Nio Group‘s sub-brand Onvo has fallen short of its self-imposed target of deploying 8,000 battery packs across the company’s swap station network in China for the second time.
The family oriented sub-brand announced in early December that it aimed to double the number of batteries available at its parent company’s charging stations.
The company initially planned to complete it by mid-January to prepare for the Chinese New Year Holiday travel rush.
In the first week, Onvo deployed approximately 2,600 packs, representing 32.5% of the target; 3,550 packs were added in the following four weeks.
During the final week before the deadline — between January 11 and 17 — Onvo added just 530 packs.
The company had deployed 6,680 new battery packs by then, representing just 83.5% of the target and leading the company to quietly extend its self-imposed deadline to the end of the month.
Over the weekend, Onvo reported that 7,850 batteries had been deployed by February 1, achieving 98.1% of the goal.
The figures indicate that 150 batteries are now needed to reach the 8,000-battery target.
Despite missing the extended deadline, Onvo maintained that “the target of adding 8,000 new battery packs is about to be completed, achieving a doubling of the battery inventory.”
Battery Availability Concerns
The availability of Onvo-compatible batteries at Nio‘s swap stations has been a persistent problem for customers who opted for purchase their vehicle’s through the Battery as a Service (BaaS) program.
Under BaaS, customers pay a monthly subscription fee for the battery instead of buying it outright with the car. These users rely on the network as their primary charging method.
The swap network allows them to replace their depleted battery with a fully charged one in approximately three minutes.
As of press time, Nio operated 3,727 stations across China and had deployed over 99,768,000 battery swaps, nearing the 100th million swap in its domestic market.
Models of the three brands under the Shanghai-based group — Nio and Onvo — use these stations.
Nio plans to unveil later this quarter a new generation of stations expected to store more batteries while reducing swap times.
In early September, Nio founder and CEO William Li said the EV maker would fail to meet its 2025 target for battery swap stations as it reallocated resources toward the next-generation system
Last year, 681 stations were added, only 34.1% of the original guidance.
Onvo Sales Plunge
Despite having added a second model to its lineup last August, the brand reported on Sunday its worst month since launch.
The brand delivered 3,481 vehicles in January, a 62% decline from December and a 41% drop from a year earlier.
Onvo’s monthly deliveries peaked at 17,342 units in October 2025, driven by the production ramp-up of the L90 three-row SUV.
However, despite being one of the group’s best-selling models last year with monthly deliveries exceeding 10,000 units between August and October, sales of the larger SUV dropped sharply in the final two months of the year.
Nio has expanded globally with both its main premium marque and the Firefly sub-brand.
This year, the company is bringing its family-focused Onvo brand to international markets.
The first authorized Onvo showroom opened this weekend in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. There, the Nio Group is partnering with local distributor Abu Sahiy Motors.
Later this year, Onvo will also expand to Costa Rica, marking the first market in the Americas for the EV maker.
Nio also plans to introduce the brand to European markets starting in 2027, founder and CEO William Li said during a visit to the region last November.
