136 Football Fields and a New Car Every 60 Seconds: China's Digital Smart Factory Becomes a Tourism Magnet
Robots, cloud systems, and AI quality control — over 40,000 visitors a year come to see how modern EVs are born
A digital smart car factory in China has become a popular destination for industrial tourism. Thousands of visitors come to see how modern vehicles are created using intelligent technologies. This report is from CCTV+.
The factory is located in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province in eastern China. Its area equals 136 football fields. Under one roof, it combines stamping, bodywork, painting, and final assembly. Thanks to robots and cloud systems, the factory can perform one thousand quality checks in just three minutes. And a new energy vehicle rolls off the line every 60 seconds.
Zhao Bo, a production quality manager, said that the company's self-developed intelligent AI-based quality control system has significantly improved efficiency. It is called "Tiantong". The manager notes that if you come again in the future, you will see a completely different picture — with even faster and more effective inspections.
The factory uses a digital vehicle storage and retrieval system known as the "Magic Cube". It ensures efficient automated handling of car bodies, shortens delivery times, and helps meet the demand for personalized new energy vehicles.
Yin Liang, manager of NIO's Second Advanced Manufacturing Base, explains: six car models in more than twenty colors are presented at this factory. The task is to meet customer demand for customized orders and deliver cars quickly. Whatever car a buyer wants, they can pick it up immediately.
On the final assembly line, technologies such as quantitative data analysis and software monitoring are used. This guarantees error-free bolt tightening.
Yang Tianpei, a worker at the manufacturing base, says that in the past, it took more than two months to grow from an inexperienced worker into a qualified one. Traditionally, bolt tightening required manual inspection to detect possible faults. Now, this process is controlled through quantitative data analysis and software monitoring. If a fault is detected, an alarm sounds automatically. This is how the factory has achieved zero errors in bolt tightening.
Beyond the intelligent systems and impressive efficiency, visitors can also enter the brand center and battery swap stations — and even take photos there.
In 2025, the factory welcomed more than 40,000 domestic tourists and over 1,000 international visitors.
A visitor, Wu Chaowei, shared his impressions: the factory is very clean — this overturns his idea of traditional industrial enterprises. Inside, he felt the strong impact of technology and digitalization, sensing the progress of the automotive industry. Overall, the factory tour left a very good impression.
