Nio has opened its 700th battery swap station in China. The milestone station was installed, ahead of schedule, in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province.
In three minutes, the second generation battery swap station enables the vehicle to automatically park in the station and switch for a fully-charged unit. The service forms part of Nio Power, a range of battery management services that simplify electric car usage. Alongside swap stations and chargers, users have the option to flex between different battery capacities thanks to its Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) programme.
Prior to July, the goal was to have 500 battery swap stations running by the end of the year, a target it has now exceeded. In addition to the 700 battery swap stations, the power network comprises 3,020 power chargers and 3,319 destination chargers. In Shanghai there are 60 swap stations, 63 supercharging stations, 21 destination charging stations and access to 32,942 third-party charging piles.
The accelerated rollout has focused on urban areas. At the end of November, 42.34% of Nio users lived within three kilometres (two miles) of their nearest battery swapping station. Each battery swap station now serves 258 cars, down from 272 in October.
By the end of 2025, the automaker will have 4,000 active battery swap stations worldwide with around 1,000 outside China.
The charging and swapping system, as well as BaaS, will also be fully available to the industry.
Nio recently signed a new strategic cooperation agreement with Shell. The two companies will construct and operate battery charging and swapping facilities in China by 2025 and in Europe from next year. Shell’s charging network in Europe will also become available to Nio users.