- China’s highway charging surged to 163 million kWh over Oct 1–7, reflecting holiday travel and intensifying pressure to support long-distance EV use and capture more internal combustion vehicle trips.
- NEA reported 6.711 million highway charging sessions, daily average 23.26 million kWh (up 51.42% YoY), 5.16 million public chargers nationwide, and 262 million kW total rated power.
- Direct competition centers on BYD, Li Auto and NIO’s fast-charge and swap networks, but execution risks include scaling high-power sites, congestion at swap hubs, and grid or supply constraints during peak demand.
China’s highway EV charging volume reached 163 million kWh during the first seven days of October, as millions of travelers took to the roads during the National Day holiday.
From 12:00 a.m. on October 1 to midnight on October 7, EV charging sessions on China’s highways totaled 6.711 million, with cumulative electricity consumption reaching 163 million kWh. Daily average charging volume stood at 23.26 million kWh, up 51.42% year over year, according to data from the National Energy Administration (NEA).
China’s EV charging infrastructure network continues to expand rapidly.
By the end of August 2026, China had 5.16 million public charging facilities nationwide, up 19.5% year over year. The total rated power of public charging facilities reached 262 million kW, with average power output of about 50.69 kW per charging gun.
The rollout of high-power chargers at highway service areas is also accelerating. From January to August, China added around 11,000 high-power charging facilities at highway service areas, matching the total number built in all previous years combined.
The country now has about 22,000 high-power charging facilities across highway service areas, while total charging facilities at highway service areas have reached around 89,000.
Major automakers are also accelerating their high-speed charging network expansion.
As of September 24, BYD had deployed 11,586 BYD Megawatt Flash-Charging Stations, including more than 2,000 highway flash-charging stations covering 341 cities nationwide. Li Auto has more than 4,000 Li Auto Supercharging Stations across China, including over 1,300 highway supercharging stations covering more than 100,000 km of highways.
Beyond high-power charging, battery swapping also saw heavy usage during the National Day holiday.
NIO has built 9,559 battery swapping and charging stations nationwide, including 4,167 battery swap stations and 5,392 charging stations. Its highway battery swap network includes 1,073 stations, covering more than 550 cities across China.
On October 1, NIO’s daily battery swap volume reached a record 183,469 transactions, meaning one NIO, ONVO, or Firefly vehicle completed a battery swap every 0.47 seconds on average. Highway swap stations saw particularly strong demand, with the busiest station handling 211 swaps in a single day.
On October 5, NIO’s daily battery swap volume climbed further to 183,664 transactions, setting another record. The busiest highway swap station completed 188 swaps that day.
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