Chinese EV maker NIO has shown the capability of its biggest battery by driving on a 14-hour journey from Shanghai to Xiamen, a city on the southeast coast of China – a distance of 648 miles. 

The car maker claims the battery still had 3% capacity remaining at the end of the trip. After a short stopover and driver swap, the NIO ET7 reached Xiamen having used 97% of its battery life during the 1,044-km trip, despite the particularly cold temperatures – a factor usually associated with reduced electric vehicle battery performance and range. 

NIO is a pioneer of battery swapping rather than charging, and its 150kWh Ultra Long Range battery can be fitted to any of its range of ‘smart’ EVs. It is currently available for users of its Battery as a Service subscription which allows drivers to choose the size of battery they need at the swap station. 

The 150kWh Ultra Long Range Battery Pack is the world's first pouch format cell CTP Pack with a cell energy density of up to 360Wh/kg, marking the highest capacity and energy density for mass produced production car battery packs in China. 

As of December 19th 2023, NIO has 2,322 Power Swap Stations worldwide: 2,289 in China and 33 in Europe, with the latest opening on December 18th in Amsterdam. On December 16th, NIO also performed its 34 millionth battery swap operation - equivalent to one swap every 1.4 seconds.

The massive 150kWh battery is available to swap if drivers need a particularly big range