Nio Power partnered with state-backed developer Poly Property Group on November 11 to install electric vehicle battery swap stations and charging points across commercial and residential developments in China.
The agreement gives the carmaker access to prime real estate footprint, building on a network that already counts 4,252 swap stations and 5,584 charging stations nationwide.
Signed in Shanghai by executives including Nio chief financial officer and Nio Power head Stanley Qu, the partnership targets existing and pipeline developments. The installations will focus on residential communities, commercial office complexes and industrial parks in major Chinese urban centres. Neither company disclosed the initial capital outlay or the exact station count.
Inside the Property Agreement
Beyond concrete foundations and swap bays, the contract links station operations with retail foot traffic. The two groups agreed to coordinate vehicle sales, showroom locations, user services and operational data management. Energy balancing forms the second tier of the arrangement, combining rooftop solar installations, localized battery storage and vehicle-to-grid power distribution across Poly Property communities.
Poly Property operates as a primary real estate vehicle for China Poly Group. Its holdings span commercial plazas and high-density apartment blocks across multiple Chinese cities, offering Nio pre-cleared land access in zones where retrofitting heavy electrical infrastructure normally faces strict local property board approvals.
Landlord Strategy and Infrastructure Costs
For commercial landlords, bringing power swap hardware on site changes consumer dwell time, shifting footfall toward brief convenience purchases rather than long restaurant visits.
Competitors across China continue to rely on open-access fast-charging partnerships or third-party depot operators. Nio has chosen a heavier route, shouldering the capital footprint of dedicated swap infrastructure to control the ownership experience. Securing state-owned landlord relationships reduces the real estate acquisition friction that slows down rival private charging rollouts.
Scaling the Battery Network
External partnerships have become the standard mechanism for Nio Power to spread execution costs. The unit has assembled ties with more than 40 regional partners, including provincial state-owned investment platforms, jointly delivering over 900 battery swap stations across 25 provinces and municipalities.
Cumulative spending on charging and battery swapping technology and sites has passed 20 billion yuan ($2.98 billion). The system handled its 130 millionth swap on November 3, taking 88 days to run from 120 million to 130 million while processing more than 110,000 swaps each day.
Hardware upgrades rolled out ahead of the developer pact. In August, Nio activated its first fifth-generation battery swap stations across seven cities, introducing compatibility for its mass-market Firefly brand alongside Nio and Onvo vehicles. Attention now turns to the first batch of operational Poly Property sites, where station commissioning dates will show how rapidly residential utility connections can be cleared.
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