Tired of waiting for your EV to charge up? One Chinese company has a novel solution

Tired of waiting for your EV to charge up? One Chinese company has a novel solution April 18, 20267:31 AM ET John Ruwitch An electric vehicle is seen at NIO battery swap station on March 9, 2025 in Yantai, Shandong Province of China. Tang Ke/VCG via Getty Images/Visual China Group hide caption toggle caption Tang Ke/VCG via Getty Images/Visual China Group BEIJING - Take a road trip in an electric car, and you know the juicing up routine. You pull off the highway, park at a charging station, plug in the car … and wait. If you're lucky, it's about half an hour. Sometimes, it's longer. In China, one company can get you back on the road in minutes. I had the opportunity to see how, with Jason Wu, an executive at NIO Power, an EV maker. A few weeks ago, I sat in a roomy SUV, while Wu, in the driver's seat, spoke to the vehicle. "Hi Nomi." Sponsor Message "I'm here," the car responds in a cute, child-like voice. Wu asks the car to initiate a battery swap, and the car takes over. U.S. vs. China: Inside a great power rivalry The great battery race: China and the U.S. compete over the future of EVs We drive into a small structure that looks like a one car garage without front and back walls. The car instructs Wu to take his foot off the brake, remove his hands from the steering wheel and to not open the doors. "If you feel nervous, I'm here," it says. Then, it automatically backs into the car port. The company recognizes that long charging times are keeping people from buying EVs "This is fully-automated battery swapping," Wu says. No more waiting to charge up. The car is about to get a fresh battery. NIO has recognized that long charging times are one of the main reasons keeping people from buying EVs – not only in China, but all over the world. The company has installed nearly 4,000 battery swap stations like this around the world, most in China. NIO EVs are popular in China, but competition is fierce. The company has roughly 4% market share in vehicles that are primarily...