Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio has closed its only battery swap station in Denmark, marking the first time the Shanghai-based company has shuttered such a facility anywhere in Europe since its 2021 continental debut.
The closure of the Slagelse station comes as the Shanghai-headquartered brand prepares to relaunch in Denmark with a new business model while ditching its battery rental service in the Nordic country.
The company registered only nine vehicles in Denmark so far this year, following sales of just five units in 2024 and 41 in 2023, according to registration data platform EU-EVs.
Nio has fundamentally restructured its Danish operations earlier this year, abandoning its direct-sales model in favor of a local distributor partnership.
Station Disappears from Network
Despite the Power Map‘s official website still listing 61 stations across Europe, the Slagelse station has been removed and is no longer mentioned.
On Tuesday, when Nio announced its battery swapping infrastructure can now contribute to stabilizing the Swedish power grid, the company mentioned for the first time it has 60 stations across Europe—not 61.
“With 8 stations in Sweden, 60 in Europe, and over 3,500 worldwide, we are taking another step toward the energy network of the future with Nio Power Grid Service,” the company wrote on Tuesday.
When opening its latest station in early September, Nio said it represented the 21st in Germany and the 61st in Europe.
The Slagelse station had been unavailable to European customers for several months and marked as Under Maintenance before its complete removal from the network.
Early Promises Unfulfilled
The EV maker expanded to the Danish market in October 2022 as part of its European push, one year after its 2021 debut on the continent.
The Shanghai-based brand entered Denmark alongside Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, using its own direct retail network and battery-swapping services focused on premium EV buyers.
At the time, Nio promised to deploy several battery swap stations across the country to better serve Danish customers who could opt for leasing the battery of the vehicle instead of buying it outright.
Five months after arriving in the Danish market, the company founded and led by William Li opened the first — and what would prove to be only — battery swap station in the country.
Located in Slagelse, about 60 miles outside the capital Copenhagen, the second-generation station opened in March 2023 and became the 12th across Europe at the time.
Each Gen 2 station can store up to 21 batteries, with each battery swap taking a few minutes.
Strategic Pivot to Distributor Model
Nio co-founder and President Lihong Qin visited Denmark and several other European markets last June, where he signed an agreement with a distributor in the Scandinavian country.
The company appointed Denmark’s Nic. Christiansen Group to handle the import and sale of its cars in the country, marking a shift from its direct-sales strategy following disappointing results in the Nordic market.
The deal marked the first time Nio changed its business model in a market where it was already present.
The dealership model is being used in all new markets, but with the exception of Denmark, Nio maintains the direct sales model in Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden as it has already established infrastructure—such as its flagship showrooms—across the most important cities.
In a post on LinkedIn, Casper Mysling, newly appointed Country Manager for Nio and its sister brand Firefly, confirmed the agreement with the local distributor, describing it as a relaunch under a new approach.
“We will relaunch Nio in Denmark with a new strategy and a much more attractive price point than before,” Mysling wrote on LinkedIn last June.
Nic. Christiansen Group said the vehicles under the Chinese Group will initially be showcased in Copenhagen this autumn, with further showrooms planned in Aarhus and possibly Odense in 2026.
Infrastructure Expansion Slows Amid Cost Cuts
The deployment of new stations in Europe — but also in China — has sharply slowed down since early 2025. The charging and battery swapping team has suffered a severe cut as part of cost-cutting efforts which were escalated by Nio in early 2025.
The station closure represents a significant retreat for Nio‘s battery swap ambitions in Europe, where the technology has struggled to gain the traction it enjoys in China.
The Denmark facility’s removal leaves Nio with 60 operational battery swap stations across its European markets, down from the 61 it operated just months ago.
