Why is NIO opening its first Power Swap Station in the Netherlands in Tilburg?
Nio, the car brand from China, takes a different approach. Instead of aiming for the accelerated charging speeds, men opt for a battery swapping method. Another full battery within 5 minutes. Is this the solution for the future electric car driver who makes every comparison with a fuel car?
NIO was founded in 2014 and is driven by “Blue Sky Coming”, or a cleaner and more sustainable future. As a confirmed USP, they go for “a faster experience than filling up”. Often, with the electric car they don’t let you wait for a full battery, but choose to change the battery. This is done at a NIO Power Swap Station.
The places where you can find these stations is at Van der Valk Exclusive hotels. These are, often, close to the highway, so that a full battery from the highway exit to the highway entrance takes an average of 10 minutes. This time takes 5 minutes to change the battery. Converted, a maximum and theoretically 312 swaps can take place per day.
Charging speed in a NIO battery hotel
With such a Swapping Station you get a battery that is moved with a 20 or 80 kW charging speed. This is included in the ‘battery hotel’. This charging speed is probably kept relatively low because you cause less damage to a battery. The faster you charge, the worse it can be for the battery quality. The battery degradation process can then proceed more quickly.
But in addition to these motives, you also have the load on the electricity grid. Higher charging speeds demand more from ‘the net’. And in this time of grid congestion (more demand for electricity than the grid capacity. Read: supply) a lower charging speed is a nice bonus. In addition, it was very interesting to hear at the opening that from last year the stations can also supply back to the grid. Often a bi-directional interchange station. As with the Amsterdam Arena, this allows electricity to be fed back in the event of a large electricity demand to make an active positive contribution to the grid.
Why Tilburg?
The first Dutch Swapping Station is ahead NIO it 8e in Europe. In the larger picture, where there are already no less than 1,200 operational interchange stations, the 8e not that memorable. But know that there must be 120 stations throughout Europe by 2023 and that additional stations will be added in the Netherlands in The Hague (A4), Utrecht (A2), Harmelen (A12), among others, that things can go quickly. Tilburg is therefore the first location that is chosen. Not because Tesla’s first European factory is located here, but because Tilburg, within Brabant, is nicely situated between Breda and Eindhoven. For the locations that will now be placed in the first few years, it is also important that the infrastructure is somewhat more difficult. This is the case at Van der Valk Exclusief because of the presence of a public one as well Tesla superchargers. Nice bonus!
In the meantime, don’t see changing batteries as the holy grail, but as an addition to the possibility to charge at a public charging station with 11 kW or at a fast charger with a maximum of 140 kW. This applies to both the ET5, EL7 and ET7 (driving test).
Open questions
The journalists present still had some questions for the NIO, which were not always answered. That’s also the beauty, they make sure that all these questions are in dialogue to go with the users. Think of:
- what if you use one NIO ET7 buys where the battery change subscription does not apply (purchased NIO + battery), but you do want to use it (battery is from NIO)?
- but also, what will be the fiscal value of the car if you later upgrade NIO to a larger, read: more expensive, battery pack? For example, have your NIO delivered with 75 kWh and then upgrade at a station for a 100 kWh. Or later even the 150 kWh version with a range of 1,000 km. .
I can probably answer that last question myself. The fiscal value is determined at the time of registration of the car. Everything that happens to the car afterwards, for example leather upholstery or larger rims, is not included in the addition. An advantage for the business driver.