NIO announced that its customers completed 4,000,000 battery swaps at NIO Power Swap stations in China.
The first station was opened in 2018. It took a few years to get into the first million swaps in October 2020, and the second million in March 2021, but now it accelerated.
"On September 29, 2021, our NIO users have completed over 4,000,000 battery swaps. As of today, we have 504 #NIOPower Swap stations up and running, a quarter ahead of schedule which expected 500 stations installed by the end of 2020."
The reason is simple - NIO sells a lot more cars than ever before - over 131,000 cumulatively, including roughly 88,000 in the past 12-months.
Customers in China now have some 504 NIO Power Swap stations available. The updated guidance is that there will be 700 sites by the end of 2021 and 4,000 by the end of 2025.
Soon the first battery swap stations will be installed also in Norway, where the company just launched its business.
NIO is on the forefront of the battery swapping in the car industry right now, but multiple Chinese manufacturers are also introducing their solution.
Having a feature that allows to quickly replace a discharged battery with a freshly charged is key to offer Battery as a Service (BaaS), as well as upgrade the standardized battery packs with new versions (different capacity 70-75-84-100 kWh). On a daily basis, NIO owners can use the stations to cover long-distances without charging.
The second-generation NIO Power Swap is automatic (the car parks itself inside a station) and the entire process takes less than 5-minutes.
Well, we will carefully watch NIO's battery swapping progress to see whether it will offer an important competitive advantage in the long term, as the range of EVs, rate of charging and fast charging infrastructure availability are also improving.
Gallery: NIO Battery Swap Stations
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 - March 24, 2021
NIO Power completes 2,000,000 swaps - April 15, 2021
NIO launches the second-generation battery swap station - Power Swap Station 2.0 - September 29, 2021
NIO Power completes 4,000,000 swaps
The number of stations: 504
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