Nio sets new record in electric vehicle battery swaps

China — New energy vehicle manufacturer Nio set a new record for the fourth consecutive day, achieving 175,976 electric vehicle battery swaps in a single day on 21 February 2026, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year holiday.

According to a CarNewsChina report on Sunday (22/2), the daily battery swap figure indicates that a single vehicle’s battery swap could be completed in an average of less than 0.5 seconds.

On 18 February, the second day of Lunar New Year, Nio’s daily battery swap count stood at 158,290, rising to 165,898 on 19 February and reaching 170,305 on 20 February.

Earlier this month, Nio reached the milestone of its 100 millionth electric vehicle battery swap since its first battery swap station began operating in 2018.

At that time, Nio’s battery swap stations held only four to five batteries in their compartments, with a daily service capacity of 72 to 120 swaps and a swap time of approximately four to five minutes. Manual assistance was still required to position the vehicle during the battery replacement process.

Nearly eight years on, Nio’s battery swap stations have evolved to their fourth generation, with swap times reduced to 2 minutes and 24 seconds, battery compartment capacity increased to 23 units, and daily service capacity reaching up to 480 battery swaps.

The company’s charging station network covers 550 cities across China and is connected to the motorway network across 16 major urban clusters.

Looking ahead to 2026, Nio plans to commence large-scale construction of fifth-generation battery swap stations and build 1,000 new battery swap stations.

Battery swap stations enable electric vehicle users to exchange depleted batteries for fully charged ones. The time required to swap a battery is significantly shorter than charging one.