Layer-structured vanadium oxide (V2O5) nanoribbons with efficient electron transport and short lithium ion insertion lengths are promising candidates for high-performance lithium-ion battery applications. Despite the extensive investigation of its electrochemical properties, the chemical and structural evolution during lithiation-delithiation processes has rarely been characterized in real time. Herein, the lithiation-delithiation behaviors of V2O5 nanoribbons are probed by in situ transmission electron microscopy. We reveal that the V2O5 nanoribbons exhibit high lithiation speed (0.8 nm/s) without retardation along the [010] direction and can be fully lithiated to the Li3V2O5 phase. Fully reversible retraction of lithium is observed in these V2O5 nanoribbons during delithiation. The lithiation process accompanying the coherent strain is further simulated by our phase field model. The simulation results reveal that the specific rough lithiation interface between the V2O5 and Li3V2O5 phases originates from the lithiation inhomogeneity.