Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Nio’s sub-brand Onvo continues to address supply and demand challenges for batteries, Xia Qinghua, the company’s head of user and service operations, said on Monday.
Onvo, which has BYD and CATL as its 65kWh and 85kWh battery suppliers, must balance providing batteries for vehicles produced at Nio’s Hefei plant with ensuring sufficient stock for its approximately 1,000 Onvo-compatible battery swap stations across China. These stations allow users to swap discharged batteries for (nearly) fully charged ones in minutes, a unique selling point for the Shanghai-headquartered brand.
In a video statement shared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, Xia acknowledged that the number of battery swap stations equipped with Onvo-compatible batteries remains “relatively low.” He added that roughly 70-80% of the stations currently have Onvo batteries available.
Nio has been deploying its fourth-generation battery swap stations, which are compatible with both the Nio and Onvo brands. However, while Nio brand uses 75kWh, 100kWh and 150kWh batteries, Onvo’s debut model is currently using 65kWh and 85kWh batteries. Over recent months, Nio has been upgrading its third-generation stations to accommodate Onvo vehicles, while the first- and second-generation stations remain limited to serving Nio vehicles only.
“Have you noticed that Nio battery station deployment speed has significantly increased lately, with more than a dozen stations going online in a single day? However, it seems like the number of stations with Onvo [-compatible] batteries is still relatively low,” Xia Qinghua said in the video. “Yes, this issue does exist, especially as delivery volumes increase and many users particularly prefer using the battery swap method.”
Onvo had set a target to deliver 5,000 units of the L60 in October, its first full month of production, but fell short, delivering 4,319 units. Production constraints stemmed from limited battery supply by BYD, which could only provide 5,000 to 6,000 units per month, Citi analyst Jeff Chung said last week, citing information from Nio’s management.
Xia further explained that while over 1,000 stations have been prepared for Onvo use, only around 700 to 800 are currently operational with Onvo-compatible batteries.
“Regarding the battery swapping [network], here’s the situation: we have already upgraded and prepared over 1,000 stations for use. However, among these, only around 700 to 800 stations are currently operational with Onvo batteries,” the exec stated.
“This is primarily due to limited battery production capacity at the moment,” Xia said. “We prioritize fulfilling long-pending vehicle orders by allocating batteries for deliveries first. However, efforts to equip battery swap stations with Onvo-compatible batteries will accelerate in the future,” he added.
Over the weekend, Onvo announced it had begun deliveries of the long-range version of its L60 SUV, featuring an 85-kWh battery. Here’s the video shared by Onvo’s executive on Monday.
The brand, which was unveiled in May, delivered 10,233 units of the L60 between its launch and the end of November.
Starting from last week, CATL has begun supplying batteries to Onvo, with an initial monthly capacity of 6,000 to 8,000 units in December. Chung noted that CATL’s supply is expected to scale up to 14,000 units per month.
In November, Onvo increased deliveries by 17.6% to 5,082 vehicles and is now targeting 10,000 in December.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
