Nio’s Onvo brand has a battery supply problem and it’s impacting swapping

On December 9, Xia Qinghua, the head of Onvo user and service operations, said that battery availability problems meant that the number of Nio swap stations able to swap Onvo batteries was 700 to 800, although 1000 are actually capable of such swaps.

- 广告

In November, we reported that the number of Onvo-compatible swap stations was 644. This appears to have now increased to more than 1000. The problem lies with battery production capacity. Currently, it is not sufficient, and priority is being given to car buyers.

Xia said the number of swap stations with Onvo batteries will accelerate in the future. However, it appears that there are likely to be only one Onvo battery in each swap station. This could possibly mean that the swap experience is not particularly smooth, depending on the demand.

- 广告

It should be pointed out that Xia’s comments contradict official information from Onvo. Yesterday on Weibo the company claimed that between December 2 and December 8 forty-two Onvo available stations were added bringing the total to 794. This could simply mean that these are the ones with actual battery availability rather than those that have the capability to swap Onvo batteries.

In November, 5082 Onvo L60 cars were delivered, bringing the cumulative total to 10,233. According to Onvo, the goal for December is to exceed 10,000 deliveries in a single month.

Talk on Weibo says there has been a problem with the 85 kWh battery pack (see Onvo L60 specs). Some purchasers of the 85 kWh version have had the car delivered with the smaller 60 kWh battery on agreement that they could then swap to the larger battery when it became available.

- 广告

Deliveries of the 85 kWh battery reportedly finally began earlier this month. It is not clear whether this is part of the problem with the swap station issue.

The Onvo L60 was launched and deliveries commenced in September. It is available in rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions. Both are available with either the 60 kWh, which is technically a 61 kWh battery, or a larger 85kWh battery.

The cars do not have a dedicated swap station network and use Nio’s fourth-generation and third-generation stations, which have been specially modified for Onvo usage. First and second-generation stations cannot be made Onvo compatible.

Billed as a Tesla Model Y competitor the car has a single screen and head-up display layout inside. Nio not only tries to outperform Tesla in terms of cost but also in performance. Prices begin at 206,900 yuan (29,250 USD) or if you opt for battery as a service where you have monthly rental of the battery prices are as low as 149,900 yuan (21,200 USD).

Sources: Onvo, Weibo