The pack is expected to bring users a longer range while reducing costs, but it will be interesting to see how it performs in winter.
After Nio announced the launch of the 75-kWh hybrid battery pack late last month, the new pack has become available at its battery swap stations.
According to information shared by some Nio owners, the 75-kWh pack has been available since October 28, with the Nio App showing the battery option as “70/75kWh”.
Nio announced the 75-kWh hybrid pack on September 23 to replace the previous 70-kWh version, which is expected to give customers a longer range while reducing costs.
The company said at the time that it was taking orders for models with the new pack and that their deliveries would begin in November.
Unlike the common ternary lithium battery pack and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack, Nio’s 75-kWh pack is a hybrid of both chemistries.
The pack uses both ternary lithium cells and LFP cells, making Nio the first electric vehicle company to use both materials in a pack.
The pack is 15 kg heavier than the 70-kWh version, but has an increased NEDC range of 50 km.
Nio said last month it designed complete thermal management software and hardware systems for the new pack, which allows it to reduce mileage loss in cold temperatures by 25 percent compared to its LFP counterpart.
The pack also uses power cell giant CATL’s next-generation cell-to-pack (CTP) technology, which simplifies manufacturing and assembly by 10 percent, increases capacity utilization by 5 percent and boosts energy density by 14 percent to 142 Wh/kg, according to the company.
It is worth noting that compared to ternary lithium batteries, LFP batteries have lower costs, higher life cycles and higher safety. However, they have low energy density and poorer low-temperature performance.
As winter approaches and Nio’s hybrid packs become available, owner feedback on their range performance will be noteworthy.
