While battery electric vehicles were not wildly successful at the start, new battery-swapping technology has brought the issue of charging vehicles to the fore again for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. Two countries making inroads in this arena are China and Norway, with Chinese EV maker, Nio, set to expand its battery-swapping technology simultaneously in China and Norway.
The tech works at the push of a button, initiating the automated battery-swapping process and the car automatically parks in the swapping station after which it is lifted to remove the battery pack. Within a minute, the new battery pack is installed by the Nio ES8 technology.
The automaker opened its first swap station in January in Norway with an aim to install 20 stations in that country alone.
Expansion of the battery-charging technology will continue on to Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, with Nio aiming to have 5000 swapping stations worldwide by 2025 (with around 1000 outside of China).