Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Electric vehicle maker Nio said on Tuesday that customers in four of its five European markets will now be able to upgrade their car’s battery on a monthly basis. The new option allows users to switch from the standard 75 kWh battery to a 100 kWh battery at the company’s battery swap stations.
Under its Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) system, Nio offers customers the option to rent the battery instead of purchasing it outright when buying a vehicle, while still providing the flexibility for those who prefer to buy the battery to do so. If the battery is bought, the user cannot access the battery swap stations across Europe.
Nio’s announcement excluded Denmark from the new program, despite the country hosting a single battery swap station near the bridge connecting to the Swedish city of Malmö.
The standard-range battery costs €169 per month, while the long-range upgrade is priced at €289. The upgrade can be activated for one month and extended if needed. In China, Nio provides a more flexible option where customers can upgrade or downgrade on a daily basis.
In July, Nio reached 50 battery swap stations and 19 electric vehicle charging stations across its five European countries: Norway, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Currently, the company has 59 stations in Europe.
The company will open later this month its first battery swap station in Belgium. The station will be the company’s first such facility in a market where it does not yet sell its vehicles.
Last month, the company reached 100,000 battery swaps in Europe, approximately 20 months (607 days) after opening the first station in the continent.
The Norwegian city of Lier was the first location where the EV maker opened a station after having expanded into the market in the second half of 2021.
With over 59 million battery swaps provided in the last six years, Nio said earlier this year it will build a new factory in Wuhan, China, to support the rollout of battery swap stations. In addition to the new factory, Nio will establish a new headquarters in the Chinese City its Power division.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
