China EV supplier NIO set to bring battery-as-a-service to Europe

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) start-up NIO has signalled plans to extend its battery-as-a-service (BaaS) model across Europe after a successful launch in Norway at the end of last year. BaaS users can choose to purchase an EV without battery, and subscribe to batteries of different capacities according to their needs by paying a monthly subscription fee, while the manufacturer also offers the facility to swap out batteries at charging stations.

Last autumn the company began deliveries in Norway, and has indicated it plans to move into Germany, Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark this year. It currently has an advanced engineering R&D centre in Oxford.

The carmaker already has its first integrated station for battery charging and swapping in Norway and intends to build 20 power swap statins in Norway by the end of this year, covering Norway’s five largest cities and their main roads.

Headquartered in Shanghai, NIO has reported sales of 192,838 EVs to date. It has also deployed 884 of its power swap stations, 727 power charger stations and 3,832 destination chargers in China.

NIO has committed to installing 600 new battery swap stations in China by 2025, and says it plans to have over 4,000 NIO battery swap stations worldwide with around 1,000 outside of China.

NIO Europe’s CEO Alexander Schwarz said: “Norway is our starting point of our journey in Europe and beyond. Our vision is clear: to provide our users with seamless and worry-free services as well as supreme and joyful user experiences. We offer to be their friend and partner on their personal journey to a brighter and more sustainable future. From our NIO Houses, such as the first one in Oslo, through to our battery swap stations, our worry-free Battery-as-a-Service subscription models and our convenient online services, being part of the NIO community will bring joy, friendship and meaningful interaction.”

Residual values

NIO also says BaaS addresses the difficulty of assigning residual values to EVs, as the battery pricing is divorced from the vehicle itself. In Norway, BaaS users can choose to purchase a car without battery, and subscribe to batteries of various capacities according to actual needs by paying a monthly subscription fee. BaaS users choosing the standard-range battery can have a deduction of NOK 90,000 from the car purchase price and pay a battery subscription fee of NOK 1,399 per month. The price deduction for the long-range battery stands at NOK 160,000 with a monthly subscription fee of NOK 1,999.

Strategic partnerships

In November last year NIO announced a strategic cooperation agreement with Shell to further collaborate in the EV and energy industries globally.

Under the deal, NIO and Shell will jointly construct and operate battery charging and swapping facilities. NIO and Shell have said they plan to install 100 battery swapping stations in China by 2025, and start to construct and operate pilot stations in Europe from 2022. Shell’s charging network in Europe will also become available to NIO users.

In addition, NIO has now said it is in talks with several other carmakers about licensing its battery-swapping technology, which is designed to address drivers’ concerns about the availability of chargers and the time taken to power up. The technology involves unscrewing the bottom of the car and replacing the battery through a hatch in the floor of the station, which takes about five minutes.

However, each site battery swap site requires a dedicated grid connection of 650MW, while any other manufacturer planning to use this approach would need to ensure its batteries were the same size and design.