Photo: NIO
NIO is rapidly expanding its battery-swapping network in Europe. After establishing the NIO Power Europe Plant in Hungary, it shipped the first batch of Power Swap Stations (PSSs) on September 16. It went to Germany, where the first PSS was opened on September 28 in Zusmarshausen. The latest battery swap station to open was in Sweden.
The new PSS started operating in Varberg on November 17. It is located along the E6, a road that connects Sweden to Norway. Varberg is in the middle of the way between Gothenburg and Helsingborg, on E6’s way to Malmö and Denmark. It is clear that the new station wants to provide Norwegian customers – who have been buying NIO vehicles since September 2021 – an option apart from fast chargers when traveling south. Swedish customers will obviously also benefit from them when more NIO vehicles are sold there.
With Germany already served by a PSS, the following stations should be focused on roads, allowing NIO drivers to travel long distances around Europe without having to wait for their cars to charge. According to NIO, a battery swap saves 80% of the time people spend charging on trips. A fast charge to recover 80% of capacity takes around 30 minutes – when the fast charger works, mind you. In that time, a NIO PSS will have replaced six battery packs.
NIO plans to deploy 20 new battery swap stations in Europe in 2022 and 120 in 2023. By 2025, the Chinese company wants to have 1,000 PSSs outside China, with most of them in the Old Continent.
In Sweden, NIO will have another PSS until the end of 2022 and “several stations” by the end of 2023. Until March 31, 2023, all NIO owners in Sweden will be able to swap their battery packs at no cost. Although the service is generally used by Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) customers, NIO ensures all battery packs used in the swap stations are at the top of their game. If any of them presents any issues, it is removed from rotation.
With Germany already served by a PSS, the following stations should be focused on roads, allowing NIO drivers to travel long distances around Europe without having to wait for their cars to charge. According to NIO, a battery swap saves 80% of the time people spend charging on trips. A fast charge to recover 80% of capacity takes around 30 minutes – when the fast charger works, mind you. In that time, a NIO PSS will have replaced six battery packs.
NIO plans to deploy 20 new battery swap stations in Europe in 2022 and 120 in 2023. By 2025, the Chinese company wants to have 1,000 PSSs outside China, with most of them in the Old Continent.
In Sweden, NIO will have another PSS until the end of 2022 and “several stations” by the end of 2023. Until March 31, 2023, all NIO owners in Sweden will be able to swap their battery packs at no cost. Although the service is generally used by Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) customers, NIO ensures all battery packs used in the swap stations are at the top of their game. If any of them presents any issues, it is removed from rotation.
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