Charging forward! NIO takes battery swaps to new heights with 136,748 exchanges in just 24 hours
The NIO Group has chimed in Chinese New Year by performing an incredible 136,748 battery swaps over a 24-hour period, setting a new record for the brand.
Set on February 3, the new six-figure record was set by NIO’s 3106 battery swap stations dotted throughout China, with the car-maker averaging an astonishing 5698 batteries-per-hour.
On average, that means each battery swap station is responsible for 44 swaps.
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Helping it hit new highs for battery exchanges, this year the NIO Group said any owner of its new Onvo brand would be treated to unlimited battery swaps over the festive period, that runs from January 22 to February 12.
NIO said out of the 136,748 swaps 8000 were for Onvo owners.
If those numbers don’t blow your mind, NIO says it is now on track to perform its 65th million battery swap in the coming days.
On average, NIO says that each battery swap involving its vehicles takes less than three minutes unless, that is, you find a NIO Power Swap Station 4.0 that lowers that time to just 144 seconds.
NIO has already declared in the past that it plans to launch Down Under, possibly as soon as this year, with the Chinese car-making group tipped to arrive with its Tesla model Y-rivalling Onvo L60.
When it arrives it’s not known if it will introduce its pioneering battery-swap stations here.
In Europe, where is launched back in 2021, it already has more than 59 battery swap stations in operation.
The battery swap tech isn’t designed to replace charging altogether. Owners are supposed to home charge, or DC charge locally and then use the battery swap for long distance drives.
As well as swapping like for like, NIO also allows you to swap out a small battery for a larger one if your driving behaviour changes, including a pioneering semi-solid state 150kWh.
This huge battery provides a bladder-busting 1070km of driving range for the large NIO ET7 sedan while carry up to 200kg of cargo in real-world highway driving.
If you’re wondering how much NIO charges to borrow the biggest power pack, for those who ordered a car with a 70- or 75kWh battery the Chinese brand will charge owners 150 Chinese Yuan ($30) per day to use the 150kWh pack.
If you already have the biggest 100kWh battery, you will only have to cough up 100 Chinese Yuan ($20) per day.
NIO won’t allow buyers to configure their car with the 150kWh battery as the tech has been so expensive to develop and then manufacture.
The next-gen power pack would add a sobering 328,000 Chinese Yuan or $68,000 to the asking price – which in many cases would cost more than the NIO itself.
