The battery swapping mode for electric vehicles has been popular in China for a long time, with NIO being the first to propose and adopt batteries from CATL. NIO has also replicated its battery swapping system abroad, primarily in Europe.
Currently, NIO has over 2.000 battery swap stations in China and 27 in Europe, with plans for rapid growth in the coming months.
The idea is simple: instead of waiting half an hour or longer at a charging station to charge an electric vehicle's battery to 80%, you can swap the battery for a fully charged one in just three to five minutes at a swap station.
In theory, this sounds great, but what is the experience of battery swapping like in real life? How difficult is it to schedule and complete a battery swap?
A young female car owner from Europe documented the entire process in a video.
The video is interesting because it is shot from the driver's perspective, showcasing the experience from behind the steering wheel.
It all starts with the driver issuing a voice command ("I want to swap the battery"), and the navigation system responds with suggestions for the nearest swap stations. The user selects one and places an order for the battery swap, after which the car begins navigating to the swap station.
Upon arrival, if the swap station is ready to receive the vehicle, the driver is instructed to park the car in the "start area" marked as a parking spot on the asphalt.
From then on, all the driver needs to do is press the "start parking" button on the central screen, and the car will do the rest, reversing into the swap station and prompting the driver to initiate the swap process.
The driver is informed that opening any door, shifting gears, or pressing the brake pedal will terminate the swap process. Additionally, the air conditioning system will be disabled during this process, so the driver is advised to adjust the windows as needed before the battery swap begins.
After pressing the "start battery swap" button, what happens next can be a bit unsettling, as everything in the car shuts down—except for Nomi, whose "eyes" continue to glow in the dark. The car makes noises coming from underneath, and then the dashboard lights up again.
NIO claims that every 1.4 seconds, a car leaves one of its 2.000+ swap stations with a fully charged battery. The third-generation swap stations, launched in April 2023. can perform 408 swaps per day.
This battery swap service is called Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS), NIO's battery leasing service. This service separates the cost, maintenance, and upgradability of the battery from the overall cost of the vehicle. This approach has attracted many people. For example, in Norway, about 95% of users have chosen BaaS.
