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The Digital Servitization Exchange Podcast
Connecting research and practice in the transformation from products to digital services.
The Digital Servitization Exchange Podast explores how manufacturers create and capture value through services and software. Designed for both researchers and practitioners, the podcast brings together academic insight and industry experience to unpack the concepts, challenges, and opportunities driving digital servitization.
Each episode delves into themes such as service innovations, subscription models, industrial IoT, digital platform ecosystems, and organizational transformation. Rather than focusing on individual voices, the podcast emphasizes relevant topics that matter across domains — offering evidence-based perspectives for academics and actionable ideas for business professionals.
By bridging theory and practice, The Digital Servitization Exchange Podcast provides a space where learning flows both ways: from research to real-world implementation, and from practice back to research.
Ideal for: academics, doctoral researchers, industrial leaders, digital transformation managers, service strategists, and anyone shaping the future of digitally enabled services.
The Digital Servitization Exchange Podcast
#20 Battery as a Service — How NIO Is Reinventing Electric Vehicle Ownership
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Description
In this episode, we examine how NIO has redefined electric mobility through its pioneering Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model. Instead of selling cars with batteries built in, NIO separates the battery from the vehicle purchase—allowing customers to buy the car at a lower upfront price and subscribe to battery access, upgrades, and rapid swapping as a service.
We explore how BaaS addresses some of the biggest barriers to EV adoption: high upfront costs, range anxiety, battery degradation, and fast-changing battery technology. With a nationwide network of automated battery swap stations, NIO enables drivers to “refuel” in minutes, upgrade to newer batteries over time, and avoid long-term ownership risk. The episode also highlights how BaaS creates recurring revenue for NIO, strengthens customer lock-in, and positions the company as both an automaker and an energy service provider.
Beyond convenience, we discuss the sustainability and circular economy implications of BaaS—from centralized battery lifecycle management and second-life use to improved recycling and grid integration. This is a compelling case of how servitization and platform thinking are reshaping the future of the automotive and energy industries.
Key words
Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS), Electric Mobility, Servitization, Circular Economy, and Subscription-Based Innovation