Written by Cláudio Afonso | Info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | X
At an event held at a Nio factory on Saturday in Hefei, China, CEO William Li announced the timeline for the roll out of the 150kWh batteries, capable of providing over 1,000km on a single charge.
Li mentioned that the initial phase of integration into battery swap stations across China will commence by the end of the month adding that a larger-scale rollout is scheduled to begin in “June-July”.
Following its initial announcement in January 2021 and several delays later, Nio started the production of the ultra long range battery in early April and will now become available to the first Nio owners in China.
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“Nio’s 150kWh battery will begin trial operation [at the battery swap stations] on April 28,” adding that “small-scale will start by the end of the month [April], and large-scale volume in June-July,” William Li said per the automotive blogger as shared by the automotive blogger 德卤爱开车.
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More than one hundred of car owners attended the event earlier today to test drive the revamped Nio ET7 and learn more about the products and technologies of the Shanghai-based manufacturer at Nio’s largest showroom globally with 3 thousand square meters.
As of today, Nio has 2,405 battery swap stations in China having provided a total of 42.9 million battery swaps since 2018.
The ultra-long-range battery was initially unveiled at Nio‘s annual event, Nio Day, where the sedan ET7, the first model from the second platform, was introduced. Now, three years later, customers in China will finally have access to them.
Nio CEO William Li demonstrated the capabilities of the new battery during a 14-hour livestream in December 2023. By then, Li embarked on a 1,044km (649 miles) road trip from Zhejiang province to Fujian province in the company’s flagship sedan ET7, maintaining an average speed of 84km/h throughout the journey.
According to Nio‘s user manual, the new 150-kWh pack weighs 575 kg, representing a 20 kg increase compared to the 100-kWh pack. The 150kWh Ultra Long Range battery is compatible with NIO’s entire range of smart EVs and can be charged, swapped or upgraded as part of a Service subscription model using one of NIO’s Power Swap stations.
During a media Q&A at the Beijing Auto Show, Nio founders commented the relevance of the ultra-long range battery saying “battery swapping will have overwhelming advantages”.
“Mass production of solid-state batteries will take some time. Until the technology reaches a point where batteries can be fully charged in less than 3 minutes without damaging the battery chemistry, battery swapping will have overwhelming advantages,” William Li said.
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“Even when that time comes, battery swapping can be done without users having to handle dirty charging cables. Additionally, low-performance batteries will be swapped out, relieving users of concerns about battery lifespan,” he added.
Earlier this week, Lotus and Nio announced the cooperation in charging and battery swapping technologies. Nio has currently over 2,404 battery swap stations and 21,000 chargers across China.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | Info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | X
