NIO

Chinese automaker to produce 800V traction batteries

Many electric vehicle manufacturers see in-house production of traction batteries as a way to better control costs, and China's NIO is one of them. Starting in the second half of 2024, it expects to start producing 800V traction batteries, which will be used in brand new electric vehicles worth $30,000 or more.

In the future, Reuters explains, citing comments from NIO President William Li, the company will combine the use of third-party batteries and its own. In the second quarter of this year, NIO had to increase its spending on CATL batteries as the latter increased sales prices. NIO's own team of 400 people is working on developing next-generation batteries.

Switching to 800 volts can speed up the traction battery charging process and slightly reduce the cost of wiring used in an electric vehicle, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a recent speech that the leading electric vehicle maker believes that it is reasonable to switch to 800 volts. the default of 800 volts only in the case of reasonably large vehicles such as the Cybertruck pickup and the Semi truck.

Korean automakers are confidently mastering the infrastructure with a voltage of 800 V, the Porsche brand also uses it in the production of Taycan electric sports cars. Apparently, for NIO, the choice of such a standard is largely dictated by car owners' desire to save money and improve ease of use. In the second quarter, NIO expects to deliver between 23,000 and 25,000 electric vehicles, down slightly from the first quarter, as a two-month lockdown in Shanghai hampered the company's ability to produce electric vehicles in sufficient quantities.

Image source: NIO