- Nio slowed the construction of battery swap stations over the past two years, adding 679 and 681 stations in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
- Nio will begin deploying its fifth-generation battery swap stations in 2026.
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO, HKG: 9866) will ramp up infrastructure development this year following a slowdown in these efforts during 2024 and 2025.
The company will begin deploying fifth-generation battery swap stations in 2026, adding at least 1,000 stations throughout the year, Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li said during a live video broadcast.
Nio today celebrated the initial coverage of its battery swap network along the main road connecting Yunnan to Tibet, deploying 19 battery swap stations across a route exceeding 2,700 kilometers. Li and his team drove the route themselves and conducted a live video broadcast.
Nio's current fourth-generation battery swap station was unveiled at Nio Day 2023 on December 23, 2023, with deployment commencing in June 2024.
Pilot sites for the fifth-generation stations would enter trial operation before Christmas 2025, with each station's capacity increasing by 20 percent compared to the fourth generation, Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong told media including CnEVPost during a September 21 media roundtable in Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
The company has not yet announced when it will begin formal deployment of these next-generation stations.
| Year | New Stations |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 509 |
| 2023 | 1,011 |
| 2024 | 679 |
| 2025 | 681 |
Nio significantly ramped up infrastructure construction in 2023, adding 1,011 battery swap stations throughout the year -- double the 509 new stations added in 2022, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
The company originally planned to add another 1,000 battery swap stations in 2024 but later slowed the effort, adding 679 stations for the year.
Nio has not set explicit volume targets for battery swap station construction in 2025. However, in August 2024, it said its network would cover over 2,300 counties across 27 provincial-level administrative regions in China by December 31, 2025.
In 2025, the company added 681 battery swap stations, matching the 2024 expansion rate.
Over the past year, Nio's strategy for battery swap station construction has shifted toward greater reliance on partners to reduce capital expenditures.
Starting in October 2024, the company entered into bundled construction partnerships with partners in multiple Chinese cities to share costs and revenues.
