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NIO is rapidly expanding its Leador battery-swap network to boost EV convenience and grid integration. The company plans over 3,300 Leador swap stations by end-2026 and has already increased its pool of swappable packs by more than 8,000. Separately, NIO completed the 1,739 km Silk Road Hexi Corridor swap route with 20 stations, part of a broader effort to link swap sites across all provinces by H2 2026. NIO highlights a combined footprint of roughly 8,800 charging and swapping sites, extensive highway coverage, and use of swap stations’ storage capabilities to absorb renewable energy, underlining a strategy to differentiate on infrastructure and total-cost efficiency.
NIO announced on May 17 that its NIO Power network reached 8,870 stations across China after launching two new stations that day. The infrastructure comprises 3,849 battery-swap stations, 5,021 charging stations, and 28,855 charging piles, and NIO says it has completed over 100 million battery swaps to date. This milestone underscores NIO’s continued investment in proprietary charging and swapping infrastructure to enhance EV ownership convenience and differentiate its service ecosystem amid intensifying competition in China’s electric vehicle market.
NIO has begun rolling out aster 紫菀 1.5.0 OTA for its Firefly (萤火虫) compact EV, notably raising the motor's peak power to 120 kW (from 105 kW) — matching the refreshed model — and improving 50–100 km/h acceleration to 4.61 s. The update also adds a swap-station parking assist to guide the vehicle into NIO’s fifth-generation battery swap stations, UI effects for the increased motor power, and an enhanced frunk unlocking flow (requires optional flash knock electro-lock). These software-driven gains boost performance, user convenience, and integration with NIO’s swap-infrastructure strategy, underscoring how OTA updates continue to be a key lever for EV makers to upgrade product capabilities post-sale.
NIO’s battery-swap unit Leador (乐道) will have over 3,300 available battery-swap stations across China by the end of 2026, the company’s Leador president Shen Fei announced after NIO’s ES9 completed a 10,000 km fastest-time pure-electric endurance run in 94h19m, breaking a previous Leador record. Shen noted Leador earlier doubled its pool of swappable batteries this year by adding over 8,000 battery packs. Public data show NIO Energy operates 7,506 charging and swap sites in total—2,491 swap stations (691 on highways) and 5,015 charging stations—plus integration with about 1.59 million third-party chargers. The expansion underscores NIO’s push to scale swap infrastructure to improve EV convenience and total-cost efficiency versus conventional charging.
NIO announced completion of its Silk Road Hexi Corridor battery-swap route, covering 1,739 km with 20 battery-swap stations. The milestone advances NIO’s national swap network: the company says the full Silk Road swap route will be completed by H2 2026, enabling travel between any NIO swap stations across all Chinese provinces. NIO frames the buildout as supporting the Belt and Road initiative and local clean energy use in Gansu, using swap stations’ integrated storage/charge/discharge to absorb wind and solar power. NIO reports 8,855 total charging and swapping sites nationwide (3,842 swap, 5,013 charge), claiming industry-leading coverage and extensive highway swap connectivity.