Nio is a world leader when it comes to electric vehicle battery swapping stations, both in terms of tech and number of locations that are currently operational. In its native China, the manufacturer just passed the 1,200 swap stations mark (1,210 a week ago) and the company says it will have over 1,300 of them running all around the world by the end of the year.
In order to reach that number, it needs to install 20 more swap stations in Europe until the end of December.
The automaker notes that its swapping station network now covers over 66 percent of mainland China, already providing good coverage of the country’s most developed areas (its eastern and south-eastern parts). It has significantly increased the density of stations in many areas of the country in 2022, having installed 600 of them this year alone.
The company also notes that its network has served over 23,000 users to date and that on average more than 30,000 Nio battery swaps are performed around the world – that apparently equates to one being done every 2.8 seconds.
Nio plans to have over 4,000 such stations in operation by 2025, but a quarter of them won’t be in China. The manufacturer is especially focusing on Europe where it plans to sell its vehicles and hopes to disrupt local brands’ hegemony – it is currently only present in certain markets, but it wants to become a larger presence on the Old Continent.
Gallery: NIO Battery Swap Stations
It hopes to lure buyers away from established Euro luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz or BMW with its flexible battery plan, either allowing users to buy the battery pack outright or pay a monthly lease that also gives them access to a swap station – Nio calls this battery as a service, or BaaS.
The company initially entered Europe by launching in Norway last year, but this year it expanded to Sweden, Denmark and Germany and it plans to be present in 25 markets by 2025. It is, of course, also eyeing an entry into the vast US market, which it is reportedly planning to also do around the middle of the decade.
