By Michael Elkins
Chinese electric car maker, Nio Inc. (NYSE:NIO) celebrated a milestone on Friday with the shipment of the company’s first battery swap station produced by the company’s Power Europe Plant. The station, produced by NIO’s first overseas plant, in Hungary, was shipped to Germany for installation.
"It only took seven weeks from July 29, when we announced the start of production. That's truly remarkable," Qin Lihong, co-founder, and president of NIO, said.
The new 107,000 square foot facility, located in Biatorbagy, will supply battery swap stations to the company’s entire European network, supporting NIO’s ambition to install 1,000 battery swap stations outside China by 2025. The plant will also be a leading research and development center for NIO Power Europe and will serve as the company's training, operations and maintenance center.
According to a press release, NIO intends to further increase its investments in Hungary and build an operation center to implement its strategies in the European markets.
"NIO Power Europe Plant has a total area of approximately 10,000 square meters. As NIO's first factory overseas, it serves as the center of manufacturing, service and R&D for NIO's power products and services in Europe. With the factory put into operation, NIO will further improve its power network and service efficiency, as well as user experience in Europe."