Remember battery swapping? Following Tesla’s abandonment of the concept, and the spectacular rise and fall of Better Place, most in the EV industry probably wrote it off as a failed transitional technology. However, over in China, NIO has been diligently improving its battery swapping technology. The company introduced its Power Swap system in December 2017, and opened its first battery swap station in Shenzhen in May 2018.

Battery swapping got a boost in April, when the Chinese government announced that new energy vehicles with battery swap technology would continue to receive subsidies through 2022.

NIO Power has installed 131 battery swap stations in 58 cities across China, and recently announced its 500,000th EV battery swap.

Nio’s fully-automatic swap takes three minutes. Customers can also get a comprehensive battery and powertrain inspection. It’s part of what NIO calls a “chargeable, swappable, upgradable” user experience. Benefits of swapping include the ability to upgrade to a higher-capacity and/or more advanced battery at any time.

Source: Green Car Congress