Nio will provide 14 electric vehicles for the Silk Road Challenge 2026, a journey spanning over 20,000 kilometers across 11 countries. The fleet, including Nio ES8, ES6, ET5 Touring, and Onvo L90 and L80 models, departs from Xi'an on September 16. The trip is scheduled to last 41 days and will conclude in Budapest, Hungary.
During the Chinese leg of the journey, the fleet will rely exclusively on Nio's battery swap network. The company is launching a 3,605-kilometer route featuring 33 battery swap stations, which will be fully operational by late September. This infrastructure allows users to travel across all provincial-level administrative regions in mainland China using only battery swapping.
Nio continues to expand its Power Journeys program, which deploys charging and battery swap facilities along tourism routes. As of September 10, the company has established 4,079 battery swap stations and 5,255 charging stations with 30,296 chargers in China. To date, Nio has performed more than 123 million battery swaps for its users.
The company aims to reach 100 Power Journeys routes by the end of this year. This initiative follows the launch of a 1,849-kilometer circuit in southern Shanxi province on September 6, which includes 13 battery swap stations. These efforts are designed to address consumer concerns regarding long-distance travel and battery replenishment for electric vehicles.
