Could battery swapping replace EV charging?

Nio has so far built 868 swap stations in China and now is trialling in Norway. Photo: Nio

We’ve already seen EV battery swap programme thanks to Taiwan electric scooter business, Gogoro, and now there’s an experiment for a similar programme for BEV cars.

Gogoro developed a battery-swapping refueling platform for urban electric two-wheel scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles, with the battery giving a 100km range. It’s proved such a success, that the mini Telsa is heading to Wall Street, to create an international business.

Now Chinese electric car company, Nio, is trialling battery swaps for electric vehicles in Europe, with Oslo, Norway – the electric car capital of the world – the first city in the experiment.

Battery swapping stations let owners replace a spent battery for a full one in around five minutes. Nio opened its first battery swap station in Norway in January and aims to install 20 in the country.

Nio has so far built 868 swap stations in China and claims its customers have swapped batteries 7.6 million times.

The company has touted battery swapping as a unique selling point for the brand’s premium SUVs and forthcoming sedan range and selling the battery swap platform would be the equivalent of Tesla’s recent decision to allow other brands to use its Supercharger network, says Europe Automotive News.