Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
In 2023, electric carmaker Nio built over 1,000 battery swap stations in China. A year ago, the company’s founder and CEO William Li had promised that the company would again add 1,000 stations in the country while adding new EV manufacturers to its “battery swap alliance.”
However, last July the chief executive admitted that the target would be missed by “one or two months.” As of this Wednesday, the EV maker has 2,868 stations where customers can swap the car’s battery in about three minutes.
CATL’s Battery Swapping
In mid-December, China’s battery giant CATL introduced two standardized battery models, named “#20” and “#25,” developed in collaboration with nearly 100 partners.
The #20 battery pack, using LFP technology, provides a capacity of 42 kWh supporting a range of 400 km with the #25 battery pack offering a larger capacity of 56 kWh and a range of 500 km. Asked to comment on CATL’s new announcements, Li said last Sunday that their two new standardized batteries will play in a different segment than Nio’s new brand Firefly.
“I noticed that the battery used in CATL’s swap stations is smaller, likely targeting entry-level, relatively lower-priced vehicles. Currently, the models they collaborate on are priced lower than our Firefly, which is also a good approach,” Nio CEO said twelve hours after holding the Nio Day event in Guangzhou.
“In the long term, we will have many resources tailored to different standards. Perhaps, we will operate some networks, and they will operate others. We will explore ways to collaborate. You can imagine there will be many possibilities,” Li teased without sharing any details or a timeline.
Network Expansion
After a slower deployment of stations in China in the first half of the year, the company has been accelerating it and can now build and open 200 stations in 30 days.
“Regarding overseas infrastructure, media friends in Europe should know that infrastructure construction in Europe is slower. In China, in December this year, we can build 200 swap stations in a month. 200 in one month. Next year, we plan to build 2,000 swap stations,” Li said before noting that the pace in Europe “will be slower.”
“If we look at Europe’s pace, the construction process will likely be slower. In fact, we already have a swap station factory in Hungary [outside Budapest], and the production capacity there is sufficient,” he said.
Firefly Sub-brand
Nio’s brand Firefly will utilize smaller batteries than the Nio and the Onvo models. The compact EV will have dedicated battery swap stations which, according to Li, will be much cheaper.
“For Firefly’s swap stations, we use much less infrastructure, including transportation and construction costs, which are much lower. Construction costs in Europe are only one-third of the cost of Nio’s current swap stations. Additionally, the speed will be faster. We can perform very simple leveling and very quick assembly,” he noted.
“So, for Firefly’s swap station design, we specifically optimized it for Europe—to build quickly and cheaply. I think it will be faster than our original plan,” Li added. “Of course, we will also cooperate with various partners.”
Last week, Firefly’s president Daniel Jin had clarified that the battery swap stations will be deployed gradually based on demand, with overseas markets relying on partnerships for station setups. The executive, who joined the company in 2022, said he expects slower growth in overseas markets initially but sees significant potential for expansion in the long term.
Nio’s New Battery Swap Station Plant
Nio’s new battery swap station plant in Wuhan—which is currently ramping up production— has 20,000-square-meter and is expected to scale up to 1,500 units annually, generating projected revenue of 2 billion yuan ($275.3 million).
Firefly is expected to contribute positively to the company’s overall profitability. CEO William Li has set clear ROI (return on investment) targets for Firefly, and Daniel Jin emphasized that the project must be profitable and will not negatively impact the group’s margins.
Nio aims to enter at least 25 global markets by the end of next year while doubling sales to over 440,000 units with Firefly planned to be one of the major contributors.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
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