On November 21, 2023, Li Bin, Founder, Chairman and CEO of NIO, announced that Changan Automobile and NIO have reached a battery swap cooperation, and the two parties will carry out in-depth cooperation in the construction and sharing of battery swap networks, the research and development of battery swap models, and promote the establishment of battery swap battery standards and establish an efficient battery asset management mechanism.
According to the agreement, Changan Automobile's first battery-swappable passenger model that shares a battery pack with NIO is scheduled to be launched in 2025.
In response to this battery swap cooperation, there has been a lot of discussion in the outside world, and the reason is very simple, many people have not been optimistic about NIO's battery swap mode for a long time.
The reasons for not being optimistic can be summarized as follows:
Cost issues
The construction and operation costs of NIO's battery swap stations are high, and this part of the cost ultimately needs to be passed on to consumers. At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, Qin Lihong, president of NIO, said that the cost of a single station for a battery swap station is about 3 million yuan. According to NIO's target of adding 1,000 new battery swap stations this year, the investment in station construction alone is as high as 3 billion yuan.
According to the broker's calculations, when the battery swap station reaches the breakeven point, the utilization rate is about 20%, that is, each station needs to serve 88 times a day to barely lose money.
Technical issues
The battery swap mode requires highly automated technical support, including battery replacement, installation, testing, etc. If the technology is not up to standard, it may lead to safety problems in the battery swapping process or damage to the battery, affecting the user experience.
3. Infrastructure issues
Battery swap stations need to be built in specific locations that may not always be easily accessible to users. In addition, the number of battery swap stations also needs to reach a certain scale to meet the needs of users. If the infrastructure is not perfect, it may affect the convenience of the battery swap mode.
4. CompatibilityQuestion
Different models may have different body structures and battery sizes, which may increase the difficulty and cost of battery replacement. Wang Chuanfu, chairman of BYD, once said that battery swapping in the passenger car field will not be the mainstream, and this model has standardization problems such as vehicle design, volume increase, and structural safety. If NIO is unable to solve this problem, it may result in the battery swap mode not being widely used.
Competitive pressures
With the continuous development of the new energy vehicle market, the competition is becoming more and more fierce. Other car companies are also actively exploring new ways to replenish energy, such as fast charging technology and wireless charging. These new technologies may put competitive pressure on NIO's battery swap model.
For example, at the NIO IN 2023 NIO Innovation Technology Day in September this year, Li Bin said that charging and battery swapping are adapted to the needs of users in different scenarios, not to replace and oppose each other.
In fact, in terms of policy, the battery swap mode has also been encouraged by the relevant state departments. The "Work Plan for the Steady Growth of the Automobile Industry (2023-2024)" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other seven departments proposes to encourage the application of battery swap mode for new energy vehicles and promote the deep integration and development of new energy vehicles and energy. This shows that the country's recognition and support for the battery swap mode is expected to promote the development of the battery swap market.
Based on the above considerations and the encouragement of national policies, NIO has invested a lot of manpower and financial resources in battery swapping. The following is the progress of NIO's battery swap mode at different points in time:
As of March 15, 2023, NIO has deployed 1,322 battery swap stations across the country, with a total of more than 19 million battery swaps. These battery swap stations are mainly concentrated in first-tier cities and new first-tier cities, covering the main travel range of users.
As of November 18, 2023, NIO has deployed 2,103 battery swap stations across the country, including 646 high-speed battery swap stations.
In 2023, NIO will add 1,000 new battery swap stations, and by the end of 2023, NIO will have built more than 2,300 battery swap stations.
In terms of battery swap technology, NIO has also been continuously improving, and the current NIO battery swap station platform has been updated and iterated to the third generation.
Compared with the battery swapping platform of the second-generation battery swap station, the height of the third-generation battery swap station is reduced by 100mm, and the entry and exit of the station feel more comfortableThe battery swap position is moved forward by 400mm, and the view in the car is widerThe whole battery swap time is shortened by 1 minute to about 4 minutes and 40 seconds.
In addition, the third-generation battery swapping station also has a highly flexible battery swapping mechanism, which can be compatible with more vehicle sizes. In order to more accurately realize intelligent functions such as station coordination, support for summoning and battery swapping, and automatic parking, NIO has also equipped the third-generation station with 2 LiDARs and 2 NVIDIA Orin X chips, with a single-station computing power of 508TOPS.
NIO also provides users with convenient battery swap services through APP and other channels. Users can check the nearest battery swap station through the APP, make an appointment for the battery swap time, and complete operations such as one-click battery swap in the battery swap station. These services make it easier and faster for users to get energy replenishment, improving the efficiency and convenience of using vehicles.
All of the above shows that NIO has always been firmly optimistic about the battery swap model.
After the cooperation on November 21, Li Bin, founder and chairman of NIO, also revealed that more car companies will join the battery swap cooperation in the future.
So, how long do you think NIO's battery swap mode will go?How far can we go?