Last month, William Li — the founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, a ‘global smart electric vehicle company’— marked a new milestone for the company by driving an NIO ET7 over 1,000km on a single battery charge, to highlight the capabilities of NIO’s latest ultra-long-range 150kWh battery pack.

The 14hr journey began in Shanghai with the aim of reaching Xiamen, on the southeast coast of China. After a short stopover and driver swap, the NIO ET7 reached the finishing line having used 97% of its battery life during the 1,044km trip, despite the particularly cold temperatures — a factor usually associated with reduced electric vehicle (EV) battery performance and range.

NIO’s new 150kWh battery pack is the world’s first pouch format cell pack with ‘no thermal propagation design’ and a cell energy density of up to 360Wh/kg. This capability gives it the highest capacity and energy density for mass-produced production car battery packs in China.

Moreover, the new 150kWh battery is compatible with all NIO electric vehicles through NIO Power’s chargeable, upgradable, and swappable power service system — and NIO users will be provided with flexible options for upgrading the batteries when needed.

As of 19 December 2023, NIO had 2,322 Power Swap Stations worldwide: 2,289 in China and 33 in Europe, with the latest opening on 18 December in Amsterdam. On 16 December NIO performed its 34-millionth battery swap operation — equivalent to one swap every 1.4 seconds. A video of NIO’s automatic battery swap can be seen at the company’s website here.