NIO and Metro sign a strategic cooperation agreement

NIO and Metro held a signing ceremony at the NIO House in the center of Shanghai to cooperate in the construction of charging and swapping stations. The two parties will establish a long-term strategic partnership and create development opportunities together.

According to the strategic cooperation agreement, the two parties will deepen cooperation in the construction of charging and swapping infrastructure, and NIO will build charging and swapping stations in some Metro stores across the country.

In addition, according to NIO's plan, the first second-generation battery swap station has completed mass production. Compared with the first-generation technology, the number of batteries per station in the second-generation battery swap station has increased to 13, and the service efficiency has increased by 3 times, with a maximum of 312 battery swaps per day. According to previous plans, NIO will complete 500 battery swap stations within the year. It will be launched in mid-April. NIO will speed up the deployment of battery swap stations to provide users with a more convenient way to replenish energy. I believe that through this cooperation with Metro, the second-generation battery swap stations may be deployed first in Metro in the future.

NIO has been planning for the construction of charging and swapping stations for a long time. The birth of charging and swapping stations has given car owners an additional option. They can choose to swap batteries while charging. In December 2020, NIO and State Grid Electric signed the "Framework Agreement on Deep Cooperation in Charging and Swapping and Energy Services". The agreement shows that the two parties will fully integrate their respective advantageous resources, actively explore innovations in vehicle and charging business models, and carry out cooperation in the joint construction of charging and swapping stations and vehicle-network interaction. On February 2, 2021, NIO and Red Star Macalline signed a framework agreement to deepen strategic cooperation. It is expected that in 2021, NIO will obtain Red Star Macalline's site construction and online operation support, and jointly build 60 charging and swapping stations across the country. On March 19, NIO and Shoufa Industry and Trade Company signed a strategic cooperation agreement on the construction of charging and swapping stations and vehicle-user services at the Beijing Future Center.

Compared with the traditional charging mode, the battery swap mode is not only more efficient, but also can solve the problem of charging parking spaces. In addition, the vehicle-battery separation business can greatly reduce the user's car purchase cost. Because the cost of power batteries in new energy vehicles can reach 40% of the total vehicle cost, users who use battery leasing can buy cars instead of batteries and pay battery rental fees every month. If the battery swap model is implemented, there is no need to spend high costs on batteries. However, due to the high cost of battery swap stations and the inconsistent standards and production processes of batteries of various car companies, the battery swap model has not yet been widely popularized.