NIO changes the circuit, and it gets wider and wider
The king of new energy infrastructure was born
Author: Truman
Edited by Qin Zhangyong
Nearly 10 years after its establishment, NIO's battery swap business has ushered in a new milestone.
On January 11, Anhui Energy Group, Anhui Provincial Traffic Control Group and NIO signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Hefei, under which the three parties will support the newly established Zhongan Energy to promote the construction of 1,000 storage, charging and swapping integrated battery swap stations in an orderly manner and build a shared new energy vehicle storage, charging and swapping network. On the other hand, JAC and Chery have also joined the battery swap alliance, bringing the number of car companies that have publicly cooperated with NIO to swap batteries to 4.
The establishment of Zhongan Energy means that state-owned assets have entered the market, and the battery swap route that NIO adheres to has begun to lead to qualitative changes from quantitative changes.
Prior to this, NIO's battery swap has been controversial, compared with other new energy vehicle companies to choose oil and electricity as a transition, NIO chose the "stupidest method", not relying on the fire range extension technology, but using the "rechargeable, swappable and upgradeable" strategy to replenish energy.
When some people are still questioning the battery swap mode, users have voted with their feet, the battery swap alliance is intensively expanding, and the battery swap station is also being laid frantically.
In 2023, NIO will build 1,035 new battery swap stations around the world. According to the plan, NIO will build another 1,000 battery swap stations and 20,000 charging piles this year, plus the 1,000 storage, charging and swapping stations that Zhongan Energy will soon promote, and NIO's energy replenishment infrastructure network in the country will usher in a huge leap.
01
Battery swapping has been transformed into a public service product
The most important thing for NIO in this cooperation is that it has begun to have the attributes of public goods, and battery swap technology and services have become public service products.
This can be seen from the funder behind it. Zhong'an Energy's largest shareholder is Wanneng Group, a wholly state-owned company funded by the Anhui provincial government, with a 31.5% stake. The second largest shareholder is NIO, with a stake of 19.25%.
In addition to Anhui Energy Group, Anhui Traffic Control is also involved in the cooperation, which is a unified highway investment, operation and management platform in Anhui Province, and the group's operation accounts for 91% of Anhui's expressways. What can be determined is that Zhong'an Energy's main business is battery swapping.
According to the official, Zhongan Energy is mainly responsible for promoting the construction of charging and swapping infrastructure at the city, county and township levels, and building an open and shared new energy vehicle storage and charging network.
According to the cooperation agreement, Zhongan Energy will promote the construction of 1,000 new battery swap stations integrating storage, charging and swapping, and NIO will provide battery swap technology and operation services. After all, when it comes to battery swapping, no car company will know better than NIO.
What is the concept of 1000 new battery swap stations?
Sinopec has only about 900 gas stations in Anhui Province.
At the end of last year, NIO had just over 2,300 battery swap stations in the country, and if Anhui alone would have 1,000 battery swap stations with integrated storage, charging and swapping would no longer be as convenient as refueling.
Li Bin himself admits that Anhui will become the friendliest place for electric car owners.
In fact, before the inauguration of Zhongan Energy, NIO had announced the "Thousand Station Plan" in 2024, which will continue to build 1,000 new battery swap stations around the world this year, and these two 1,000 will not be repeated, in other words, NIO will also build battery swap infrastructure.
Before 2018, it was the strategic early stage of NIO's battery swap business, from the initial determination of the technical route of battery swap, to the formation of a team, and then to the official operation of the first battery swap station, which was NIO's initial exploration of the battery swap business.
From 2018 to the end of 2023, it is the second stage of the development of NIO's battery swap strategy, and in the past five years, NIO has built infrastructure and battery swap stations have sprung up all over the country, which has finally proved that battery swapping is a "difficult but correct" thing, and NIO has also found fellow travelers.
Now NIO's battery swap strategy has begun to enter the third stage of development and maturity - state-owned assets support. It can be said that through continuous efforts, NIO has changed from being questioned to being understood and supported, turning battery swapping from a private domain product for NIO users to a public service product.
In addition, Zhongan Energy will also explore V2G, S2G, "battery bank" and other vehicle-network interactive business scenarios and business models, and expand virtual power plants, carbon management and other businesses.
To a certain extent, Wanneng's investment can reduce the burden on NIO, so that NIO can focus more energy on the research and development of battery swap technology and the operation of battery swap stations, and effectively reduce the construction and operating costs of battery swap stations, thereby promoting the unification of battery swap standards.
Judging from NIO's continuous investment and layout in battery swapping, its positioning is no longer just a new energy vehicle manufacturer, but also a transformation into an energy company.
02
One "cooperation" is a win-win situation
In 2018, NIO's first battery swap station landed in Shenzhen, and in the past five years, NIO has continued to increase its weight in the field of battery swapping, and the circle of friends for battery swapping has also continued to expand. Following Changan and Geely, NIO has joined hands with JAC and Chery to cooperate in the battery swap business, and the number of car companies that have openly cooperated has reached 4, and the battery swap alliance has been initially formed.
However, the greater significance of the battery swap alliance is to allow car companies to shift from independent operations to "joint operations" in the battery swap market.
In addition to promoting the establishment of battery swap standards and the operation of battery swap stations, the two companies will also jointly develop battery swap models, and the first swappable passenger car with a battery pack is scheduled to be launched in 2025.
Last week, NIO's cooperation with JAC will also launch models that can be recharged, swapped and upgraded.
The strategic cooperation agreement signed between NIO and Geely will focus on operating in the B-end market. It will not only broaden the fundamentals of NIO's battery swap, but also expand the advantages of battery swapping in the B-end market.
Battery swapping has a great future in the B-end market. Compared with gasoline vehicles, drivers earn 33.1% more per year by using battery swapping mode, and compared with BEVs, drivers save one or two hours of charging time per day and can take more orders, and their annual income is about 13.8% higher. Now NIO's battery swap has begun to contact the B-end business, which is expected to become the second growth curve of battery swapping.
The four cooperative car companies that have been disclosed now include both central enterprises such as Changan, as well as traditional head independent brands such as Chery and Geely, which also proves that the battery swap business has gradually been recognized by the industry.
According to the current development trend, NIO's circle of friends for battery swapping is obviously more than that. Li Bin said at the media communication conference at the end of last year that for NIO, the battery swap business is the same as Amazon Cloud and Alibaba Cloud in terms of energy cloud layout, and the logic is basically the same, such as the scale and long construction period, all of which are used first.
"What we do is more similar to what Tesla did in North America, and if we can't beat it, we join him. ”
What Li Bin said Tesla is doing in North America is Tesla's patent for the design of open charging connectors, and has launched its own standard for this purpose, the NACS North American charging standard, which has now been joined by Ford, General Motors, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and many other car companies.
Li Bin bluntly said that from the first day of battery replacement, it was decided to open to the outside world.
The benefits are obvious, as more car companies join, they can not only promote the unification of battery swap standards, but also dilute the cost, so as to make profits, and the moat of NIO battery swap will become wider and wider.
Moreover, other car companies will also enjoy the brand dividend of NIO when they cooperate with NIO, which can not only "prostitute" the battery swap network technology accumulated by NIO over the years, but also reduce the cost of independently developing battery swap models.
03
Towards national standards
In a series of cooperation reached by NIO last week, I don't know if you blind students have found a Hua point: Anhui.
The relationship between Weilai and Hefei, Anhui Province has no need to be said, Li Bin once personally admitted that it was Hefei that rescued Weilai from the intensive care unit, and now at the key turning point of Weilai's battery swap, Anhui has once again become a god assist.
It can be seen from the background of Zhongan Energy that there are not only Anhui state-owned assets, but also state-owned enterprises like Anhui Traffic Control, and Chery Automobile and JAC, which have newly joined the battery swap alliance, are all local car companies in Anhui.
As of January 11, 2024, NIO has deployed a total of 100 battery swap stations, 100 charging stations, and 626 charging piles in Anhui. The 1,000 battery swap stations that the new company is about to promote the construction of will also focus on the layout in Anhui, covering the city, county and township levels, which can better meet the energy supplement needs of new energy vehicle users in the local market.
Starting from Anhui, these 1,000 storage, charging and swapping stations can not only promote the construction of local charging and swapping facilities, but also replicate them in other regions to promote, becoming a sample of cooperation between NIO and all parties.
NIO said that the follow-up battery swap station will also usher in the entry of various types of capital, and continue to promote the joint construction of local governments, industrial capital, and energy industry giants to create a new asset holding model.
This also makes NIO's battery swap business full of imagination, and a mature battery swap model has unlimited potential for regions and industries.
Of course, the current battery swap mode is still in the stage of running wild in China, and it is urgent to unify policies and standards.
At the end of 2020, the National Energy Administration (NEA) released the industry standards for battery swapping, among which NIO took the lead in compiling three standards: General Technical Requirements for Locking Mechanisms for Rapid Battery Box Replacement for Electric Vehicles, General Technical Requirements for Cooling Interfaces for Rapid Battery Box Replacement for Electric Vehicles, and General Requirements for Rapid Battery Box Replacement for Electric Vehicles.
NIO has also been deeply involved in the compilation of two standards: General Technical Requirements for Chassis Battery Swapping Systems for Pure Electric Passenger Vehicles and Specifications for Construction and Completion Acceptance of Electric Vehicle Charging and Swapping Facilities.
At present, NIO has more than 1,600 related patented technologies in battery swapping, and all its models can be swapped at any of NIO's battery swapping stations.
It is foreseeable that once the battery swap standard is unified, more car companies and consumers will recognize the battery swap, and when different models of different brands can enjoy the same power-up experience as NIO car owners, we will understand that the law of true fragrance will never go out of style.
At present, the top priority is to promote the new infrastructure layout of the electric vehicle industry and make the battery swap standard move towards the national standard.
At present, only NIO can do this.