Nio, which is planning to bring its cars and electric vehicle battery swap technology to the UK, has reached the milestone of opening 30 Power Swap Stations across five European markets.

The EV manufacturer’s USP is that the stations enable drivers to exchange their depleted battery for a fully-charged one in less than five minutes.

While in August it confirmed it would not launch in the UK until it has developed the infrastructure to offer battery swaps here, it has just opened two PSSs in Malmo and Arlandastad, Sweden.

These are able to perform up to 408 swaps per day and store up to 21 batteries.

Including China, Nio now has 2,217 PSSs spread across six markets, which have provided nearly 33 million battery swaps to users.

Nio has also this week welcomed two new major partners to its battery swap technology, Geely Holding and Changan Auto.

Earlier this year, the brand unveiled a new electric estate and an electric SUV that will form part of its European line-up.

The ET5 will rival the BMW i5 Touring and offers a range of 270 - 350 miles, depending on variant. The EL6 will go head-to-head with the Audi Q8 e-tron and can cover 300 miles between charges.

Nio also appointed Marc Samuel as its national fleet sales manager.