CHARGING LOOKS LIKE This is what the future of

Gone are the days of queuing for an electric vehicle charger, getting out, plugging in and waiting anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour to charge. NIO’s revolutionary Power Swap Stations are changing the game of charging forever.

NIO Power is a mobile internet-based power solution with extensive networks for battery charging and battery swap facilities. Enhanced by Power Cloud, it offers a power service system with chargeable, swappable and upgradable batteries to provide users with power services catering to all scenarios.

Last September, NIO opened its first Power Swap Station (PSS) in Zusmarshausen, Germany and since then, the Chinese brand has opened 1,327 sites globally, with 13 of those sites based in Europe.

NIO users have completed over 15 million battery swaps, with the daily average exceeding 30,000 swaps. Every 2.8 seconds, there is a NIO car exiting from a Power Swap station.

So how do the Power Swap Station’s work? EV Powered’s Charlie Atkinson travelled to Varberg, Sweden, to experience a PSS firsthand, and Sara Östergaard, the Network Development Manager for NIO Sverige, explained the process from start to finish.

Sara said: “First you need to navigate to the station. In the navigation system, you find a station and place an order. When you are close – about 200m away – the station will automatically prepare the battery. Once you arrive, you pull into the designated parking area, and click the prompt on the screen and then take your hands away and the car will automatically park into the station.

Step Two

“The elevator will lift up the car to remove the old battery and put it to the side.

Step Three

The new battery will come and then the machine will secure the new battery.”

Step One

Step Four

A Power Swap Station can perform up to 312 swaps per day and charge up to 13 batteries with a power of 20 to 80 kW per battery, with each session taking between five and seven minutes. The car then leaves the station, with a battery that is charged to 90%, with the batteries stored at the site being charged slowly, ready for the next customer.

Step Five

This is made feasible through NIO’s subscription model, which is now open for users in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. With terms starting from just one month to 60 months, users will be able to choose the vehicle that best suits their needs. For all subscription models, NIO provides a worry-free experience by offering comprehensive insurance, maintenance, winter tyres, a courtesy car and battery swapping, as well as the flexibility to upgrade the battery.

Scan this QR code to see watch the NIO Power Swap Station in action!

WHAT’S NEXT FOR NIO?

“We have big plans,” Sara stated. “The most important thing for us is to have a really good user experience. We will offer these swap stations with a charging network with fast chargers, and we also have the third-party chargers, with several partners in our power map. You are not only seeing the swap stations or our own chargers, but you can also see our partners’ chargers.”

The brand aims to have more than 2,300 Power Swap Stations globally by the end of this year. NIO’s goal is to install 120 Power Swap Stations in Europe by the end of 2023.

Last year, NIO confirmed its plans to come to the UK in 2023, with three models to be available through subscription, some with battery swap technology.

Sara Östergaard, Network Development Manager for NIO Sverige