Nio expands battery-swapping network amid fierce EV competition
Published on: Aug 23, 2024
The Shanghai-based company announced plans to build 900 additional battery-swapping stations this year.
Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio is ramping up its battery-swapping infrastructure. The Shanghai-based company announced plans on Tuesday to build 900 additional battery-swapping stations this year, reducing the swap time by 20% to just 2.5 minutes.
With only one-third of Chinese EV owners having access to home charging, Nio’s CEO, William Li, highlighted the importance of improving charging facilities to alleviate range anxiety. To support this expansion, Nio will establish a new factory in Wuhan, Hubei province, capable of producing over 1,000 battery-swapping units annually.
Currently operating 2,480 stations across China, Nio plans to extend its network to all of mainland China’s 1,200 counties by June 2025. Since launching the service in 2018, Nio has completed 51 million battery swaps.
As the competition heats up in the EV market, Nio faces pressure from a price war that is squeezing margins across China’s 100-plus EV manufacturers.
