Nio has switched on the world's first zero-carbon, off-grid battery swap station powered entirely by solar energy, located at Xingxingxia in the eastern Gobi Desert of Xinjiang, according to Chinese automotive outlet Gasgoo. The station, which began operations on September 23, marks the company's first deployment of an off-grid swap facility that relies on photovoltaics as its sole energy source, creating a closed-loop system of generation, storage and consumption without any connection to the external power grid.
The location poses extreme challenges: the site experiences more than 100 days per year of winds above force 8 on the Beaufort scale, summer surface temperatures exceeding 70°C, and winter lows of -30°C. Grid coverage in the area is sparse, and a conventional grid-connection approach would have required stringing power lines across hundreds of kilometres of desert, a process both lengthy and costly. That made an off-grid solar-plus-storage design the more practical option, Nio said.
Solar-powered swap in three modes
Technically, the station uses LONGi BLOCK mobile energy units and LONGi H2D storage systems, which automatically switch between three operating modes depending on sunlight conditions. During the day, solar panels power the station directly while surplus electricity charges the batteries; at night, the storage system discharges to keep the station running; and during prolonged overcast periods, an emergency mode preserves power for critical loads. The system operates without on-site staff, with liquid cooling and high-protection enclosures designed to keep the swap station running 24/7 in the harsh desert environment.
The launch lays the groundwork for the full opening of Nio's Silk Road battery swap route, which is scheduled to go live on September 26. The route spans 3,605 kilometres and includes 33 swap stations, allowing users to travel by swapping batteries all the way from any station in the country to every provincial-level region in mainland China.
Network milestones
As of September 23, Nio has installed 9,410 charging and swapping facilities nationwide, comprising 4,109 battery swap stations and 5,301 charging stations - the largest such network in the industry, according to the company. On highways specifically, Nio has deployed 1,060 swap stations, connecting a network that covers nine vertical and 11 horizontal corridors plus 16 major urban clusters, reaching more than 550 cities. Since August last year, the company has also opened 92 scenic charging routes, with a target of 100 by the end of 2026.
The off-grid station underscores Nio's push to extend battery swap (a service where depleted packs are exchanged for charged ones in minutes) into remote regions where grid infrastructure is weak or absent. It also highlights the growing role of solar-plus-storage systems in China's EV charging ecosystem, particularly along long-distance corridors in the country's western deserts.
