Nio comes with a new generation of switching stations and pricing

Swapping the battery of an EV was not invented by Nio, because Better Place already did it in 2009. However, that project quickly failed and in 2023 it is mainly Nio that is putting battery swapping into practice, although Stellantis is working in that area in Spain with another party. Anyone who has ever seen a Nio battery changing station will have noticed that it is usually not busy there. That is not surprising, because Nios are not (yet) driving around Europe much and you cannot go there with other EVs for the time being. Improvement must come in all areas. Other Chinese carmakers have joined the project and Nio is also launching new brands, more about which later.

The business case for battery swapping stations

Despite the apparent calm, Nio himself firmly believes in the concept. The brand acknowledges that one battery changing station is considerably more expensive than a charger, but argues that one such station can provide many more cars with a full battery than chargers. Nio is talking about 70 to 80 cars per day, a pace for which you will indeed need a lot of fast chargers. In addition, Nio’s co-founder Lihong Qin sees a role for the switching stations as a buffer for the power grid. After all, it is in fact a cage full of batteries, which can be charged at will and perhaps even discharged if that is precisely what is required.

Battery exchange coupons from April

Nio thinks it will make money from this buffer service, and for the users themselves, battery changing will certainly not remain free forever. This is still the case and will remain so until March 2024. As of April 1, Nio will introduce a new pricing model in Europe. From then on, Nio drivers will receive a battery exchange coupon twice a month. This means that replacing the battery is still free, but you do pay for the power added with the change. That costs 44 cents per kWh, a very reasonable rate in the fast-charging world (outside Tesla). Unspecified ‘loyal users’ get four coupons, while you can roll over unused coupons to the next month. If you don’t have a coupon, replacing a battery costs €10. Plus the electricity costs, of course.

New generation of switching stations

Changing a Nio battery doesn’t take long – about five minutes – but according to Nio it can be done even faster. To prove this, the brand will soon be launching ‘Gen4’ changing stations. The fourth-generation battery exchange stations should not only work faster than the current exchangers, but are also more flexible, according to Nio. Read: they can handle more different battery sizes, which will certainly come in handy given Nio’s future plans.