Seres invests 50 million yuan in BMW-Mercedes EV charging joint venture

Seres has taken a one-third stake in the charging joint venture of BMW Brilliance and Mercedes-Benz China, injecting 50 million yuan (about $7 million) into Beijing Yi'anqi New Energy Technology Co Ltd and lifting its registered capital to 150 million yuan from 100 million, according to Tianyancha, a corporate records database.

The move gives China's premium EV challenger a seat alongside two German luxury giants in a high-voltage fast-charging network — a segment where heavy upfront costs have pushed even rivals toward shared infrastructure.

The company's approved business scope covers EV charging infrastructure operation, centralized fast-charging stations, and the sale of vehicle charging and charging piles. Yi'anqi was previously split 50:50 between BMW Brilliance and Mercedes-Benz (China) Investment. After Seres's capital increase, the three hold equal one-third stakes. The legal representative is Shi Fang.

Why share the burden

A single luxury charging station built around 600kW liquid-cooled piles carries initial capital spending that often runs into the millions of yuan, according to the source. That covers transformer capacity upgrades, prime commercial-district and highway-hub land rents, and depreciation on the charging guns and power distribution cabinets.

The harder problem is turnover. BMW and Mercedes-Benz have grown their China EV fleets, but not enough to fill a dense national network on their own. The result is a familiar trap: the more piles built, the higher the idle rate and the deeper the losses.

What Seres brings

Seres' Aito M9 and Aito M7 models have sold strongly in the premium segment, building a large base of high-spending owners. As the Aito lineup moves to high-voltage, high-rate batteries and full liquid-cooled fast charging, those drivers want fast, queue-free charging with reserved bays and VIP lounges.

Seres' cash eases the funding and construction risk for BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Aito's traffic can also flow into Yi'anqi's core commercial-district sites, lifting daily volume per pile and equipment utilization — the gap that has left the German networks expensive to build and hard to sustain.

Seres' own calculation

Seres' driver assistance, cabin ecosystem and liquid-cooled charging technology lean heavily on Huawei's HIMA (Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance). As a listed automaker, Seres also needs to show investors it can integrate across industry camps on its own.

Joining the BMW-Mercedes-Benz venture as an equal shareholder serves several goals. It gives Aito a quiet luxury endorsement by placing it alongside the BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi) benchmark. It also opens scarce charging sites — top malls and five-star hotel garages in major cities, where power capacity and prime parking have long been held by foreign luxury brands through deep relationships.

The industry signal

The autumn capital increase sends a clear message: building brand walls through closed, proprietary charging networks is over. Facing the cold economics of infrastructure, even direct competitors are shaking hands on the physical layer.

Seres has bought a ticket into the premium charging club for 50 million yuan. Whether the three-way network can run efficiently against Tesla and State Grid will depend on balancing shareholder voices, connecting back-end communication protocols and sharing charging rights across brands — the operating test Shi Fang's team now faces.