It is well known that building battery swapping stations for new energy vehicles is a colossal and thankless task. However, in this seemingly unyielding field, some have found a different path, successfully turning the battery swapping business into a flourishing venture.

NIO, a leader in the new energy vehicle sector, took the lead by establishing its first battery swapping station in May 2018, 38 days before delivering its first mass-produced vehicle, the ES8. As of today, NIO has nearly 2,400 swapping stations nationwide, with investments exceeding 7 billion yuan. However, despite such a massive investment, the returns have not been proportional, and NIO's losses in the battery swapping business continue to mount.

In contrast to NIO’s struggles in the battery swapping business, a new industry focusing on battery swapping for two-wheeled electric vehicles has blossomed in this “barren land.” Instead of targeting the high-end new energy vehicle market, this industry has set its sights on the broader group of delivery riders. By deploying battery swapping cabinets, operators have seen rapid revenue growth in just two years. This aggressive expansion has not led to losses but has instead resulted in substantial net profit growth.

So, why has battery swapping become so successful among delivery riders?

In 2019, the implementation of new national standards for electric bicycles limited the vehicle's weight to below 55 kg, significantly reducing battery range. For delivery riders who need to cover over 100 kilometers a day, battery swapping has become almost their only option. Before this, riders would usually collaborate with bike shops, buying an extra battery for the shop owner to charge, but this method had many inconveniences. The new standards triggered an explosive growth in battery swapping demand, ushering in a new era for the shared battery swapping industry.

From a business model perspective, two-wheeled battery swapping is similar to shared power banks, essentially making money from the price difference between the battery cost and the rental fees. However, compared to the "pseudo-demand" nature of shared power banks, which are limited by dispersed demand and location-dependent fees, two-wheeled battery swapping stands out due to its essential nature. A rental fee of 300 yuan per month for unlimited, location-independent use is a clear advantage for riders, even though it comes at a certain cost: it saves time.

As the food delivery industry continues to grow, so does the number of delivery riders. By 2023, the number of instant delivery workers had grown to 12.1 million, with an annual growth rate exceeding 20%. This massive demand is precisely the market that battery swapping cabinet companies are targeting.

In addition to meeting the rigid demand of 20 million delivery riders, the two-wheeled battery swapping market theoretically holds even greater potential in the vast C-end (consumer) market. Currently, the number of two-wheeled electric vehicles in China has surpassed 350 million, and behind this large number lies enormous market demand and potential. As the "charging without entering homes" policy continues to be implemented and promoted, battery swapping services aimed at the vast individual consumer market are gradually emerging as a new goldmine that industry leaders are eagerly exploring and developing.

From market data, since the "charging without entering homes" policy was implemented in 2021, the battery swapping market has rapidly expanded, reaching a scale of 3.12 billion yuan, with an astonishing 208.9% growth rate compared to 2020. With continued policy support and market maturation, the two-wheeled battery swapping market is expected to experience even more robust growth, bringing substantial returns and vast development opportunities for industry players.