On June 13th, the first batch of NIO's fourth generation battery swapping stations were officially launched in Guangzhou and Lu'an. The new generation of battery swapping stations will support independent battery swapping for multiple brands and models, and can be used by NIO and its strategic partner users.
The biggest highlight of the fourth generation battery swapping station is its support for the use of Ledao brand models. In May of this year, NIO released its second brand "Ledo" and stated that Ledo brand models can use NIO's third and fourth generation battery swapping stations. At the launch of the fourth generation battery swapping station in Guangzhou, the official also showcased the live battery swapping situation of the LeDao L60 for the first time.
NIO stated that in addition to building a new fourth generation power station that will fully support the Ledo brand models, NIO will also adjust some third generation power stations for future use by the Ledo brand. Previously, Li Bin, founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, promised to have more than 1000 battery swapping stations available for use by Ledo by the end of this year.
Ledao L60 has completed its first battery swapping
NIO has launched two fourth generation battery swapping stations simultaneously today, located at Huadi Square in Liwan, Guangzhou and Luoji Service Area of G40 Shanghai Shaanxi Expressway in Lu'an City.
Among them, the fourth generation power station at Liwan Huadi Square in Guangzhou is the 108th power station in Guangzhou. The fourth generation power station at the Luoji Service Area of the G40 Shanghai Shaanxi Expressway is the first power station jointly constructed by NIO and Zhong'an Energy, and also the first project to be implemented after the cooperation agreement was signed by both parties on March 22 this year.
The fourth generation NIO battery swapping station comes standard with 6 ultra wide angle LiDARs and 4 Orin X chips, supporting one click automatic battery swapping and independent battery swapping when leaving the vehicle. According to the official introduction, compared to the previous generation, the fourth generation NIO battery swapping station has a 22% increase in battery swapping speed, with the fastest time being only 2 minutes and 24 seconds. The number of battery slots has increased to 23, and the maximum daily service frequency can reach 480 times. The efficiency and service capacity of battery swapping have been improved.
On the same day as the launch of the new generation of battery swapping stations, the first model of the NIO sub brand, the L60, also made its public debut and showcased its battery swapping function to the public.
Le Dao is the second brand launched by NIO on May 15th this year, and the first model L60 will be delivered in September. Li Bin stated during the financial report conference call on June 6th that Ledo had already received orders that exceeded expectations even before a store opened. In September, there will be 100 stores in the Ledao Fair, with an investment of 1-2 million yuan per store.
At the same time, Li Bin also promised that by the end of this year, the number of battery swapping stations that Ledao can use will exceed 1000. "After an investment of two to three hundred thousand yuan, the third-generation power station can be used by Ledao. The fourth generation station will begin to be officially deployed, compatible with Ledao and NIO.".
At the same time as the fourth generation battery swapping station, the NIO 640kW fully liquid cooled ultra fast charging station was launched. The charging station has a maximum power of 640kW per station, a maximum output current of 765A, and a maximum output voltage of 1000V, and can be easily operated with one hand.
As of June 13th, NIO has built 2432 battery swapping stations and 22633 charging piles nationwide, including 804 high-speed battery swapping stations and 1650 high-speed supercharging piles, making it the automotive brand with the most battery swapping stations and charging piles in the country. In addition, according to information from NIO, nearly 80% of NIO charging stations serve users outside of NIO.
NIO Energy Business Accelerates
While the layout of NIO's charging and swapping network continues to advance, NIO's energy business is being favored by capital.
On May 31st, NIO announced that NIO Energy Investment (Hubei) Co., Ltd. (referred to as "NIO Energy") had received a strategic investment of RMB 1.5 billion from Wuhan Guangchuang Emerging Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) (referred to as "Wuhan Guangchuang Fund") and other institutions. Weilai said that this round of strategic investment will be used for technology research and development, manufacturing, operation and maintenance in the fields of charging, power exchange, energy storage, battery service, energy Internet, as well as the layout and development of Weilai's energy charging and power exchange infrastructure, and support the investment in vehicle network interactive innovation business.
NIO Energy settled in Wuhan in May 2017, and the official stated that this investment will further support NIO Energy's rapid development.
The scale of the "battery swapping alliance" led by NIO is also continuing to grow.
As of now, NIO Energy has reached a charging and swapping strategic cooperation with Changan Automobile, Geely Automobile Group, Jiangqi Group, Chery Automobile, Lotus, GAC Group, and China FAW, working together to promote a larger, standardized, and unified energy infrastructure network. NIO claims that the introduction of a strategic investment of 1.5 billion yuan in this round has provided financial support for the rapid development of NIO Energy, optimized its capital structure, and laid a solid foundation for NIO Energy's long-term high-quality development.
According to research by CICC, the total scale of the entire battery swapping industry is expected to exceed 200 billion yuan by 2025. In addition to the commercial benefits of multi platform and multi brand shared battery swapping models, battery swapping stations can also play the role of virtual power plants, achieving energy conservation and efficiency improvement through peak shaving and valley filling.
NIO Energy's business may also usher in independent development opportunities.
Li Bin stated during the financial report conference call that NIO Energy has an independent financing plan and will continue to open up investment in the future. At present, NIO provides 30-40 orders per day for each battery swapping station, and achieving breakeven can be achieved when this number reaches 60 orders. "We have great confidence in the long-term sustainability of NIO Energy's operations. Considering investments in energy storage, flexible upgrades, and other areas, we have no doubt about the profitability of the swapping stations."
On June 13th, Yang Chao, Assistant Vice President of NIO, also told Time Finance and others that after the cost of the fourth generation power station has been reduced to 1.5 million yuan, it will continue to reduce costs and increase profitability in the future.
While NIO's energy business is accelerating, NIO's car sales are also increasing. In May 2024, NIO delivered 20544 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 233.8% and a month on month increase of 31.5%, setting a new historical high; From January to May this year, NIO delivered 66217 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 51%.
In the eyes of industry insiders, the energy business may become one of NIO's core advantages in participating in market competition.