Nio started pushing the mystery box to owners on its app on July 7, and the 10 luckiest users got to decide the battery swap station construction area. Now the first lucky winner has appeared.
He is an ES6 owner from Chengdu, Sichuan province, who often participates in outdoor activities such as barbecue and soccer in the Nio community, according to Nio.
The winner said that when he got the battery swap station through the mystery box, he thought it was a promotional image for the event, so he didn't care until Nio called half an hour later.
The winner wanted to build the battery swap station near his home or where he works, as the nearest battery swap station is currently 10 kilometers away from his home.
Nio staff said that they had investigated all possible locations for a battery swap station near the winner's home.
The site, power, construction permits and other conditions need to be evaluated before the battery swap station's location can be determined, Nio said, adding that it will be weeks or months before a contract can be signed.
The lucky winner also got to name the battery swap station, and he chose "a name of a family member and something to do with new energy."
From July 2 to September 10, Nio customers will receive a mystery box for every friend they invite to complete their first test drive.
Nio is offering 10 mystery boxes that include the right to choose the location of the battery swap station, which it says is an unplanned addition this year and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.
Nio originally planned to have 500 battery swap stations in China by the end of this year, but at the inaugural Nio Power Day event on July 9, the company's co-founder and president Qin Lihong announced that the target had been raised to 700.
As of July 15, Nio had 310 battery swap stations.
On July 9, Nio said that only 29 percent of its customers currently have a battery swap station within a 3-kilometer radius, which is unsatisfactory.
Nio hopes that by 2025, 90 percent of users will have a battery swap station within a 3 km radius.
(Source: Nio)
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