NIO Completes 1 Millionth Battery Swap

NIO announced that the cumulative number of its EV battery swap service in China – NIO Power – has reached 1 million, as of October 5, 2020.

That’s two times more than in May 25, 2020, which gives us a glimpse of how quickly demand for this service grows. Since Spring, NIO also expanded the size of its battery swap network from 131 stations to 155.

Simultaneously, the cumulative mileage of all NIO EVs exceeded 1 billion km (620 million miles).

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According to NIO, the users who are entitled to the lifetime free power swap services already saved over RMB 100 million on energy costs.

The highest number of battery swaps in a single car is over 500.

“NIO Power conducts battery inspections covering dozens of items after the battery returns to the power swap station in order to ensure the health of each battery and bring reassurance to all users. All these prove that battery swapping has already become a mature and well-received power solution for electric vehicles.”

NIO, as a company, also takes advantage of the batter swapping, since the government announced in April that models compatible with battery swapping can continue to enjoy subsidies from 2020 to 2022, regardless of their price (others must remain under the price cap). It’s quite important because a premium brand like NIO would not be able to fit into the limit otherwise.

NIO ES8

NIO ES8

NIO ES6

NIO ES6

Having a battery swap infrastructure is also complementary to NIO’s latest offer of Battery as a Service (BaaS), launched on August 20.

It splits the ownership of the car from ownership of the battery, which can be simply rented from the manufacturer (kind like in the case of Renault EVs in the early days in Europe).

“Providing comprehensive services enabled by vehicle-battery separation, battery subscription and the chargeable, swappable and upgradable batteries, NIO BaaS is a breakthrough innovation in both technology and business model. NIO BaaS users can purchase a car without the battery. The battery price will neither be included in the vehicle sales invoice, nor in the down payment and instalments of auto loan.”

“Moreover, BaaS users can subscribe to battery packs of various capacity according to their needs and pay on a monthly basis.”

An interesting thing is that users can switch from one battery size to the other (through using a battery swap station), depending on their needs in a particular period (like a bigger battery for vacation).

Currently, NIO Power stations can handle several battery pack capacities (70 kWh and 84 kWh, as well as upcoming 100 kWh) used in ES8, ES6 and new EC6, although the company is working on a second-generation power swap station, scheduled for 2021. Those new stations are promised to have better performance and improved user experience.

NIO Power Milestones

  • December 16, 2017
    Power Swap debuts at NIO Day 2017
  • May 20, 2018
    NIO opens its first power swap station in Nanshan High Tech Industrial Park, Shenzhen
  • November 15, 2018
    18 power swap stations along the G4 Beijing-Hong Kong-Macau Expressway come into service
  • December 15, 2018
    8 battery swap stations along the G2 Beijing-Shanghai Expressway come into service
  • April 15, 2019
    NIO Power Swap receives Red Dot Award: Product Design 2019
  • August 24, 2019
    NIO offers lifetime free power swap services for first retail purchasers
  • May 25, 2020
    NIO Power completes 500,000 swaps
  • September 30, 2020
    The 155th power swap station opens in Bonajoy Import Pavilion, Nantong
  • October 5, 2020
    NIO Power completes 1,000,000 swaps
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