- Nio and Lotus have decided to work together on different charging technologies and making electric vehicles (EVs) that can work with Nio’s special battery-swapping platform.
- Nio’s network of charging stations, which can replace an EV battery in minutes, has grown a lot in China and now has 2,404 sites. The car company is also beginning to build gas stations all over Western Europe.
- Lotus quickly switched to making electric vehicles, and they want to make even more by 2024.
Ten years ago, getting a new battery for an electric car might have seemed like the end of progress. However, with more than 2,000 sites, Nio’s bet on this technology is paying off, at least in its own country.
After signing a partnership deal to develop EVs that can use the battery-swap system and a universal battery standard, among other charging goals, Lotus will use this technology in its future cars.
Nio currently has 3,776 charging stations and 2,404 battery exchange places in China alone. The startup built its infrastructure similar to Tesla’s Supercharger network. It has 790 sites along expressways that connect big towns.
The Power Swap Stations look like small car washes. An app in the car turns on the automatic battery switch, which only takes a few minutes after the car gets there.
All told EVs will make up 63% of all vehicles shipped in 2023, and Lotus makes most of its cars. The company is excited to offer this charging service to its customers. As of now, Lotus has yet to say which models will get the battery-swapping feature first or if it will only be available in China.
Group Lotus CEO Qingfeng Feng said, “Our users will be able to enjoy Lotus’ track genes and perfect performance while also enjoying the nice services of Nio’s charging and swapping network throughout China.” This is possible because Group Lotus and Nio have agreed to share resources for these activities.
For example, being able to swap out batteries is thought to “future-proof” an EV because it lets you replace them fast if they slowly break down, instead of having to pay a lot for expensive replacements in a workshop, which many owners can’t afford. It also makes it possible for stations to slowly add new battery types that are the same size and offered by the stations themselves.
Nio, a company that makes electric cars, has added more battery switching points outside of China. In the past year, the company has added more than 30 sites in Europe to its mix.
It needs to be clarified if Nio’s battery-swap technology or even the cars themselves will come to the United States as the battery-as-a-service (BaaS) standard grows. Nio has quickly shown that EV owners are willing to pay for this kind of convenience as long as there are enough charging points in the right places.
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