NIO's Battery Swap Network in Europe: A Files Reference

Battery swapping — the exchange of a depleted traction battery for a charged one at a dedicated station, rather than plugging in — is the service on which NIO has built its European market entry. The company's own releases document the scale of that build-out: on November 30, 2023, NIO said it had reached 30 Power Swap Stations (PSS) across five European markets and more than 2,200 worldwide.

This entry is a files reference: it collects what NIO itself published, dates each figure, and attributes it to the manufacturer. Nothing here is a measurement or an impression of ours, and NIO's stated numbers have not been independently verified.

The network as NIO counted it in late 2023

In its November 30, 2023 release, NIO put its global network at 2,217 stations in six markets, which it said had delivered nearly 33 million swaps, with an average of over 60,000 battery swaps per day. The five European markets NIO named are Denmark, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Supporting infrastructure is also manufacturer-documented: NIO stated that its first European factory, in Biatorbágy, Hungary, established in 2022, covers assembly and after-sales service of battery swapping stations, training for power operations in Europe, and research and development of NIO Power products.

The third-generation station, as specified

The December 11, 2023 release describes the third-generation station, PSS 3.0, with two new locations in Malmö and Arlandastad, Sweden. NIO stated that each such location can perform up to 408 battery swaps per day and store up to 21 smart EV batteries, and that the locations carry a 2-megawatt-hour energy storage system designed to feed energy back into the grid if required. Per the same release, five PSS 3.0 locations and 25 other PSS locations had opened across NIO's European markets since January 2022.

Swap duration is stated inconsistently within NIO's own material, and we print both figures as given rather than reconcile them. The December 2023 release says the technology "allows a rapid battery swap in three minutes," and in the same text describes the PSS 3.0 experience as "available in less than five minutes and accelerated by up to 20%." The September 2024 release again uses the three-minute figure. These are NIO's claims, not our measurements.

Who can actually use it: the BaaS dependency

Access to the stations is tied to NIO's Battery as a Service (BaaS) leasing model, in which the subscriber owns the vehicle without committing to a single battery. NIO's footnote qualifies its headline figure as an average across its European markets: Denmark, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The company also states that battery upgrade and downgrade options are currently available in China.

Partnerships in China, grid plans in Europe

The November 2023 release records partnerships with Geely Holding and Changan Auto on battery swapping — covering standards, technology, network expansion and operation, swappable model development, and battery asset management — signed in Hangzhou and, for Changan, on November 21, 2023. These agreements concern the Chinese battery-swap ecosystem as NIO describes them; the release does not state that they alter the European network.

By September 2024, NIO was positioning the stations beyond mobility. In a release datelined Munich/Stockholm, the company said the stations act as decentralized energy storage and announced initiatives in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany: grid-stabilizing use in Denmark and the Netherlands, and wholesale electricity trading to reduce costs in Germany, per NIO. NIO also stated it was preparing to launch its first bi-directional Power Swap Station in Europe, allowing batteries to feed power into the grid.

Reading the claims critically

Every number above is a manufacturer statement. A few checks to keep in mind when using this entry:

• The 408 swaps per day and 21-battery capacity are stated capacities for PSS 3.0 locations, not audited throughput records.
• The swap-duration language differs between NIO's own texts — "three minutes" in one passage, "less than five minutes and accelerated by up to 20%" in another — and is not reconciled here.
• The 98% BaaS figure is NIO's own average across its five named European markets, per its footnote, and the station count is a snapshot of November 30, 2023; both will change.
• The grid-services projects in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany are described as launches or preparations in NIO's September 25, 2024 release, with effects stated by NIO rather than measured independently.

To verify any of this yourself, consult the three NIO press releases on nio.com — dated November 30, 2023, December 11, 2023, and September 25, 2024 — and compare their wording directly, noting the footnote qualifiers NIO attaches. Station availability for a specific location and time is best checked in NIO's own market-level channels, since the network changes after any release date.