Smart and Sustainable Electric Mobility
As of today, Nio's battery swap network has achieved coverage of six vertical highways, four horizontal highways and eight city clusters in China.
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Nio has provided 5 million battery swap services in the last 102 days, meaning an average of about 50,000 services per day.
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In June, Nio added 95 battery swap stations in China.
(Image credit: Nio)
Nio (NYSE: NIO) today saw the largest single-day increase in the number of battery swap stations, as the electric vehicle (EV) maker moves toward its goal of adding 1,000 stations this year.
Nio put 29 new battery swap stations into operation in China today, bringing the total to 1,543, with 423 of those stations located along highways.
This is the highest single-day addition of battery swap stations for Nio, surpassing the previous record of 22 on October 31, 2021, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.
In June, Nio added 95 battery swap stations, largely meeting the company's previously mentioned goal.
Nio announced plans late last year to add 400 battery swap stations in 2023, but that plan was raised to 1,000 on February 21.
William Li, Nio's founder, chairman and CEO, said at the time that the company would further accelerate the deployment of battery swap stations, with a goal of having more than 2,300 battery swap stations in China by the end of 2023.
The company will deploy about 100 battery swap stations in June and more quickly thereafter, which will help boost sales, Li said during a June 9 first-quarter earnings call.
In overseas markets, Nio put a new battery swap station into operation in Germany on June 29, its third in the country.
As of June 29, Nio had 18 battery swap stations and eight charging stations in Europe.
Nio also put 18 supercharging stations into operation in China today, bringing the total to 1,482 and providing 7,271 supercharging piles. It added four new destination charging stations today, bringing the total to 1,285 stations with 9,096 charging piles.
The company made a decision earlier this month that will likely have far-reaching implications for its battery swap system.
On June 12, Nio lowered the starting prices of its entire lineup of vehicles by RMB 30,000 ($4,140) and made the previously free battery swap service offered four or six times per month a paid option with an upgrade package that costs RMB 30,000.
The move is expected to increase the appeal of Nio vehicles in areas where battery swap stations are few, as potential customers will not have to worry about paying the extra price but not enjoying the convenience of battery swap service.
Nio's local counterpart Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), whose current models are all extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) that can be refueled, has also begun building out its charging network.
Li Auto today put five supercharging stations into operation, bringing the total number to 30. The company opened the first seven superchargers for trial operation on April 20.
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CNOOC -- one of China's three largest oil giants -- said it will provide Nio with reliable sites, technology and service support to fuel the rapid growth of its charging and battery swap network.
(Image credit: Nio)
Nio (NYSE: NIO) has entered a strategic partnership with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) at a time when the oil giant, like its other local peers, is seeking to transform itself into an integrated energy service provider.
On June 27, Nio's energy business unit, Nio Power, signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with CNOOC Refinery, CNOOC's petroleum refining subsidiary, to jointly build charging and battery swap infrastructure, the electric vehicle (EV) maker said yesterday.
Wang Weimin, chairman and general manager of CNOOC Refinery, and Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of Nio, attended the signing ceremony in Hefei, Anhui province, and remotely witnessed the launch of the first joint battery swap station between the two in Huizhou, Guangdong province.
Wang visited one of Nio's manufacturing sites and a Nio House in Hefei and had a hands-on experience at a battery swap station, according to an announcement from Nio.
Guided by China's carbon peak and carbon neutral goals, CNOOC is actively building integrated energy sites and will gradually transform from an energy producer to an integrated energy service provider, Wang said.
CNOOC will next provide Nio with reliable sites, technology and service support to facilitate the rapid development of its charging and battery swap network, according to Wang.
CNOOC is China's largest operator of offshore oil and gas production, ranking 65th on the Fortune 500 for 2022 with $127 billion in revenue, according to the Fortune website.
CNOOC Refinery is CNOOC's business in charge of refining and chemical sales, with assets of more than RMB 100 billion, according to Nio's announcement.
Currently, Nio and CNOOC Refinery are already working together in several Chinese provinces and cities, which will provide users with a more convenient energy replenishment experience, the announcement said.
In 2020, China announced its goal of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Since then, controlling carbon emissions has become a major concern for Chinese society, especially in the energy sector.
In addition to CNOOC, the other two largest Chinese oil giants, Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), have both made it clear that they will transform into integrated energy service providers.
Sinopec appears to be more aggressive in this transformation, stating in March 2021 that it will aim for carbon neutrality 10 years ahead of the national commitment, with net zero emissions as its ultimate goal.
As part of achieving that goal, Sinopec signed a strategic partnership agreement with Nio on April 15, 2021, to co-build charging and battery swap infrastructure.
At that time, the first Nio second-generation swap station was opened in a Sinopec gas station area in Beijing in the presence of both parties.
On April 15 of this year, the second anniversary of their partnership, the number of charging and battery swap stations they have built together reached 251, according to information previously shared by Nio.
These stations include 102 battery swap stations, 121 supercharging stations and 28 destination charging stations, covering 27 provincial administrative regions and 89 cities.
On November 24, 2021, the first two battery swap stations built by Nio and CNPC were put into operation, marking the official result of their cooperation.
In addition to its partnership with the Chinese oil giants, Nio also signed a strategic partnership agreement with Shell, the world's largest gasoline retailer, in November 2021 to collaborate on charging and battery swap facilities in China and Europe.
The two would jointly install 100 swap stations in China by 2025, according to a statement at the time.
On August 1, 2022, the first Nio-Shell partnership battery swap station and supercharger station went into operation in Xiamen, Fujian province, in southeastern China.
On May 16 of this year, Nio said the first battery swap stations it built with Shell in Europe went live in the Netherlands.
To date, Nio has 1,511 battery swap stations in China and 1,457 supercharging stations offering 7,176 supercharging piles, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.
In Europe, Nio has 17 battery swap stations and 8 charging stations.
Nio reaches 1,500 swap stations in China as it aims for 2,300 by year-end
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The station is Nio's first second-generation battery swap station in Jiangmen, Guangdong province, which opened on August 29, 2021.
A fire at one of Nio's (NYSE: NIO) battery swap stations has made it a talking point in the Chinese community, just as the company celebrates the launch of its 1,500th station.
A fire broke out at a new energy vehicle (NEV) battery swap station in Jiangmen, southern China's Guangdong province, at noon on June 25, local media outlet The Cover reported.
The station is owned by Nio and the fire was extinguished at 14:38, with no injuries, the report said, citing Jiangmen authorities.
The battery swap station covers an area of about 25 square meters and stores 13 batteries, including eight lithium batteries and five lithium iron phosphate batteries, the report said.
Nio has two battery swap stations in Jiangmen, and the one involved in the accident was its first second-generation battery swap station in the city, which opened on August 29, 2021, and its 402nd in China, according to the report.
Nio has not yet issued a statement on the incident, which has been widely discussed on social media, including Weibo, and in WeChat groups.
Jiangmen is located in western Guangdong, and the station is able to serve owners traveling to Guangzhou, Zhongshan and Yangjiang, according to a previous Nio App post.
The site will also help complete the replenishment network in the region's core cities and will be one of the energy replenishment nodes connecting Guangzhou to Haikou, Nio previously said.
Notably, earlier today, Nio announced that it had reached the milestone of 1,500 battery swap stations in China, with a cumulative total of more than 24 million battery swap services provided.
On average, a vehicle leaves Nio's battery swap stations with a fully charged battery every 1.8 seconds, the company said, adding that more than 60 percent of Nio vehicles' power comes from these stations.
Currently, 72.44 percent of Nio owners can find a battery swap station within 3 kilometers of their home or office, Nio said.
Nio also put 10 supercharging stations into operation today, bringing the total to 1,450 and providing 7,156 charging piles. It added an additional two destination charging stations today, bringing the total to 1,277 stations with 9,048 charging piles.
Nio reaches 1,500 swap stations in China as it aims for 2,300 by year-end
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Nio second generation PSS (battery swap station) ignited in China 10 minutes after a battery swap.
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Nio's battery swap stations in China have served a cumulative total of more than 24 million times today, averaging more than 50,000 services per day.
(Image credit: Nio)
Nio (NYSE: NIO) has reached a new milestone in the number of battery swap stations in China, as it continues to build its iconic replenishment facility.
Nio today put five new battery swap stations into operation in China, bringing the total to 1,500, 410 of which are located along highways, according to data released today by the electric vehicle (EV) maker.
At the same time, Nio's battery swap stations in China have accumulated more than 24 million services today, averaging more than 50,000 services per day.
On average, a vehicle leaves Nio's battery swap stations with a fully charged battery every 1.8 seconds, the company said, adding that more than 60 percent of NIO vehicles' power comes from these stations.
Currently, 72.44 percent of Nio owners can find a battery swap station within 3 kilometers of their home or office, Nio said.
Here's a video Nio shared on its mobile app about the historical changes in the number of its battery swap stations.
In addition to providing Nio owners with fully charged batteries, battery swap stations are small, distributed energy storage sites.
Nio's 1,500 battery swap stations can store a total of about 1.36 million kWh of energy, saving about RMB 300 million yuan a year in electricity costs in China, considering that electricity costs are lower at night, the company said.
These stations can also participate in load regulation on the grid, helping it accommodate more electricity generated from clean energy sources such as wind and photovoltaics, Nio said.
Nio allows consumers to purchase vehicles that include batteries, or rent batteries without buying them. In addition, the company allows owners who have purchased or leased a 70-kWh or 75-kWh standard-range battery pack the flexibility to upgrade to a 100-kWh long-range pack.
To date, Nio has provided more than 80,000 flexible battery upgrades, it said.
Nio also put 10 supercharging stations into operation today, bringing the total to 1,450, offering 7,156 charging piles. It added an additional 2 destination charging stations today, bringing the total to 1,277, offering 9,048 charging piles.
Nio completed its first battery swap station in Shenzhen on May 20, 2018. Its initial 200 battery swap stations are first-generation facilities, with its first second-generation battery swap station coming into operation on April 15, 2021.
Nio's third-generation battery swap station, unveiled at the Nio Day 2022 event on December 24, 2022, can store up to 21 battery packs, up from 13 in its previous generation and five in the first generation of the facility. These latest-generation stations began operations on April 12.
Nio announced plans late last year to add 400 battery swap stations by 2023, though that plan was raised to 1,000 on February 21.
William Li, Nio's founder, chairman and CEO, said at the time that the company would further accelerate the deployment of battery swap stations, with a goal of having more than 2,300 battery swap stations in China by the end of 2023.
The company will deploy about 100 battery swap stations in June and more quickly thereafter, which will help boost sales, Li said during Nio's first-quarter earnings call on June 9.
Nio has added a total of 52 battery swap stations so far this month, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.
Nio added a battery swap station in the Netherlands on June 22, bringing the number of such stations in the country to six.
To date, Nio has 17 battery swap stations and 8 charging stations in Europe.
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At present, 89 percent of the new energy heavy trucks are pure electric models, and half of them support battery swap.
(Image: Screenshot from a CATL video)
China's electrification transition involves not only regular passenger cars, but heavy trucks as well.
By 2025, sales of electric heavy trucks in China are expected to reach 190,000 units, with a penetration rate of about 16 percent, said CITIC Securities analyst Yuan Jiancong's team in a research note today.
In China, the singularity for accelerated penetration of electric heavy trucks has arrived, with penetration expected to reach 35 percent by 2030, the team said.
The acceleration of new energy heavy truck penetration in China from 2021 onward was largely driven by China's restrictions on carbon emissions from high-emitting companies, according to the team.
In 2022, retail sales of new energy heavy trucks in China were 25,000 units, up 142 percent year-on-year, with a penetration rate of about 5 percent, CITIC Securities said, citing data from China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC).
At present, 89 percent of new energy heavy trucks are pure electric models, and half of them support battery swap, according to the team.
Heavy-duty trucks have larger batteries and take longer to recharge at the same charging rate, and battery swap meets the efficiency requirements of these models, the team said.
From 2021 to 2022, the percentage of battery swap-enabled heavy-duty trucks ramped up, the team said, adding that they expect such electric heavy-duty trucks to become the industry's dominant product form in the near term.
On June 12, CATL unveiled Qiji Energy, a battery swap solution for heavy-duty trucks. Similar to the Chinese power battery giant's EVOGO solution for passenger cars released last year, Qiji Energy supports flexible use of the number of batteries.
With a capacity of 171 kWh in a single battery block, heavy trucks can choose to use 1-3 blocks, and the entire battery replacement process takes only a few minutes, CATL said.
In the vehicle-battery separation model, a heavy truck can save RMB 30,000 ($4,190) to RMB 60,000 in annual costs, CATL said.
CATL's move is expected to further boost the electrification of heavy trucks, CITIC Securities said in the research note today.
The penetration of electric heavy trucks is expected to accelerate in areas with higher requirements for range and economy, the team said.
The note also said that Tesla's first electric heavy truck, the Semi, which began deliveries on December 2, 2022, has a range of 800 km at 37 tons fully loaded and has met the criteria for wide-scale commercial operation.
Electric heavy-duty trucks have shown good economic performance in both the US and China, and the Tesla Semi could help the industry grow more rapidly in the US, the team said.
In China, electric heavy-duty trucks will be adopted preferentially in the short term in scenarios including coal industrial parks, steel industrial parks, and sanitation trucks, driven by policy.
By 2025-2030, market forces will drive more growth in the sector as electric heavy trucks improve in economy and range, according to the team.
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CATL launches battery swap solution Qiji Energy for heavy-duty trucks
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A fake rumor yesterday claimed that Mercedes-Benz will use NIO's battery swap network and will build its next-generation models based on NIO's standards.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Rumors about a partnership between NIO (NYSE: NIO) and German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz were widely circulated on Chinese social media networks yesterday. But this was later denied.
One of the most widely circulated was an image with text claiming that Mercedes-Benz would use NIO's battery swap network and would build next-generation battery swap-enabled models based on NIO's standards.
In the comments section of a Weibo user's post sharing the image, NIO's legal department left a message later yesterday saying the image was a forgery.
Ma Lin, NIO's senior director of corporate communications, later retweeted the message. As of press time, the Weibo post has been deleted.
CnEVPost saw the image yesterday in several WeChat groups, as well as a chat transcript claiming that NIO had entered into a partnership with Mercedes-Benz.
The image mimics the style of the NIO App page and the company's statement, but the publisher of the false statement does not exist among NIO App users.
These false rumors appear at an interesting point in time, making it particularly noticeable.
On June 12, NIO announced an immediate RMB 30,000 ($4,200) reduction in the starting prices of all new models, but the previously free monthly battery swap service became a paid option.
On the same evening, NIO held a communication meeting with its customers and broadcasted the meeting live on its social media platforms.
William Li, NIO's founder, chairman and CEO, said in response to a question during the communication that several companies are now talking to NIO about using its battery swap network, according to the live stream watched by CnEVPost.
However, they will need to develop vehicles to NIO's battery swap standard, which takes time, Li said.
It's worth noting that these statements are not materially different from previous comments made by NIO management, which Li also said at the communication that they were diplomatic.
Li last mentioned similar remarks two months ago, when he said in an April 1 media group interview during the China EV 100 Forum that NIO wants other companies to share and build battery swap infrastructure with it.
"I met with several company executives today and they asked me how we could work together, and we're open to that," he said on April 1.
NIO refers to its battery swap model as battery as a service (BaaS), an innovation that can be understood through the lens of cloud services, Li said at the time.
The cloud services around the world, whether they are offered by Microsoft, Google and Amazon in the US or Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei in China, they all have one thing in common -- the companies themselves are the primary users, he said.
Despite frequent rumors over the past two years, as of yet no other car company has said it will use NIO's battery swap network.
In addition to the NIO brand, another brand that will use these battery swap stations will be the company's sub-brand, codenamed ALPS, which is expected to start delivering vehicles next year.
NIO's current plants can support the production of vehicles under both NIO and ALPS brands, and no major Capex investment is required, Li said in a June 9 analyst call following the announcement of first-quarter earnings.
Current battery swap stations are sufficient for both brands to share, he said.
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NIO's battery swap network open to other brands, just like cloud service, says William Li
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In the Qiji Energy solution, a single battery block has a capacity of 171 kWh and heavy-duty trucks can choose to use 1-3 blocks.
Chinese power battery giant CATL has unveiled a battery swap solution for heavy-duty trucks, following the release of a similar solution for passenger cars early last year.
CATL unveiled the Qiji Energy solution, consisting of battery swap stations, battery blocks and a cloud platform, at an online launch event today.
The battery swap stations for heavy trucks use adaptive tuning technology and cover the full wheelbase of heavy trucks.
The battery blocks, or electric blocks, are powered by CATL's third-generation lithium iron phosphate batteries with no heat dispersion technology and a cycle life of over 15,000 cycles.
Similar to EVOGO's Choco-SEB (swapping electric block), which it released last year, the solution for heavy trucks supports flexible use of the number of batteries in the vehicle.
With a single electric block capacity of 171 kWh, heavy trucks can choose to use 1-3 blocks, and the entire battery replacement process takes only a few minutes.
The cloud platform helps drivers make battery swap service appointments, plan driving routes and allows CATL to manage assets.
In a vehicle-battery separation model, a heavy truck can save between RMB 30,000 (US$4,200) and RMB 60,000 in annual costs, CATL said.
On January 18, 2022, CATL officially announced EVOGO, the battery swap brand for passenger cars, primarily for the shared mobility market.
EVOGO offers a battery swap solution consisting of battery blocks, fast battery swap stations, and an app.
The battery block, called Choco-SEB by CATL, is a mass-produced battery developed specifically for shared mobility, allowing consumers to select one or more batteries to match their mileage needs.
The battery block can be adapted to 80 percent of the world's models already on the market and those developed on all-electric platforms that will be available in the next three years, CATL said at the time.
On June 6, CATL said EVOGO's battery swap service became available in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, with the first three battery swap stations already in operation. Prior to that, the service was already available in Xiamen, Hefei and Guiyang.
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CATL unveils module to bracket battery technology for heavy trucks
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