On September 7th, NIO's founder, chairman, and CEO, William Li, shared a video on social media with the caption: "In Hefei for business, and casually delivered five ES9 and ET9 vehicles." In the footage, he joined several users in filming a delivery commemorative video, maintaining a relaxed atmosphere. The word "casually" understates the significance of the moment, yet it belies NIO's strong performance in the Hefei market. This year, NIO has consistently topped the passenger vehicle sales charts in Hefei.

Just two days before the video was posted, an even more strategically significant milestone was achieved. On September 5th, with the launch of the NIO battery swap station at the Huangshan Qimen Low-Carbon Science Park, NIO Energy officially achieved "county-level coverage" for battery swapping across Anhui Province. This also marks the full realization of county-level battery swapping coverage throughout the entire Yangtze River Delta region. Since the first NIO swap station in Anhui went online in 2018, NIO Energy has built a total of 216 swap stations across the province, covering all 104 districts and counties, with cumulative swap services exceeding 5.27 million times. More than 85% of users in Anhui can find at least one swap station within a 3-kilometer radius of their home or office.

Across the broader Yangtze River Delta, NIO Energy has accumulated 1,412 swap stations covering 303 districts and counties. For long-distance travel, NIO has established a high-speed battery swapping network across the delta's urban clusters, with 289 highway swap stations. Whether traveling home for the weekend or on a cross-province road trip, users can swap batteries along the way and set off without hesitation—on average, there's a NIO swap station every 100 kilometers on delta highways, making charging as convenient as refueling.

The accelerated construction of charging and swapping infrastructure has significantly boosted NIO's sales in the Yangtze River Delta, a core market for the company. Data shows that from January to July 2026, NIO ranked first in cumulative passenger vehicle sales in both Shanghai and Hefei. In July, NIO led the premium market in sales across all three provinces and one municipality of Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui. Looking at provincial cumulative sales, new vehicle deliveries in Jiangsu have surpassed 180,000, while in Zhejiang, cumulative deliveries have exceeded 200,000. Across Anhui Province, NIO's cumulative sales have surpassed BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi to claim the top spot in the premium market.

In Hefei, after first topping the city's passenger vehicle sales rankings in the first quarter of 2026, NIO continued to lead in April, May, and July, with cumulative sales from January to July securing the top position in the Hefei passenger car market. In July alone, four models—NIO ES8, NIO ES9, Onvo L80, and Onvo L90—claimed the top four spots in Hefei's large SUV segment, capturing a combined market share exceeding 60%.

Nationwide, NIO has deployed 9,317 charging and swapping stations, including 4,067 swap stations and 5,250 charging stations with 30,272 charging piles, leading the industry in both categories. On highways, NIO has established 1,052 swap stations, connecting 9 vertical and 11 horizontal high-speed corridors across 16 major city clusters, reaching over 550 cities nationwide, effectively resolving user range anxiety on long journeys. In urban areas, 80.1% of users have at least one swap station within 3 kilometers of their office or residence. For long-distance travel, 88 scenic battery-swapping routes, including the G318 Sichuan-Tibet Highway, Yunnan-Tibet Highway, and the Hexi Corridor, are now fully operational. By 2026, NIO plans to complete over 100 such scenic routes, with the Silk Road battery-swapping route expected to fully open within the year—meaning users will be able to travel from any swap station in the country to all provincial-level administrative regions in mainland China using battery swaps alone. This increasingly dense network is turning the vision of "charging as convenient as refueling" into reality step by step.

From the Qimen County swap station launch to a lecture at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), only one day passed. The success of the county-level coverage gave William Li a solid case study when addressing the question of "how to avoid involution." On the evening of September 6th, Li appeared at the USTC's 2026 "Writing Youth Glory on the Motherland" ideological education event. He shared the stage with Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD; Yin Tongyue, Chairman and President of Chery Automobile; and Xiang Xingchu, Chairman and General Manager of JAC Group Holding. The four Anhui-born automotive leaders made a rare joint appearance, dubbed on-site as "Anhui's Auto F4."

When asked how automakers can escape the trap of price-based competition, Li offered his perspective: "I believe technology still needs to be 'competed' on—only through technological innovation can we deliver tangible value to users. On the other hand, we also need to excel in service. NIO has already deployed over 4,000 swap stations nationwide." He shifted tone: "'Competing' on price can indeed lead the industry to ruin, but competing on technology and service is what both users and the industry want to see."

NIO's approach to "service competition" is built on its nationwide network of over 4,000 swap stations, delivering convenient access for over 80% of urban users within 3 kilometers and highway stations spaced less than 100 kilometers apart across the Yangtze River Delta. The fifth-generation swap stations, compatible with multi-brand vehicles and capable of fully automated swapping in minutes, make refueling parity a reality. Combined with 88 scenic battery-swapping routes and the upcoming Silk Road corridor, the vision of "charging as convenient as refueling" is now woven into every detail of users' travel experiences.

At the event, Li also showcased NIO's self-developed Shenji chip—the world's first automotive-grade 5-nanometer intelligent driving chip, now fully integrated into production vehicles. He noted that the TianShu operating system and intelligent driving system supporting the chip were developed with significant contributions from USTC alumni on the core R&D teams. "NIO's growth is inseparable from Anhui, a land that encourages and embraces innovation," Li said. "Five years ago, we established a joint laboratory with USTC's School of Information Science and Technology. We look forward to meeting more bold and capable young partners here to create the cars of the future together."

On the same day, the four automotive leaders brought their companies' flagship models to the USTC campus for display, including NIO's ET9 and ES9.

Li's three-day visit to Hefei encapsulated the complete chain of NIO's success in the city: strong product sales, robust infrastructure development, and industry leadership. The county-level battery swapping coverage has transformed "charging as convenient as refueling" from a vision into reality. As Li said at the end of his video: "We'll keep pushing forward—let's charge ahead together!"