, offering up to 500km of range in ten minutes.
The two companies first joined hands in July 2023, announcing plans to co-develop a pair of mid-sized Volkswagen-branded EVs for China with launches set for 2026.
Further reports last year also suggested MEB-based VWs scheduled for 2025 had been canned or delayed in favour of being built on the co-developed platform, so further models may emerge.
In February 2024, the companies announced a second partnership to joint-source common vehicle components to aid cost reductions.
And in April last year, both signed a technical cooperation to integrate XPeng’s latest electric architecture into the VW China Main Platform (CMP).
