NIO hits 50 million battery swaps, says drivers want the strategy

NIO’s industry-leading battery swap expertise is constant to achieve prowess because the Chinese language EV firm hits one other milestone. Yesterday night, NIO hit 50 million cumulative battery swaps, offering proof that the EV charging technique will not be solely viable but in addition most well-liked by many drivers.

NIO ($NIO) continues to point out the world EV why it is among the main EV expertise manufacturers in China. Along with delivering a lineup of among the extra spectacular electrical autos on the planet, the corporate has developed and launched a number of adjoining applied sciences out there together with cellphones and battery swaps.

Since EVs started rising to prominence, the concept of shortly swapping out packs reasonably than leaving a automobile at a charger has been an choice. A number of OEMs like Tesla explored the expertise early on earlier than abandoning it, whereas different startups like Ample, for instance, have geared it towards extra granular segments like rideshare autos and concrete EVs.

NIO, nevertheless, has totally embraced battery swaps since its inception and has shortly grow to be the worldwide chief within the house. Additionally it is gaining momentum.

It took NIO 4 years to succeed in its first 10 million swaps and a mere 9 months to double that determine. By October 2023, the automaker eclipsed the 30 million swap milestone in a powerful six months.

Now, lower than ten months later, NIO is celebrating 50 million battery swaps so far and counting.

NIO says a majority of EV drivers want battery swaps

Per a current Weibo put up, NIO achieved its newest tally of battery swaps at 11:33 PM on August 5. The automaker shared that its battery swap system has now delivered its EV drivers with a cumulative whole of two.62 billion kWh of electrical energy – that’s sufficient power to energy greater than 1.31 million houses for a whole yr.

Moreover, NIO shared that its battery swaps have saved EV drivers over 2.85 billion minutes in comparison with sitting and ready at public chargers, which stays the {industry}’s most well-liked technique at this level.

Plug charging doesn’t appear to be the popular technique for many NIO drivers in China, nevertheless. NIO says that near 60% of the power despatched to NIO-branded autos is coming from battery swaps.

Thus far, NIO says its swap expertise has saved EV drivers a complete of RMB 20.3 billion ($2.85 billion) in comparison with comparable gasoline fashions – a mean of RMB 36,000 ($5,050) per NIO proprietor.

NIO’s present community in China consists of 2,464 swap stations that full a mean of 79,000 swaps per day. On the present charge, NIO says an EV driver is delivered a completely charged battery pack each 1.1 seconds in China.

As of mid-July 2024, NIO had 50 battery swap stations in operation all through Europe, together with Norway and Germany. In the event you want charging plugs, the Chinese language automaker nonetheless sells EVs with that as an choice, however battery swaps look like rising in recognition in China, maybe providing a glimpse right into a future the place the EV cost technique is extra frequent throughout the worldwide market.