Nio’s long awaited semi-solid state battery will finally launch on June 1 almost two years later than previously promised. The 150 kWh unit is the biggest capacity battery pack produced in China along with having the highest energy density. Certainly at the beginning it will only be available as an upgrade charged on a daily basis.
Nio initially claimed that the battery would begin deliveries in 2022 but only finally at the end of last year were prototypes becoming a reality with Nio CEO William Li undertaking a live-streamed endurance test in December in a Nio ET7. Over the course of 14 hours of driving at an average speed of 83.9 km/h the car covered 1044 km.
Thanks to Nio’s battery swapping technology all Nio owners can benefit from the new battery. The cost of renting is dependent on how big a battery the car was sold with. Those with 70/75 kWh battery packs will have to pay 150 yuan (21 USD) a day to use the 150 kWh pack. For those already with a larger 100 kWh pack the price is reduced to 100 yuan (14 USD) a day. Due to the modular nature of Nio’s battery swapping technology the 150 kWh unit has the same dimensions as all Nio’s other batteries.
According to Nio the 150 kWh battery pack is the world’s first soft-pack CTP (cell to pack) battery without thermal runaway. The battery is semi-solid state and the energy density is up to 360 Wh/kg which is the highest energy density for any pack currently mass-produced in China.
It’s previously been claimed that the cost of the 150 kWh pack is extremely expensive, about the same as a Nio ET5 car. This is believed to be the reason why the 150 kWh is not being offered for actual purchase by customers. The battery gives Nio models a range of around 1000 km CLTC and the rental means people undertaking long trip can rent a battery for a few days.
Nio in the first quarter of 2024 delivered 30,053 cars and have sold to date 479,647. The 2024 version of the Nio ET7 launched at the Beijing Auto Show.
Buyers of Nio cars have the option of buying just the car without the battery and then renting the battery under a BaaS (battery as a service) agreement. In mid-March Nio brought down the monthly rental price of the standard battery pack (75 kWh) from 980 yuan to 728 yuan. Similarly, the long-range pack (100 kWh) price came down from 1680 yuan to 1128 yuan.
Sources: Autohome, Fast Technology
