The Shanghai-headquartered NIO is in the final tests at its second Battery Swap Station in Norway after opening the first one in late January. The latest images of the upcoming station show that the facility is ready to open in the Scandinavian country, as initially reported by EV three weeks ago. As of August 6, the electric vehicle maker has a total of 1,051 battery swap stations in China.
Last Friday, NIO signed an agreement with the Hungarian Government in order to set up its 10,000 square meters plant in the country, the first one outside China. The carmaker will use the factory to produce its stations for the European market avoiding exporting costs from China.
The plant will serve as the “manufacturing, service and R&D center for the brand’s Power products and services in Europe with the main activities being production and after-sales service for battery swapping stations, training of NIO employees, and R&D in energy applications”, NIO said.
In late January, NIO CEO William Li and NIO Norway Manager Marius Hayler gathered in Oslo with 20 NIO users where it was confirmed the arrival of the ET7 sedan to the country in the last quarter of the year. The smaller sedan NIO ET5 will be built at NIO’s second factory at NeoPark in Hefei and will arrive in Norway, and the other European markets, during the Spring of 2023.
The EV maker will open three new NIO Houses in Norway country in the upcoming months, as said by the Communication Specialist in Norway Asbjørn Mitusch in late May. The second space will open during this quarter in Bergen while the other two showrooms are located in Stavanger and in Trondheim and are scheduled to open in the last quarter of the year.
NIO House in Bergen has a total of 312 square meters and will be located at Strandgaten 15. In Stavanger, NIO will establish itself in Haakon VII’s gate 7, and the venue will be a total of 248 square meters. In Trondheim, NIO will enter Søndre gate 4-10 with a 366 square meters space. In addition, the company is planning to open the fifth in Kristiansand.
On April 27, NIO reached a total of 500 vehicles delivered in Norway since its debut on September 30, 2021. Until now, only the ES8 Model is available but the sedan announced during NIO Day in December 2020 is arriving to the country in the last quarter of 2022. The Scandinavian country has been the entrance point to the European market for many automakers due to its strong EV adoption.
“We are in negotiations about property players in Kristiansand, and at best we may be able to open this location in 2022, but it is somewhat uncertain,” Mitusch added. NIO has currently nearly 70 employees in total in Norway and is expected to reach 100 increased by the end of 2022.
Recently, the company announced that, due to the current flight problems affecting millions of travelers, is offering free charging in the European Union countries that operate for its Norwegian users. In the last two months, airlines canceled tens of thousands of flights with Europe having more than double the cancellations of the U.S. between April and June, according to RadarBox.com data.
The company recently hosted the 2022 NIO Power Day where unveiled its upcoming products/ upgrades for the upcoming months namely the new 500kW ultra-fast charger and the third generation of NIO’s Battery Swap Stations.
“More products and technological innovations will be launched soon: 500kW super fast charge, Third-generation of Battery Swap Stations, and also an 800v high-voltage platform battery pack and supporting power exchange system, open to the whole industry”, NIO said.
NIO will enter 4 new European Markets in 2022: Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and The Netherlands. During the last NIO Day, the company revealed that will be present in 25 Countries by 2025.