Nio will let Chinese owners swap different-sized batteries daily

Nio will leverage its cars' innovative battery swap ability to offer a unique new program. Starting in a few Chinese cities, Nio will allow owners to swap to a different size battery - bigger or smaller - on a daily basis.

The pilot program will be live from October 28 in Guangdong, Shandong, Chongqing, Hangzhou, and Huzhou but Nio plans to make it available across all of China from late December.

The pilot will be available to both regular Nio owners as well as those that bought the car through the BaaS (battery as a service) program.

Nio battery swap stations will have three batteries on tap - 70kWh, 75kWh, and 100kWh. There are plans to offer a semi-solid-state 150kWh battery but that has been delayed until 2023.

Owners with a 70-75kWh battery will pay CNY 68 ($9.4) per day to move to the 100kWh battery, while those with the biggest battery moving down will get 200 Nio credits, worth CNY 20, per day.

The new program will allow owners that are adequately served by a 70kWh or 75kWh battery for their daily commute, to have the option to get a higher range with the 100kWh only when needed. It's something that many EV owners around the globe would gladly pay to use.

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