Working with partners is one of the ways Nio has been able to move forward quickly with the construction of battery swap stations. Now, the company's partnership with State Grid, a Chinese state-owned electric utility corporation, is beginning to bear fruit.

On August 23, the first second-generation battery swap station built by Nio in cooperation with the Shaanxi branch of State Grid EV Service, a subsidiary of State Grid, went into operation in Xi'an, according to the local Sanqin Metropolis newspaper.

The two sides plan to build more than 20 battery swap stations in Shaanxi to provide exclusive charging services for Nio customers, the report said.

(Photo source: Sanqin Metropolis)

State Grid EV Service has more than 5,000 charging piles in Shaanxi and has 88 charging stations located in highway service areas, according to the report.

In the latest partnership, State Grid EV Service provides power and auxiliary services and Nio provides battery swap facilities, jointly investing in the construction of the battery swap station, the report said.

Nio said in its app that it put two battery swap stations into operation in Xi'an on August 23, bringing the total number here to eight.

The company signed an agreement with State Grid EV Service on December 14 last year to jointly build battery swap stations, with Nio founder, Chairman and CEO Li Bin and Vice President Shen Fei attending the signing ceremony.

The two aim to build 100 charging and battery swap stations in China by 2021, according to the agreement at the time.

Nio put four new battery swap stations into operation on Wednesday, all of them in Sichuan province, bringing the total to 389.

As of August 25, Nio had 255 supercharging stations in China, offering 1,844 charging piles. It also has 444 destination charging stations, offering 2,536 charging posts, and access to more than 390,000 third-party charging piles.