Nio said on Monday it will use 100kWh battery packs to accelerate deliveries of its newly launched third-gen ES8, a move that will temporarily constrain supply at its battery swap stations.
As the Shanghai-headquartered EV maker prioritizes output of the model, Nio said that it will compensate new ES8 buyers with a 400 yuan ($56) charging subsidy if they take delivery before year-end.
The decision, announced through its mobile app under a program called the “Exclusive Charging Care Plan for New ES8 Users,” comes as the automaker works to reduce a six-month backlog for its SUV.
Customers ordering the third-generation ES8 now face waits of 24 to 26 weeks, stretching into March 2026.
The waiting time for new orders has been in that range since the company started showing orders details in its app and website.
Nio launched the ES8 on September 20 at its annual event in Hangzhou, pricing the base version at 406,800 yuan ($57,130) including the battery, or 298,800 yuan under its battery as a service.
The program, first launched in China in 2020, allows customers to acquire the vehicle without a battery, allowing a lower entry price. For the ES8, the monthly fee is 1,128 yuan, equivalent to $158.
Deliveries began across China on September 21, with founder and Chief Executive William Li and co-founder and president Lihong Qin handing over the first units in two different cities.
The management announced plans to produce 40,000 units this year while warning that a further production capacity boost would be difficult to achieve.
The company expects to produce 10,000 vehicles in October and 15,000 in December, making the model a strong contributor to sales of Nio Group’s core brand.
In China, its battery swap network now spans more than 1,200 county-level regions, a milestone reached on September 29 — three months later than planned.
The company originally targeted completion by June 30, 2025, when it unveiled its goals in August last year.
William Li recently acknowledged it will fall short of installing 1,800 to 2,000 new stations in 2025, a target it had revised down earlier this year from an initial goal of 2,000.
Nio’s fourth-generation stations complete a swap in less than three minutes, use LiDAR, can store up to 23 battery packs, and can provide up to 480 swaps per day.
