It’s now official, it is finally possible to opt for the 150 kW battery on Nio’s electric cars. The latter allows a range of 1,000 kilometers according to the CLTC cycle, and is only available for rental. With a price that is not within the reach of all budgets.
If car manufacturers are waging war on prices, they are also waging a fierce battle when it comes to autonomy. And for good reason, it is a very important point for motorists.
A rental battery
Many of them require you to be able to travel at least 400 kilometers on a single charge, although we know that this reasoning is actually flawed. But whatever the case, brands are still trying by all means to offer larger or denser batteries, in order to improve autonomy. We think, for example, of the Qilin CTP 3.0 from CATL, which equips the Zeekr 001 in particular, but not only that. Because another manufacturer has also been in the news for some time.
This is Nio, which is slowly starting to arrive in Europe, including a brand new model. The manufacturer is betting a lot on fast charging with its battery exchange stations, but it also emphasizes the autonomy of its cars. This is why the firm unveiled a semi-solid battery with a capacity of 150 kWh, which has recently proven itself in real conditions during a full-scale test. The latter notably allows the Nio ET7 to travel more than 1,050 kilometers in a single charge.
A value which, however, is understood according to the Chinese CLTC cycle, significantly less strict than our European WLTP. The latter would rather give 950 kilometers, which is already very good and which allows it to compete with the restyled Mercedes EQS and its 821 kilometers. Yes, but there is a small catch: this new battery costs very, very expensive. We are indeed talking about several thousand euros. Overall, around 50,000 euros. Suffice to say that it is not within the reach of all budgets. But the manufacturer has a solution.
The Chinese site AutoHome informs us that the Shanghai-based firm will also propose a rental offer for customers who wish to opt for the maximum capacity. It will thus be possible to go from the 70 kWh or 100 kWh pack, using LFP (lithium – iron – phosphate) chemistry to that of 150 kWh at an additional monthly cost. And be careful, because the latter will not necessarily be within the reach of all budgets, as we are going to explain to you.
A steep price
Customers who own a Nio ET7 with the 100 kWh battery offering a range of 700 kilometers will therefore be able to upgrade to the 150 kWh semi-solid version without any problem. But then it will cost no less than 100 yuan per day, which is equivalent to approximately 12.90 euros. While this may not seem like much, remember that this is a daily rate, payable for the entire time you own the car. In one year, this represents an additional cost of approximately 4,708 euros. And it’s even worse for those who have a 70 kWh pack.
The latter allows you to travel up to 500 kilometers in a single charge, and can be replaced by the large battery. But you will have to pay no less than 150 yuan per day, which gives around 19.35 euros according to the current exchange rate. That’s a little more than 7,000 euros to spend every year to benefit from maximum autonomy. And this even though we know that it is not necessarily very important to be able to drive far on a single charge. Especially since the Nio ET7 can be recharged in less than five minutes.
But the good news is that it is possible, easily and quickly, to change the capacity of your battery by going to the battery exchange stations. In less than 3 minutes, you can leave with a full battery (a robot removes the empty battery from the car). At that point, the driver chooses which battery they want to recover. A stunning technology, which we were able to try in Germany.
Note that the large 150 kWh battery is offered on all models in the range, from the ET5 to the ES8 including the EC6 and EC7, among others. The rental price should be the same for all cars, but this has yet to be confirmed. Note that it is necessary to count 169 euros per month in Germany to rent the 70 kWh pack, compared to 289 euros for the 100 kWh battery. The 150 kWh battery is not yet offered in Europe. In France, the brand is not yet present at the moment, but it might not be too long.
We then see that the rental of the large 150 kWh battery is rather reserved for a few journeys during the year. For example, to go far away on vacation. Before returning to a smaller pack a few days later. Remember that the 150 kWh battery is not available for purchase. If this were the case, it would cost around 30,000 euros.
