Nio will officially open its 4,000th battery swap station in China on August 7. According to Ma Lin, Nio's vice CEO, the station located in Quanzhou, Fujian province, will also be the first fifth-generation facility to go live. It will accommodate all three of the company's vehicle lines: Nio, Onvo, and the Firefly hatchback.
The fifth-generation stations mark a significant update by finally adding Firefly support. When the Firefly hatchback debuted in 2025, it was promoted with battery swap capability, but existing stations could only serve the larger Nio and Onvo models.
On the technical front, Sina Auto reports that the latest stations complete a swap in just 1 minute and 48 seconds—36 seconds faster than the previous generation. Battery pack capacity also rises to 28, up from 21 in fourth-generation units.
Nio says these upgrades will help its network better manage peak travel periods like May's Golden Week and October's National Holidays. Each fifth-generation station can perform up to 500 swaps daily, a 20% improvement over its predecessor.
The company remains China's only NEV maker fully committed to battery swapping. Its “Nio Power” brand combines DC fast chargers with swap stations to create what it calls a “smart power service solution.”
Nio claims the world's largest battery swapping network, with the 4,000 figure covering both domestic and international locations. As of now, the interactive map shows 3,994 stations in operation, and the company has completed nearly 120 million swaps since 2018.
This infrastructure also enables Nio's Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model, where buyers purchase the car at a lower price and lease the battery via subscription. Nio positions itself as a pioneer in this space, arguing that its self-developed technology and vehicles built around swapping set it apart from earlier failed startups.
The swapping process is fully automated, with drivers and passengers staying inside the cabin while the car maneuvers itself. The entire operation takes about 3 to 5 minutes, and most stations in China are unmanned. Early ES8 buyers were offered free lifetime swapping, but current owners pay for energy used, calculated based on each station's electricity rates.
In June 2026, Nio delivered 21,872 units domestically, Onvo 11,739, and Firefly 6,914, according to China EV DataTracker. All three brands posted year-on-year growth, ranging from Nio's 46.5% to Onvo and Firefly's 70-80%.
Source: China EV DataTracker
Despite these achievements, Nio faces intense competition from rivals pushing faster DC charging. BYD's Flash Charging promises a full charge in 9 minutes, with Geely and FAW not far behind. In the swapping space, CATL is building its own network based on the Choco-SEB platform, already signing up several Chinese automakers and operating over 700 stations.
The fifth-generation stations still offer unmatched swap speeds, but whether Nio's headline technology can maintain its edge over domestic competitors remains an open question.
Source: Nio – Ma Lin, Sina Auto
