Chinese electric car manufacturer Nio plans to open its first plant abroad in September, Reuters reported.
A factory for the production of battery exchange stations is being built in Hungary, about 20 kilometers west of Budapest. According to the Hungarian media, the investment amounts to 5.5 billion forints (about 337 million CZK), of which the Hungarian government will provide 1.7 billion forints.
Nio will accelerate the construction of battery exchange stations in Europe in order to expand sales of its cars in countries in the region, including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, in the second half of this year. The station does not charge a dead battery, but replaces it with a fully charged battery.
According to its announcement, Nio is working with British energy group Shell to build battery exchange stations around the world, both in China and Europe. Shell will make its charging network available to Nio users in Europe.
The company Nio started delivering its ES8 electric car to Norway last year, opening a showroom in Oslo. The Chinese automaker said it plans to set up 4,000 battery exchange stations around the world, a quarter of which will be outside China.
