Autonomy and charging times are, to this day, two of the great challenges of electric mobility. Also the two comparisons in which the plug-in lose integers compared to the combustion models. That is why manufacturers strive to find solutions and one of the most effective seems to be the NIO battery swap.
NIO is a Chinese manufacturer focused on the development of electric cars since 2014. In Europe, the company is headquartered in Berlin (Germany) and after launches announced for the coming months: NIO ET5, NIO EL7 and NIO ET7.
battery swap
One of the great assets of these Chinese electric cars against the European competition is what its creator calls battery swap.
The electric NIOs have an innovative battery exchange system that allows their users to recover one hundred percent autonomy in a few minutes.
The process, which takes place at the Battery Swap Station, is very simple: the driver removes the battery or batteries that have depleted their stored energy and replaces them with freshly charged ones.
The exhausted batteries remain at the station where they recover the charge, waiting for a new user to take them to replace the already exhausted ones of their electric vehicle; then the process starts again.
20 centers in Europe
The company has just announced the opening of 20 battery sharing centers in Germany.
According to the company, each of these stations is twice the size of a conventional garage space. Up to 13 batteries from 40 kW to 80 kW can be charged in them, in a respectful way with the network (without causing stress peaks). The forecasts suggest that up to 312 battery exchanges per day can be carried out in them.
By the end of next year, Nio plans to open up to 120 battery swapping stations across Europe. By 2025, there will be 1,000 of these stations outside of China.
