On October 25th, NIO's 1999 replacement power station was launched at the Macau Science Museum. With the launch of this third-generation power station, the Macau region has 2 power stations and 4 charging stations. As of now, NIO has laid out a total of 249 replacement power stations in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao region, including 66 high-speed replacement power stations.
The Macau area is relatively small, and charging in public places is not as convenient as changing batteries. Many car owners value the function of changing batteries very much, "said Yang Bo, the general manager of NIO Motors in Guangzhou." Next, we will increase the layout of infrastructure and power stations in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao
On the day after the launch of the second power station in Macau (i.e. October 26th), NIO's 2000th power station has also been completed on the Lianhuo Expressway section of the Silk Road. So far, we have preliminarily completed the layout of the replacement power station on the highway section. In the next step, we will connect all 19 major urban agglomerations in the nine vertical and nine horizontal directions, "said Shen Fei, Vice President of NIO
There is no conflict between changing the power station and 800V high-voltage fast charging
Although many car companies are laying out 800V high-voltage fast charging technology, NIO is still racing on the battery swapping track.
It is understood that the two replacement power stations launched by NIO recently aim to improve the energy replenishment system in Macau, the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao region, and the Silk Road. NIO stated that with the launch of the second power station in Macau, any NIO car owner in Macau can achieve a power change within 3 kilometers. Starting from 2024, car owners can also switch electricity along the Silk Road from Xi'an to Xinjiang.
According to data from NIO, in the past 477 days, NIO has launched an average of 2.1 replacement power plants per day. With the launch of two new replacement power stations in Macau and Lianhuo Expressway, NIO has launched 2000 replacement power stations nationwide, covering 240 prefecture level cities. Among them, there are 601 replacement power stations on the highway section, covering the high-speed network of 6 vertical, 4 horizontal, and 8 major urban agglomerations.
The coverage of replacement power stations is rapidly expanding, and the number of NIO replacement power stations is also continuously increasing. Shen Fei revealed on October 25th, "Now we need to replace almost 60000 batteries per day, with a cumulative order quantity of over 31 million
While NIO is accelerating the layout of its battery swapping system, many car companies have launched efforts in the 800V high-voltage fast charging field, such as Xiaopeng Automobile, Ideal Automobile, and Aian. Among them, some car companies claim that they can use high-voltage platforms to charge for 10 minutes and replenish 400 kilometers.
In this context, the industry has raised many doubts about the NIO battery swapping solution, such as the advantages of battery swapping compared to 800V high-voltage fast charging.
In response, Shen Fei said, "There is no conflict between 800V high-voltage fast charging and battery swapping. The two are not in the same latitude, and NIO does not exclude any charging technology
Shen Fei stated that NIO adheres to the "rechargeable and interchangeable" energy replenishment method. In addition to battery swapping, NIO's charging network is also being synchronously improved. NIO has at least a thousand high-power charging stations with a power of 500kW, which may be the largest enterprise in China to build the most high-power charging stations. "Shen Fei said," I also hope that car companies can launch more products that support 800V fast charging, so that our charging stations can be better utilized
It is reported that 800V usually refers to the current and voltage range that the electrical architecture of new energy vehicles can support, while 500kW refers to the charging power of the charging station. To achieve 800V fast charging, it is generally paired with a charging station with a power of 480kW or above.
Shen Fei: Electricity exchange is the core competitiveness
In the opinion of industry insiders, high-voltage fast charging and battery swapping can effectively improve the usage scenarios of new energy vehicle owners. However, currently, there are still many challenges to be solved in the power exchange mode.
Yu Qingjiao, Secretary General of the Zhongguancun New Battery Technology Innovation Alliance and Chairman of the Battery Hundred People Association, told Times Finance: "Fast charging and battery swapping are both better ways to solve mileage anxiety, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, complementing each other. The main challenge of battery swapping lies in the standardization and popularization of batteries, as well as the small base of battery swapping stations
It is understood that many domestic car companies such as NIO, Geely, and SAIC have launched electric vehicle replacement models, and energy companies such as Sinopec and Ningde Times have also begun to layout electric vehicle replacement facilities. However, the inconsistent product standards among enterprises and the difficulty of sharing and generalizing them have become a major obstacle to the development of the electricity exchange market.
Regarding this, Shen Fei stated that NIO has been participating in the formulation and implementation of national electricity exchange standards since 2016. I believe that battery swapping can be standardized and generalized. How long it takes depends on how hard we ourselves and the entire industry work towards it, "Shen Fei said.
Yu Qingjiao also believes that unified standards and compatibility with multiple brands are prerequisites for the large-scale development of the power exchange model.
It is worth mentioning that the cost pressure brought by the large-scale installation of replacement power stations cannot be underestimated. According to the financial report data released by NIO in August, its operating loss in the second quarter of 2023 reached 6.07 billion yuan, an increase of 113.5% compared to the second quarter of 2022 and 18.8% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
In this context, whether to continue to invest heavily in the energy replenishment system, pursue early profitability, or simultaneously achieve both goals has become a challenge hanging ahead for NIO.
Regarding NIO's view on the relationship between large-scale investment in heavy assets and corporate operations, Shen Fei replied to Times Finance: "The core consideration is whether there is value in doing electricity exchange. If we believe in its value and can see its value gradually increasing, then we should persist in doing this thing
Of course, we will also make some adjustments based on the actual situation. For example, if one day we believe that the national network layout has been preliminarily completed, perhaps our speed of building and replacing power stations can be slightly slower. "Shen Fei added," (We) definitely need to consider all aspects of business and calculate accounts every day
In Shen Fei's view, battery swapping is currently a very core competitiveness of NIO, which is value.