Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Nio announced on Tuesday a major expansion plan to deploy battery charging stations across all 2,844 counties in China by the end of June 2025. Additionally, the company aims to expand its battery swap network to over 2,300 counties by the same deadline, with plans to extend coverage to more counties starting in 2026.
This initiative is part of Nio’s strategy to address range anxiety associated with electric vehicles, particularly in less developed regions. Nio’s charging stations will be available to over 200 other car brands, with more than 80% of the electricity from Nio’s chargers being used by vehicles from other manufacturers.
To meet the increasing demand for rapid charging solutions, Geely-owned Zeekr recently introduced new batteries that can charge from 10% to 80% in just 10.5 minutes using its ultra-fast charging stations, outperforming Tesla’s Model 3 in charging speed. Nio has not yet disclosed the charging speed of its most advanced chargers.
Nio’s battery swapping technology, which facilitates an automated exchange of batteries in approximately three minutes, provides significant convenience for users. The company has also bolstered its strategic partnerships with automakers such as Chang’an and Geely to advance its battery swapping business.
As of now, Nio has installed over 23,000 charging stations and approximately 2,480 battery swap stations, completing over 51 million battery swaps. In July, battery swaps accounted for over half of the electricity used by Nio drivers, with home chargers contributing over 20% and public chargers only 4.5%.
This expansion follows a major investment of up to 1.5 billion yuan ($210 million) in Nio Power, the company’s power services division, which saw a 5.2% increase in revenue to 1.53 billion yuan in the first quarter. The Chinese government supports this growth as part of its broader strategy to enhance EV infrastructure, outlined in the latest five-year plan, which focuses on increasing fast-charging stations nationwide. By the end of 2023, China reported a 65% increase in battery charging stations, totaling 8.6 million, with new public stations rising by 42.7% to 929,000. In comparison, the U.S. had 168,388 public EV charging stations in 2023, marking a 23.5% increase from the previous year.
