Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Shanghai-based electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio opened on Wednesday its first battery swap station in the Middle East region.
The station is located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the Yas Marina F1 Circuit. There, Nio is also preparing to establish a vehicle delivery center.
“Nio’s first energy swap station in the MENA region. Now at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi,” the company wrote on X this Wednesday.
The station, where Nio drivers can exchange their vehicle’s battery for a fully or nearly fully charged one, is located about 30 minutes from Abu Dhabi.
The company closed 2024 with nearly 3,000 stations in China and aims to add 2,000 more this year, bringing the total to 5,000.
Roberto Lopes da Silva, Nio’s general manager for the UAE market, joined the company in mid last year after serving as Chief Sales Officer at Canadian EV company AXL.
Nio x CYVN Holdings
Last October, Nio announced the formation of a joint venture with its major investor CYVN Holdings, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, to expand to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region under the name Nio MENA.
In December 2023, Nio secured a $2.2 billion investment from CYVN Holdings, an Abu Dhabi-based investment vehicle, which increased CYVN’s ownership to 20.1% of the company’s total issued and outstanding shares.
The investment followed a $1 billion investment made by CYVN a year ago in July 2023.
