The third-generation power exchange station promoted by Weilai at the NIO Day conference at the end of last year has finally been unveiled.。On March 28, Weilai Automobile opened the first third-generation power exchange station in Haikou, and the first batch of ten three-generation power exchange stations was officially launched simultaneously in ten places across the country, and started the trial operation experience.。

What is the difference between the third generation exchange station？

According to the data released at the previous conference, more than 50% of the power added by Weilai users comes from power exchange.。But this data is not consistent, but gradually emerged in recent years。This shows that users have increased their support for this form of replenishment with practical actions, and this trend continues to rise.。

So in order to meet the needs of users, Weilai has now laid out 1,323 power stations across the country, of which 351 are highway power stations.。And plans to add 1,000 new charging stations in 2023, including 400 high-speed and 600 in urban areas.。It also plans to increase the coverage rate of power exchange stations within 3 kilometers of Weilai users' locations from the current 70% to 90% by 2025.。

Of course, the increase in quantity at the same time, Weilai also merger quality improvement, the emergence of the third generation of power exchange station is the performance of its quality improvement.。First of all, compared with the second-generation power exchange station, the third-generation power exchange station adopts a new three-station collaborative power exchange mode, which minimizes the battery flow path, shortens the power exchange time by 20%, and improves the service capacity by 30%.。

Specifically, the peak power of the ultra-fast pile-filling single pile equipped with the third-generation exchange station will reach 500 kilowatts and the maximum current will reach 660 A.。Like the NIO ES7, with a 100-degree battery pack, it can charge about 400 kilometers of CLTC cruising range in 20 minutes。And the third-generation power exchange station also uses self-developed liquid cold charging gun line, compared to the previous weight loss of more than half, now the user can easily operate with one hand。

The third generation of Weilai power exchange station adopts a new three-station collaborative operation mechanism, which shortens the power exchange time by 20%.。In order to prevent the occurrence of power exchange queuing, the battery position will also be the second generation of 13 significantly increased by 50% to 21; the number of daily services up to 408 times, 30% higher than the second generation station。And the third-generation power exchange station is also equipped with two lidar and two NVIDIA Orin X chips, with a single station computing power of 508TOPS.。

It is worth noting that the third-generation power exchange station also uses the world's first, Wei from the research of HPC two-way high-power liquid-cooled power module, the highest efficiency of 98%, charge and discharge power up to 62.5 kW。Greatly improve the charging and discharging efficiency of batteries in the exchange station。

In addition to shortening the time for charging and replacing electricity, Weilai has also made detailed improvements in the experience of the third-generation power exchange station.。The height of the new power exchange platform has been reduced by about 100 mm compared to the previous generation, and the power exchange position of the vehicle has also been moved forward by 400 mm. In this way, the field of view in the car will be wider when the power is changed.。And the compatibility of the third-generation power exchange station has also been strengthened. It can now support vehicles with 2800-3300mm wheelbase and 1900-2800mm wheelbase, which means that Weilai's models of different platforms and brands will be compatible.。

Is it right or wrong to insist on "changing the power track"？

On the whole, the third-generation power exchange station launched by NIO this time has indeed improved in all aspects compared to the previous generation.。And combined with the long-term evaluation of Weilai users for the power exchange service and the performance of the power exchange service itself, Weilai insists on taking the road of power exchange, which is of great benefit to the brand itself.。

But from another perspective, the overall financial situation of NIO is not optimistic.。On March 1, NIO released its fourth quarter and full year 2022 unaudited financial data report.。The report shows that for the full year 2022, NIO's total revenue was 492.68.6 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), an increase of 36% over the previous year..3%; net loss of 144.37.1 billion yuan, an increase of 259 over the previous year.4%; net loss attributable to Weilai common stockholders was 145.59.4 billion yuan, an increase of 37% over the previous year..7%。

As you can see from the financial results, Weilai's operations last year can really be described as "horrible."。But in fact, if we rely solely on the business of selling cars, we can actually create a lot of profits, but in the face of the huge investment in the construction of supporting facilities, the overall revenue and expenditure of the brand is difficult to balance.。

It is reported that the cost of building a second-generation power station is about 2 million yuan, while the manufacturing cost of the third-generation power station will be further increased with the expansion and addition of radars and chips.。According to Li Bin's previous announcement, an additional 1,000 new power stations will be built this year, with a conservative estimate of 2 million manufacturing costs, Weilai will need to invest at least 2 billion yuan in the cost of power stations this year, in the face of such high costs, I do not know whether Weilai can deliver this year to the satisfaction of investors.。

As a competitor, Tesla believes that battery replacement is "problematic and not suitable for large-scale use."。Because Tesla's current fast charging pile only takes 15 minutes to fill up the vehicle to 200 miles of cruising range, Tesla said there is no need to switch power。

For Weilai, the road to continue to adhere to the power exchange mode is bound to be rugged and bumpy, but it must be a good thing for the majority of Weilai owners。It is another matter as to whether so much cost should be invested in research and development and the construction of a replacement power station at this stage.。After all, no one can say for sure whether this model will become the core track of the new energy industry in the future, so it's undecided.。