By YANG Shihan

EV startup Nio launched a new battery rental service on Friday. Customers can choose from daily, monthly, or yearly rental options from 50 yuan per day.

Alongside the battery service, all-new 20kW V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) charging stations enable EVs to recharge during low-load periods and release energy during peak demand.

Nio has just over 1,500 battery swap stations in China. The CEO LI Bin had previously set a target of over 2,300 by the end of the year, but, from February to July, only about 250 new stations were added. Vice president SHEN Fei mentioned a "high probability" of more than 100 stations this month. QIN Lihong, Nio's president, even estimated that the task would be completed by the end of November.

After two months of declines, Nio saw a resurgence of sales in June, surpassing ten thousand, the success attributed to the launch of new products.

Setting the standard

While Nio remains a key player in the battery swap model, they are not the only provider. Rising Auto, a premium EV marque of SAIC Group, has announced battery plans, including a 2.5-minute rapid swap, and a single station capable of accommodating up to 40 batteries.

Nio has said it is willing to share interface standards with the entire industry. With over three million battery-swappable vehicles, Nio hopes that new entrants will use the same specifications and avoid the need for alternative stations.

XIN Guobin, vice minister of industry and information technology, has emphasized the need to unify standards for batteries. While Nio is expected to play a role in establishing these standards, specific information has not been released.

More immediate obstacles

Unified standards are a sound idea, but losses from battery swapping are a pressing concern.

Amid the uncertainty surrounding standards, Nio faces urgent challenges in addressing the losses from the swap model. Nio canceled its free lifetime swap program after a net loss of 4.7 billion yuan in Q1.