Premium EV manufacturer NIO has officially launched Battery as a Service (BaaS) for customers in China. Now, NIO BaaS users can purchase a car without the battery, making EVs more price competitive against existing powertrains, while also providing the flexibility to change battery capacity depending on their needs and pay accordingly. In addition, BaaS also represents a systematic solution to the long-existing challenges for EV penetration, including battery degradation, battery upgradability, and lower resale value.
With the battery price not included in the vehicle sales price, nor in the finance payments, the costs are significantly lower to switch to an EV. Users who choose to purchase NIO cars with BaaS can benefit from RMB 70,000 off the car price across all NIO models, and subscribe to a 70 kWh battery pack for only RMB 980 per month. Users who have not subscribed to NIO’s Worry-Free Service Plan need to pay a battery guarantee fee of RMB 80 per month. NIO has achieved the homologation for vehicles to be sold without the battery and the first BaaS user has already completed the purchase process including finance, car insurance and vehicle registration.
BaaS is based on NIO’s innovative battery swapping technologies and national network of 143 Power Swap stations and services. NIO has already obtained more than 1,200 patents related to battery swapping and completed over 800,000 swaps for users. Recently, China’s first national electric vehicle battery swapping standard, of which NIO took the initiative in drafting together with China Automotive Technology & Research Center (CATARC) and other OEMS, has been approved, promoting the development of battery swapping technologies and services. This is further enhanced with the 2020 policy of national NEV subsidies that favour battery swapping technology. Electric vehicles costing over RMB 300,000 are now eligible for subsidies only if they have the capability of battery swapping.
Weineng Wuhan Battery Asset Co., Ltd., initiated by NIO, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, Hubei Science Technology Investment Group Co., Ltd., and Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd., will purchase battery packs and commission NIO to provide battery subscription services to users.
SOURCE: NIO
