A Chinese EV Was Driven Until It Died. The Results Are Impressive [Video]

• A Nio owner tested out the startup automaker’s new 150-kilowatt-hour “semi-solid state” battery pack. 
• He managed to travel 554 miles before needing to recharge. 
• It’s a testament to the power of battery swapping and Nio’s new, denser battery chemistry. 

You’ve likely heard that China is way ahead of the rest of the world on electric vehicles. EVs there are cheap, popular, high-tech and constantly evolving. One part of China’s EV landscape that doesn’t get as much airtime is battery swapping. One Nio owner’s epic road trip across China suggests we should all pay a little more attention. 

Nio, a Chinese EV startup, is the primary player in the country’s battery-swap arena. Owners of Nio’s EVs can avoid long, boring charging stops by simply replacing their dead EV battery with a fresh one at any of the company’s thousands of “Power Swap” locations. Better yet, Nio owners can now select a positively massive, 150-kilowatt-hour battery packwhen they need …