Nio commissions 1,000th battery swap station in China
The new location is located along China’s highways at the Fushan service area on the G5011 Wuhu-Hefei Highway. Nio’s highway battery swap network thus now connects 550 cities. According to Nio’s charging map data, the 3,399 battery swap stations that the company operates in China (along highways and in cities) have provided 79 million battery swap services to date.
Nio was long the only company offering battery swapping. But that has changed. For example, Ample recently rolled out its first swapping locations in Madrid to support fleets and CATL announced that it was joining forces with the Chinese oil company Sinopec to set up at least 500 battery exchange stations for electric vehicles this year in China. It also wants to expand the offering to Europe, and there were reports that CATL wanted to acquire a majority stake in Nio’s battery swapping business.
Recent policy developments in China are influencing the landscape of EV charging infrastructure. Four government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, issued a joint document earlier this month requiring new energy vehicle manufacturers to open their self-built high-power charging networks to all brands without discrimination.
Currently, battery swap services along highways are available to vehicles under the Nio and Onvo brands. Access for Firefly, another Nio sub-brand, is expected after the introduction of Nio’s fifth-generation battery swap station next year. Nio has announced battery swap partnerships with other manufacturers, but models based on the company’s standards have not yet been launched. The EVs used in Madrid are specially constructed Fiat 500e, for example.
That, too, could change. CATL introduced its Choco-SEB exchangeable batteries, with Changhan Automobile delivering the first 1,000 EVs using the technology in May. So far, however, they are not compatible with Nio exchange stations.
Either way, Nio’s battery swapping network is growing fast. Just in October of last year, the carmaker reported its 871st location along a Chinese highway. The total across the country was said to be 2,609. This comes after the company introduced the fourth generation of its battery exchange station in June 2024, which is said to be 22 per cent faster than the previous variant.
The company is also expanding its swap network overseas, with 60 battery swap stations now in operation across Europe. Within China, highway swap stations are designed to facilitate efficient travel during peak periods such as public holidays.
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