Hate EV charging? Nio bets on battery swaps to spur UAE sales

GM SAYS NIO'S POWER SWAP STATIONS WILL WORK LIKE A FORMULA 1 PIT-STOP

- BY MANOJ NAIR

Planning a last-minute trip on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway in your electric vehicle — but didn’t have time to charge it? No worries. Just swap the battery. In minutes.

Battery swapping is being positioned as the next big innovation to power up EV sales in the UAE — and Chinese luxury EV maker Nio is driving that shift with a bold new strategy targeting domination in the UAE and key Middle East markets.

Quick swap

“Our power swap stations take a Formula 1 pit-stop approach for Nio users,” said Roberto Da Silva, General Manager of Nio UAE.

“The EV owner prebooks ahead of his arrival at the swap station, goes to a gate and then the power swap happens.

“The car drives itself into the machine — and 3 minutes later you are ready to go. Fully charged.”