Shanghai (ZXZC)- On Dec. 5, Chinese EV startup NIO announced it has launched a new battery upgrading plan to the public across China, which allows users of 70/75kWh battery pack to get a 100kWh one by paying 880 yuan ($140) on a monthly basis.

Photo credit: NIO

The monthly flexible battery upgrade service was put into trial operation in July in such cities as Urumchi, Shenyang, Xining, Lanzhou, Yinchuan, and Hohhot. The recent announcement means the service will be available across Chinese mainland (excluding Tibet) and the Macao Special Administrative Region.

According to NIO, both BaaS and non-BaaS users can enjoy the monthly flexible battery upgrade service with the same payment standard. For the BaaS users, they need pay 880 yuan per month for battery upgrade in addition to 980 yuan ($155) per month for renting batteries.

NIO claimed in mid-April users could upgrade their battery packs to 100kWh on an annual basis by paying 7,980 yuan ($1,250) per year.

As an important part of NIO's “chargeable, swappable and upgradable” energy supply service system, the monthly and annual flexible battery upgrade services will provide batteries with larger energy capacity and lower usage cost for users' personalized EV trips, said NIO.

In the second half of 2022, NIO's users will be able to “downgrade” battery packs to 75kWh from 100kWh, in a bid to truly realize “flexible battery swap”, according to the company.