Chinese EV manufacturer NIO has built its 700th battery-swapping station in Lianyungang City.
The eastern Chinese city has joined the likes of Shanghai, which has 60 battery swapping stations, 60 supercharging stations, and more than 3,000 “power chargers.”
With the company’s extensive network established in China, NIO’s stations have completed more than 5.3 million battery swaps.
Central to the success of NIO’s battery swapping is its Battery-as-a-Service program. The programme lets drivers pull into a battery-swapping station and switch out their depleted battery for a new, fully charged unit, in as little as three minutes.
What’s more, with more than 40% of NIO drivers living within 3 km of a battery swapping station, it is proving popular with drivers. In fact, there is now one battery-swapping station for every 258 NIOs, down from 272 in October.
By the end of 2025, NIO is planning to operate more than 4,000 active battery swapping stations – including around 1,000 located outside of its homeland.
The Battery-as-a-Service program will also be expanding outside of China, as well, thanks in part to a recently signed strategic partnership with Shell.
Together, the two companies will construct and operate battery charging and swapping facilities in China by 2025 and from next year in Europe. Shell’s European charging network will also become available to NIO users under the terms of the deal.
