SHANGHAI -- Chinese premium electric brand Nio will install faster battery swap stations in Europe beginning this autumn amid a slower-than-expected rollout of its network.
The new stations will knock a minute off the swapping time and add more packs per station, the company said.
Nio currently has 13 so-called Power Swap Stations in Europe located in Norway, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, which Nio CEO William Li said was "far behind our original planning" on the company's earnings call in March.
Nio originally planned 20 swap stations in Europe by the end of 2022.
The target for the end of 2023 is 70 in the region, but Nio President Lihong Qin told Automotive News Europe in March he would like that number to reach 100 this year.
Nio underestimated barriers to construction such as planning permissions and labor shortages, Qin, who co-founded the company with Li in 2015, said at a press conference ahead of the Shanghai auto show.
Nio plans to have 1,000 swap stations outside China by the end of 2025, the majority in Europe.
All Nio cars are compatible to use the swap stations, which offer a much faster alternative to battery charging.
The third-generation stations reduce the swap time to 4 minutes and 40 second from 5 minutes ad 40 seconds and can store 21 battery packs instead of 13 currently, Fei Shen, head of Nio Power, told journalists at presentation held in Shanghai.
"The experience is much better both for the user and for efficiency," Shen said.
Nio's third-generation swap stations can also be operated unmanned, which currently isn't the case with the second-generation stations in Europe.
Nio aims to have 1,000 unmanned swap stations in China by the end of the second quarter, Shen said, reducing its operational costs.