Starting June 1 at 10 am Beijing Time, Nio owners will have the option to rent the 150-kWh battery pack on a daily basis, giving their vehicles up to 1,000 km of range.

Nio (NYSE: NIO) will begin official operations of the 150-kWh ultra-long-range battery pack tomorrow as planned, following a trial run this month.

Starting at 10 am Beijing Time on June 1, Nio owners will have the option to rent the 150-kWh battery pack on a daily basis, giving their vehicles up to 1,000 kilometers of range, the company announced today on its mobile app.

All of Nio's vehicles support charging and battery swap, and allow customers to purchase vehicles with batteries included, as well as vehicles without batteries based on BaaS (battery as a service) battery rental model.

The batteries circulating in its battery swap stations include 70/75-kWh standard-range battery packs as well as 100-kWh long-range battery packs.

The 150-kWh battery pack will be available to users of the standard-range battery packs and the long-range battery packs, whether or not they purchased the vehicle based on the BaaS model, according to the company.

The ultra-long-range battery pack is currently only available for daily rental, unlike the 100-kWh pack, which allows standard-range battery pack users to upgrade monthly, annually or permanently.

For standard battery pack users, the base price for upgrading to the 150-kWh battery pack is RMB 150 ($21) per day within the first 7 days.

For 100-kWh pack users, the base price for the first 7 days is RMB 100 per day.

After 7 days of use, users will need to pay an additional RMB 50 per day if they continue to use the 150-kWh battery pack.

These fees do not include the costs of using the battery swap service.

Nio said the first 150-kWh packs will spread across the country, prioritizing cities on routes with a high concentration of long-distance travel.

Production of the ultra-long range battery pack is currently in a capacity creep phase, Nio said, without disclosing the exact number of the first batch available.

Nio owners can get the 150-kWh pack at the stations where it is available and can return it at any battery swap station in China.

Nio unveiled the 150-kWh semi-solid-state battery when it launched the ET7 sedan on January 9, 2021 at the Nio Day 2020 event.

The semi-solid battery's cells come from local startup Beijing WeLion New Energy Technology, which started delivering 360 Wh/kg lithium battery cells on June 30, 2023 to Nio.

As a new technology, the 150-kWh battery pack is currently costly, with Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong mentioning in February 2023 that the pack costs about the same as an ET5.

The ET5 is Nio's least expensive model at the moment, with a starting price of RMB 298,000 including the battery.

Nio started a trial run of the 150-kWh battery pack on May 1, and customers who rented a Nio vehicle for three days or more in May were eligible for a chance to experience the pack.

Solid-state batteries are now highly valued by several countries, and the Chinese government has reportedly begun to support research and development in the field.

China is likely to invest around RMB 6 billion in all-solid-state battery R&D, state-owned China Daily said in a May 29 report, citing multiple sources.

Six companies, including CATL, BYD, China FAW Group, SAIC Motor Corp, WeLion, and Geely Auto Group, will likely receive basic R&D support from the government, the report said.

($1 = RMB 7.2413)

Nio ET7 with 150-kWh battery achieves 1,070 km in real-life range challenge