Category: eV

Nio in spotlight as fire breaks out at swap station in Guangdong

The station is '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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CPCA expects China Jun NEV retail sales to grow 15.5% MoM to 670,000

This means that the penetration of NEVs at retail is expected to be 36.6 percent in June, up from 33.3 percent in May.

CPCA expects China Jun NEV retail sales to grow 15.5% MoM to 670,000-CnEVPost

Passenger vehicle sales in China are expected to decline this month compared to a year ago, but the performance of new energy vehicles (NEVs) remains strong.

In June, retail sales of NEVs in China are expected to be around 670,000 units, up 26 percent year-on-year and up 15.5 percent from May, according to estimates released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Survey shows that automakers that contribute about 80 percent of passenger car sales are targeting retail sales growth of about 5 percent in June compared with May, the CPCA said.

According to preliminary projections, passenger vehicle sales in China were about 1.83 million units in June, up 5 percent from May but down 5.9 percent from a year earlier, the CPCA said.

The year-on-year decline was due to a high base in June last year, when China's auto market was recovering from the shock of Covid, according to the CPCA.

The CPCA had forecast several times this month that June passenger car sales would be lower than a year ago, one reason being China's halving of purchase taxes on mainstream internal combustion engine vehicles that began last June.

Today's latest estimate implies that NEVs had a penetration rate of about 36.6 percent at retail in June, up from 33.3 percent in May.

CPCA expects China Jun NEV retail sales to grow 15.5% MoM to 670,000-CnEVPost

Auto market demand dropped slightly in early June, but the market warmed up with the start of the June 18 shopping spree, the release of local government subsidies and the Dragon Boat Festival, the CPCA said.

The overall discount rate in China's passenger car market was about 17.8 percent in mid-June, expanding 0.6 percent from the end of May, according to the CPCA.

CPCA expects China Jun NEV retail sales to grow 15.5% MoM to 670,000-CnEVPost

Major carmakers averaged 31,100 daily retail sales in the first week of June, down 42 percent from the same period in May, mainly due to a high base of vehicle sales during last month's Labor Day holiday, the CPCA said.

Their average daily retail sales in the second week of June were 42,900 units, down 14 percent from the second week of May.

As promotions kicked off in mid-June, the car market picked up in the third week, with average daily retail sales of 57,500 units, up 21 percent from the same week in May.

In the fourth week, with the arrival of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, average daily retail sales are expected to be 62,000 units, an increase of 26 percent over the same period in May.

In week five, average daily retail is expected to be 113,700 units, up 32 percent from the same period in May, due to the pulse of the quarter-end sales, according to the CPCA.

BREAKING: China extends NEV purchase tax breaks for 4 years

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June Solar News Roundup

It’s that time again! At CleanTechnica, we believe that covering small stories in the solar industry is a great idea, and we often do this toward the end of the month because these small stories start to pile up. By reporting on these smaller developments, we hope to provide our readers with a more comprehensive […]

Seres, Huawei’s auto partner, delivers 1st vehicles in Europe

Seres delivered Seres 5 vehicles to the first European owners in Norway in cooperation with a local dealer.

(Image credit: Seres)

Seres Group -- one of 's key partners in the automotive sector -- has started vehicle deliveries in Europe.

On June 21, Seres delivered Seres 5 vehicles to the first European owners in Bergen, Norway, according to an announcement made by the company based in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing on June 23.

Unlike (NYSE: NIO), which follows a direct sales model overseas, Seres delivered the first vehicles in Norway in partnership with local dealer Sandven AS.

Sandven will work with Seres to bring more new energy vehicle (NEV) offerings to Norwegian consumers for the European market, said Trond Sandven, the dealership's founder.

The Seres 5 appears to be the Aito M5 sold in China, a model jointly designed by Huawei and Aito, a brand jointly launched by Huawei and Seres.

The Seres Chinese website currently shows only the Aito series of models, including the Aito M5 series and the Aito M7 series.

The four-wheel drive version of the Seres 5 has a total output of 430 kW and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds, according to Seres.

The model is available in battery electric vehicle (BEV) and extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) versions to meet the diverse mobility needs of customers worldwide, Seres said.

(Seres rotating chairman and president Zhang Zhengping delivered the vehicle to the first Seres 5 owner in Norway.)

The Seres 5 BEV has a WLTP range of 500 kilometers for the two-wheel drive version and 530 kilometers for the four-wheel drive flagship version, the company said.

On full fuel and power, the Seres 5 EREV has a combined range of more than 1,000 kilometers, it said.

Seres did not reveal whether the first vehicles it delivered in Europe were the Seres 5 BEV or the Seres 5 EREV, though its announcement features a model with a front face that matches the all-electric version of the Aito M5.

This is the latest development in Seres' efforts to reach overseas markets.

Seres unveiled the Landian brand on March 30 and made its first model, the plug-in hybrid E5, available.

Equipped with technology from Huawei and , the Landian E5 is a mid-size SUV available in 5- and 7-seat versions, with a starting price of RMB 139,900 ($18,490) in China.

On May 25, Landian shipped the first 500 Landian E5 vehicles to overseas markets.

Huawei officially announced on April 20, 2021 that it would start selling cars in its flagship stores, with the first model being the Seres SF5 SUV, which uses extended-range technology. This model is no longer available in China.

On December 2, 2021, Seres and Huawei jointly launched a premium NEV brand called Aito, followed by the M5 EREV, M5 BEV and M7 EREV.

Originally known as Chongqing Sokon Industrial Group, Seres Group changed its name in August 2022, with Seres as one of its brands.

Seres Group sold 8,562 NEVs in May, down 18.08 percent year-on-year but up 23.78 percent from April, according to data released earlier this month.

($1 = RMB 7.1795)

Seres' sub-brand Landian sends 1st 500 cars to overseas markets

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