China has been at the forefront of the electric vehicle market and NIO is one company that has been in the news for quite some time now.
NIO Is Back In The News With EV Battery Swapping
This time NIO is offering an entirely new approach to the world of EV that has the potential of completely changing the dynamics of this segment. The company is claiming that it is now offering a unique option to its vehicle owners who can now replace the existing small capacity batteries with relatively larger ones.
How Many EV Owners Got These Batteries Swapped?
According to recent reports1, the company has released the data that until now a total of 8700 NIO vehicle owners have opted for this facility and have derived benefit from the company’s latest offer.
NIO Has Gained The Trust Of Customers
8700 is a big number when you consider that it is a new technology, and the company is also pretty new in the field and doesn’t have the heritage resembling that of giants like Mercedes or GM. This big number also shows that the company has come far and has thus been able to set itself as a well-reputed brand that customers trust.
Get It On A Monthly Or Annual Basis
The company is offering this service on a monthly or annual basis. This means that the EV batteries of NIO are relatively low cost and users also don’t have to deal with the issue of battery degradation. After replacing their previous batteries, they are provided with brand new ones that have elevated range.
Chinese New Year Bring Good News For NIO
The service came as a blessing for around 7326 customers who made use of the offer between 31st January and 6th February this year.
Most orders were received on 15th January and the below graph shows the date-wise data.
However, this has to be noted that NIO is not the first company that is offering this service. Rather the industry leader Tesla offered this service in 20132 but due to a disappointing response had to pull back this option.
Pros Of EV Battery Swapping
The major advantage of the battery swap feature includes reducing the cost of the EVs in general. This means that the batteries no longer remain as fixed parts of electric vehicles – rather they can be removed and replaced.
Battery Degradation, No Longer An Issue
The issue of battery degradation is also reduced to a great extent – by getting a set of newer batteries, EV owners don’t have to deal with the problems that are common in electric vehicles that have seen the test of time.
Limited Battery Warranties
Battery warranties are usually limited to a specific number of kilometers or a fixed period. However, once a battery is periodically replaced, these issues become immaterial.
Cons Of Battery Swapping
The biggest con of battery swapping is that it is a laborious process that takes a lot of time.
Most vehicle owners don’t have the time to go for a battery swap every month or even every year and this is why Tesla’s offer failed badly.
Battery Swapping Fee
Nothing in this world is free, including the overall process of battery swapping. Furthermore, the overall cost of swapping batteries sometimes exceeds the cost of purchasing a new battery after several years.
This is also one of the pivotal reasons that people in the US didn’t prefer to get their EV batteries swapped.
Might Be An Industry Trendsetter
However, as NIO is reporting that the Chinese market seems pretty interested in this unique feature, this might be a new turn for the EV segment. It might even lead to lower battery swapping fees and in the long run mean that we no longer need to remain worried about how long we can run these EV batteries.
Final Verdict
The world of EVs is already offering newer and better technologies and this latest step from NIO seems to be a great offer that might provide an additional sales boost to the company.
References
- Cnevpost, NIO says its flexible battery upgrade service has accumulated over 8,700 users. https://cnevpost.com/2022/02/17/nio-says-its-flexible-battery-upgrade-service-has-accumulated-over-8700-users/
- Cleantechnica, Tesla To Demo Battery Swapping On Thursday Night. https://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/19/tesla-will-demo-battery-swapping-on-thursday/
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