NIO plans to connect the entire Sichuan–Xizang highway with a total of 14 battery swap stations, enabling full swap coverage from Chengdu to Everest Base Camp.
On July 22, NIO announced the official opening of the world’s highest battery swap station — the Gongbo’gyamda Swap Station — located at an altitude of 4,500 meters (14,764 feet) in Xizang.
This station marks NIO’s 1,001st highway battery swap station, situated in Gongbo’gyamda County in Xizang. It sets a new record for the altitude of EV energy infrastructure.
Strategically positioned on a key section of National Highway 318 — the core route of the Sichuan–Xizang line — it lies in the western part of Nyingchi City, southeastern Xizang, and is a major transit point between Lhasa and Nyingchi. A 40-minute drive south from the station leads to the famous Bangjietang Grasslands, making it not only a strategically located facility but also one with tourism value.
The station follows the opening of another high-altitude station on July 15 in Tingri County, Shigatse (3,947 meters above sea level), near Everest’s entrance, further extending the highland EV energy supply network.
According to NIO’s plan, a total of 14 battery swap stations will be deployed along the entire Sichuan–Xizang highway, ensuring seamless power swapping from Chengdu to Everest Base Camp, with an average station spacing of approximately 200 kilometers.
In the words of NIO CEO William Li: “We aim to open up the 318 Sichuan–Xizang Highway with 14 battery swap stations, so that NIO and ONVO users can drive all the way to Everest using battery swaps.”
It’s worth noting that the cost and difficulty of building high-altitude swap stations far exceed that of standard urban supercharging piles. These sites must endure extreme cold and low-oxygen conditions, while serving areas with far lower population density. NIO’s continued investment in ensuring battery swapping is “more convenient than refueling” on Highway 318 is key to eliminating range anxiety for EVs crossing high-altitude terrains.
As of July 22, NIO has built 3,409 battery swap stations, 2,900 supercharging stations, and 4,678 destination charging stations, and has integrated more than 1.3 million third-party charging piles, forming a nationwide fast-swap infrastructure covering 9 vertical, 11 horizontal highways and 16 major city clusters.
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