Nio Sees Improving Battery Swap Business, Shanghai Stations Near Profitability

Nio’s battery swap network in Shanghai is nearing profitability as the trend in the battery swap business gains momentum, the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker’s founder and CEO William Li said.

Li made the remarks in a Weibo post on Friday, sharing a clip from a February 8 livestream on Douyin, a short-form video platform. He emphasized that 2024 would be a significant year for expanding Nio’s battery swap infrastructure, aiming to make the service as convenient as refueling a gasoline vehicle for users of Nio, Onvo, and partner brands.

See also: Nio Reports Record 136,720 Battery Swaps in a Single Day During Chinese New Year Travel Rush

Shen Fei, Nio’s vice president for energy business, stated during the livestream that the company is currently providing more than 9,000 battery swap services per day in Shanghai, with the figure expected to approach 10,000 soon.

“I can boldly tell you that in the vast majority of places in Shanghai at the moment, you can definitely make money if you can build a battery swap station,” Shen said.

Nio operates 3,110 battery swap stations across China, with Shanghai hosting the highest number at 183. Last November, Nio’s Chief Financial Officer, Stanly Qu, said at an industry forum that the company had over 150 swap stations in Shanghai at the time, with most serving more than 100 swaps daily. Qu noted that a station typically breaks even at 60 to 70 swaps per day.

See also: Nio Collaborates on Draft Standard for Electric Car Battery Swapping Systems in Germany

Although Nio has not disclosed a specific target for new swap stations in 2024, the company announced in August that its network would cover more than 2,300 counties in 27 provincial-level administrative regions in China by the end of 2025. Additionally, its charging network aims to extend to all county-level regions nationwide by June 30, 2025.

Li reiterated in the February 8 livestream that Nio plans to surpass 5,000 battery swap stations by the end of 2025. He also pointed to the increasing involvement of Chinese battery giant CATL  in the battery swap market as validation of Nio’s approach.