NIO has unveiled new proprietary charging products, including a 500 kW fast-charger, at its second annual Power Day event. Broadcasted on local social platforms and hosted by the OEM’s CEO and co-founder, Lihong Qin, the event also marked the opening of its 1,000th battery swap station.
During the event, NIO announced a new fast-charger capable of providing a maximum charging capacity of 500 kW. Operating at a peak current of around 650 amps, with an estimated voltage of around 800 volts, the charger is expected begin rolling out across Europe and China before the end of 2022. While confirming these specifications, the OEM did not specify how long it would take for the unit to fully recharge a vehicle.
Power Day also saw NIO reveal the third generation of its battery swapping station, which will offer increased capacity for battery packs and a more flexible layout. It confirmed that the new battery swap stations are in the late stages of development and are currently being tested. While a specific launch date has yet to be announced, NIO expects to begin installing the new stations between late 2022 and early 2023. Upon launch, they will offer customers an 800V high-voltage platform battery pack and be open to the wider automotive industry. Further details around these new stations will be shared before the end of the year.
In addition to revealing new products, NIO outlined a series of new goals related to its existing network of battery swapping stations – many of which are expected to be achieved before 2025. Within the next three years, for example, it expects the network to cover nine vertical highways, nine horizontal highways, and 19 urban areas in China. By 2025, the OEM will expand the network’s reach to encompass more than 4,000 stations worldwide – 1,000 of which will be located outside of China. By the same year, it expects more than 90% of its customers to live within 3.0 kilometres (1.9 miles) of at least one battery swap station.
Looking further ahead, NIO confirmed that it had completed testing vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies and will work on implementing them into future application scenarios.
