Shenzhen has built a total of 550 supercharging stations so far, nearly twice the number of gas stations in the southern Chinese mega city.

Shenzhen -- the city where BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY) is headquartered -- has seen the number of supercharging stations in the city nearly double the number of gas stations, as about 80 percent of new car sales are contributed by new energy vehicles (NEVs).

To date, Shenzhen has built a total of 550 supercharging stations, twice the number of gas stations in the city, according to a report today in the Shenzhen Economic Daily.

The report didn't mention the number of gas stations in Shenzhen, though according to data released in June by the Commerce Bureau of Shenzhen, there were 298 gas stations in the city.

Shenzhen has become the first city in China to see the number of supercharging stations outnumber gas stations, as well as the number of charging guns outnumber gas guns, the Shenzhen Economic Daily report noted.

The city aims to have 1,000 supercharging stations by the end of 2024, according to a local government work report from earlier this year.

Shenzhen is one of the most policy-friendly cities for NEVs and has one of the highest penetration rates for such models.

In June, NEV penetration among new car sales in Shenzhen reached a record 77.4 percent, meaning that about 77 out of every 100 newly registered cars in the city were NEVs, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily said in a July 17 report.

In the first half of 2024, a total of 109,000 NEVs were registered in Shenzhen, with a penetration rate of 72.6 percent in new car sales, according to the report.

In Shenzhen, local residents who buy NEVs, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), can get free green license plates, while those who buy traditional fuel vehicles need to obtain blue license plates through lottery or bidding.

As of June, Shenzhen's motor vehicle fleet stood at about 4.263 million, of which 1.08 million were NEVs, accounting for more than 25 percent, according to the report by Shenzhen Special Zone Daily in July.

The number of battery swap stations in Shenzhen is relatively small compared with the number of superchargers.

Nio (NYSE: NIO) currently has 56 battery swap stations in Shenzhen, according to the electric vehicle (EV) maker's charging map.

By contrast, Nio has 156 battery swap stations in Shanghai, where it is headquartered, and 115 in Beijing.

Nio is the largest operator of battery swap stations in China, with a total of 2,508 in the country to date.

Shenzhen NEV penetration reaches record 77.4% in Jun