- Nio said it has completed the construction of a battery swap network along highways between major cities in China, eliminating range anxiety for drivers on highways.
- Nio operates 3,399 battery swap stations across China, having provided a cumulative total of 79 million services.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) has reached 1,000 battery swap stations along China’s highways, as the electric vehicle (EV) maker continues to expand its infrastructure.
The 1,000th highway battery swap station was officially launched at the Fushan service area on the G5011 Wuhu-Hefei Highway, the company announced today.
Nio has completed the construction of a highway battery swap network connecting major cities in China, linking 550 cities, eliminating range anxiety for Nio and Onvo brand owners while driving on highways, it said.
As of now, Nio has a total of 3,399 battery swap stations in China, providing a cumulative total of 79 million battery swap services, according to its charging map data.
It also has 2,883 supercharging stations in China, providing 13,311 chargers, as well as 1,776 destination charging stations offering 13,390 charging stalls.
Nio is also expanding its battery swap station network overseas, with 60 stations already operational in Europe, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Battery swap stations on highways help alleviate range anxiety for drivers during long-distance trips, especially during peak travel periods such as holidays.
During the Labor Day holiday two months ago, the busiest Nio battery swap station reached 150 services in a single day.
Currently, these battery swap stations are only available for models under the Nio main brand and the Onvo sub-brand. Vehicles from another sub-brand, Firefly, will only be able to access the network after Nio launches its fifth-generation battery swap station next year.
Nio has announced several battery swap partnerships over the past year, but to date, its automotive partners have not yet launched models based on the company’s standards.
These facilities currently provide Nio Inc users with high-quality exclusive services, though this may result in lower utilization rates.
Other EV brands, such as Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), have attempted to enhance their appeal by offering exclusive charging services to owners, but this strategy is becoming increasingly unworkable due to policy reasons.
On July 7, four government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, announced in a joint document that new energy vehicle makers should open their self-built high-power charging facility networks to all brands without discrimination.
Li Auto previously opened its 4C supercharging stations to other EVs, while reserving its higher-power 5C charging stations exclusively for its own owners.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) initially allowed only its own owners to use its Supercharging facilities, but has announced that these facilities, including the latest V4 Superchargers, are open to other brands in China.
