In a recent development that has sparked controversy within the electric vehicle community, numerous Nio owners have reported that their lifetime free battery swap privileges have been unexpectedly revoked. The Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer appears to be cracking down on what it describes as misuse of its generous battery swap policy.

According to Chinese media Sina, Mr. Gao (pseudonym), who purchased a Nio ES8 Signature Edition for over 600,000 yuan (84,000 USD) in 2020, was among the first wave of customers to receive lifetime warranties and unlimited free battery swaps as part of their ownership package. However, on July 9, 2025, he and some other early Nio owners received text messages informing them that these benefits had been cancelled without a specific explanation.

On June 10, Nio published a notice on its official app seeking information about “operational vehicles improperly using first-owner benefits.” The company stated that it has identified improper usage of warranty, battery swap, and remote charging privileges.

According to the company’s “Nio Owner Basic Rights Notification,” benefits such as lifetime warranty and free battery swaps were intended solely for personal, non-commercial use. Vehicles used for taxi services, ride-hailing, or other commercial operations would face restrictions, including the revocation of free battery swaps and warranty coverage.

Investigation from Chinese media Dutenews reveals that some Nio owners have been exploiting the free battery swap policy in innovative ways, extreme cases include construction site managers using Nio vehicles as power supplies for temporary site offices and factory owners utilising swapped batteries to power lighting systems. One owner reportedly used the battery swap benefit to power six refrigerators, two air conditioners, and surveillance equipment in his supermarket, saving over 2,000 yuan (280 USD) in monthly electricity costs.

Nio introduced its “lifetime unlimited free battery swaps and lifetime warranty” policy for first owners of ES8 and ES6 models in August 2019. At that time, when EV charging infrastructure was still underdeveloped, this policy helped position Nio as a premium service-oriented brand and attracted early adopters.

As user numbers expanded, the company has gradually tightened its policies:

• October 2020: Changed from unlimited swaps to six per month for new owners
• April 2023: Further reduced to four swaps per month
• November 2023: Limited free power discharge to 15 kWh monthly, with fees for additional usage

Editor’s comment

Nio’s early owners were granted lifetime free battery swap privileges, with the explicit condition that these benefits were not to be used for commercial operations. However, the prevalence of ride-hailing apps in China makes it easy for owners to register their vehicles for commercial use. It’s highly improbable that ride-hailing companies share their data with Nio, making it challenging for Nio to gather concrete evidence of policy abuse. Consequently, Nio likely relies on data models to identify potential misuse. The cancellation of privileges for high-usage owners can also be seen as part of Nio’s ongoing efforts this year to reduce operating costs and achieve its fourth-quarter profitability target.

Source: Sina, Dutenews