Reuters
China’s Nio opens trial for high-speed EV battery swapping stations
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio Inc began trial operation on Tuesday of faster, more efficient battery swapping stations in China in its push to make battery swapping a viable alternative to rival EV makers’ rapid-charging technology. With capacity to store up to 21 battery packs each, Nio’s Power Swap Station 3.0 can speed up battery swapping to less than five minutes and lower the service cost per swap, Shen Fei, Nio senior vice president for power management, told reporters at an event in Shanghai last Thursday. Battery swapping allows drivers to replace depleted packs quickly with fully charged packs, rather than plugging the vehicle in to a charging point.