Category: Nio

NIO opens new plant in Hefei to produce swap stations

is aiming to add 1,000 battery swap stations this year, and to make up for the lack of capacity, it decided to build a new plant in Hefei to produce them, an executive said.

(NIO Power senior vice president Shen Fei talks to the media in Shanghai in March 2023. Image credit: CnEVPost)

NIO (NYSE: NIO) has added a new factory to produce battery swap stations to support its aggressive plan to add 1,000 battery swap stations this year, which it announced three months ago.

A new battery swap station was shipped from the Hefei, Anhui plant on Friday evening, and the station was installed in Xiamen, Fujian this morning, according to NIO Power senior vice president Shen Fei.

Shen revealed the development today on Weibo, which is the first time we've seen content about NIO's new battery swap station factory in Hefei, home to two of NIO's vehicle assembly plants.

NIO decided to add 1,000 battery swap stations this year after the Chinese New Year, and to make up for the lack of capacity, the company decided to build a factory in Hefei to produce these facilities, Shen said.

It took three months from the time that decision was made to the time the first battery swap station was shipped from the plant, according to Shen.

Shen did not provide more details, but the progress appears to have been made with the help of NIO's battery swap station supplier.

Shenzhen-traded Shandong Weida Machinery, which has been supplying battery swap stations to NIO, said on March 29 that its Kunshan, Jiangsu-based subsidiary Swap had developed and delivered the third-generation battery swap stations for NIO.

Swap will continue to develop, produce and supply according to NIO's actual demand and orders in the future, Weida said at the time on an investor interactive platform.

Swap is a joint venture established in 2017 by NIO Power and Weida's industrial robotics subsidiary Demac, dedicated to the design, development, production and manufacturing of automatic battery swap systems, according to information on its official website.

It is unclear how many factories Swap has in China to produce battery swap stations for NIO, which has a factory in Hungary to produce the facility that went into operation in September 2022.

The third generation of NIO's battery swap stations was unveiled at the NIO Day 2022 event on December 24, 2022, capable of storing up to 21 packs, up from 13 for its predecessor generation and five for the first generation of the facility.

NIO announced plans at the time to add 400 battery swap stations by 2023, though that plan was raised to 1,000 on February 21.

William Li, NIO's founder, chairman and CEO, said at the time that the company would further accelerate the deployment of battery swap stations, with a goal of having more than 2,300 battery swap stations in China by the end of 2023.

Speaking at a press conference on the first day of the Shanghai auto show on April 18, Li said that NIO would add about 200 battery swap stations per month starting in June.

As of May 29, NIO had 1,432 battery swap stations in China, 383 of which are located along highways, according to data monitored by CnEVData.

The company also has 2,624 charging stations in China, providing 15,591 charging piles.

NIO swap station tracker

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NIO’s local peers react to launch of new ES6

The launch of the new ES6 has triggered rare reactions from several of 's local counterparts, highlighting the fierce competition in China's EV market.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

New model launches by local automakers rarely trigger reactions from their peers, and the new NIO ES6 is apparently one of those rare ones.

NIO officially launched the new ES6 in China last night, with its event starting at 7 pm and ending around 8:10 pm after announcing the price.

About a half hour after the event, Li Xiang, founder, chairman and CEO of (NASDAQ: LI), said on Weibo that he had set a small goal in advance for his team to reach 20,000 monthly sales of the company's five-seat SUV, the Li L7, in October.

"Supplier partners, please trust us to keep up with capacity! " Li wrote at 8:40 pm yesterday.

Although Li did not mention NIO, he seemed to be reacting to the launch of the ES6, as the two models are seen as competitors in China, even though the ES6 is purely electric and the Li L7 is an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) that can be refueled.

In contrast to that Li Auto CEO's hint, an executive from HiPhi, another local car company, commented directly on the launch of the new ES6.

"Congratulations to NIO on the launch of the new ES6! Also sharing some information with those who follow HiPhi," HiPhi's brand and communications manager Xu Bin said on Weibo at 8:52 pm yesterday.

HiPhi is in the process of finalizing the pricing for the HiPhi Y series, with the 560 km range version expected to be set at a starting price of RMB 369,000 ($52,220), he said.

The HiPhi Y is HiPhi's third model and will be the brand's cheapest all-electric vehicle, with Xu revealing a price just RMB 1,000 higher than the starting price of the NIO ES6.

"HiPhi Y will open for delivery in July this year. If you are in a hurry to buy a car, you can go test drive the ES6, and if you are not in a hurry, you can wait for HiPhi Y," he wrote.

Compared to the comments of the two above, the words of a SAIC-GM-Wuling executive were more friendly, probably because the company is not in direct competition with NIO.

"Another new car went on sale this evening, the model costs more than RMB 300,000 and no one says it's expensive," Zhou Jinkai, deputy general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling's brand department, wrote on Weibo at 11:38 pm last night.

"It seems we still have to build up the brand, the product, the technology, all around," he said.

SAIC-GM-Wuling will launch a new mini EV model, the Baojun Yep, later today.

($1 = RMB 7.0663)

NIO officially launches new ES6, potentially lifting key factor holding back sales

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NIO starts delivery of new ES6 on night of launch day

Deliveries of the new ES6 began in 13 regions on the night of its launch on May 24, although officially announced that deliveries would begin on May 25.

(Image credit: NIO)

NIO (NYSE: NIO) previously said that deliveries of the new ES6 would begin the next day after its launch. But as it turned out, the new SUV was delivered to its first owners on the same night it went on sale.

Deliveries of the new ES6 started in 13 regions of China the night of its launch on May 24, NIO announced on Weibo early this morning.

The electric vehicle (EV) maker shared several images showing some of the scenes from the model's first deliveries on the night of May 24.

NIO officially launched the new ES6 during an event that began at 7 pm Beijing time on May 24, and pricing information for the model was only announced near the end of the event at around 8 pm.

The new ES6 is available in only one version, unlike the three previously offered versions of the first-generation ES6.

Including the battery, the new ES6 with the 75-kWh standard range battery pack starts at RMB 368,000 ($52,220), and for the 100-kWh version, the starting price will be RMB 426,000.

If consumers choose to purchase the car using NIO's BaaS (battery as a service) program, the new ES6 starts at RMB 298,000, with monthly rental fees of RMB 980 for the 75-kWh pack and RMB 1,680 for the 100-kWh.

For owners who get delivery of the new ES6 on the day of launch, they may be big fans of NIO and are not price sensitive, and getting delivery as early as possible is what they would prefer.

NIO has already begun production of the new ES6 based on designer-recommended configuration combinations, and deliveries would begin on May 25 for consumers who purchase these vehicles, a post on the NIO App said yesterday.

Consumers who wish to customize the vehicles can lock in their orders in the NIO App, and deliveries will begin in mid-June, it said.

($1 = RMB 7.0473)

NIO officially launches new ES6, potentially lifting key factor holding back sales

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NIO officially launches new ES6, potentially lifting key factor holding back sales

has produced a batch of the new ES6 and deliveries will begin on May 25. Deliveries of customized vehicles will begin in mid-June.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

NIO (NYSE: NIO) today officially launched the new ES6 in China, potentially lifting a key factor that has held back its sales over the past few months.

The electric vehicle maker is allowing consumers to lock in orders for the new ES6 starting today, and those interested can make appointments to test drive the model today, with first deliveries set to begin tomorrow.

Like NIO's other models based on the latest NT 2.0 platform, the new ES6 features strong power and assisted driving hardware. As NIO's least expensive SUV, the new ES6 has competitive pricing.

Including the battery, the new ES6 with a 75-kWh standard range battery pack starts at RMB 368,000 ($52,220), and for the 100-kWh version, it starts at RMB 426,000.

If consumers choose to purchase the car using NIO's BaaS (battery as a service) program, then the new ES6 starts at RMB 298,000, with a monthly rental fee of RMB 980 for the 75-kWh pack and RMB 1,680 for the 100-kWh.

Notably, that price is at the low end of the price range in a questionnaire NIO sent to some NIO App users on May 11 to solicit pricing opinions for the new ES6.

Its previous action was more like an intentional expectation management move so that potential consumers would not be disappointed with the final pricing.

Many other local automakers have similar strategies, such as (OTCMKTS: BYDDY), which typically announces pre-sale prices for new models and then announces lower final prices.

The new ES6 is also less expensive than the first generation of the model based on the NT 1.0 platform, which was previously offered in three versions with starting prices of RMB 386,000, 426,000 and 496,000 respectively.

NIO has begun production of the new ES6 based on the designer's recommended configuration combinations, and deliveries will begin on May 25 for consumers who purchase these vehicles, a post on the NIO App today said.

Consumers who wish to customize the vehicles can lock in their orders in the NIO App, and deliveries for these vehicles will begin in mid-June.

The new ES6 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds under half-load conditions, with a distance of 34.5 meters from 100 km/h to the brake.

The new ES6 has a range of 490 km with the 75-kWh standard range battery pack and 625 km with the 100-kWh pack.

NIO's 150-kWh semi-solid-state battery pack, which will be put into use in July, will give the new ES6 a range of 930 km, according to William Li, the company's founder, chairman and CEO.

NIO is scaling back the benefits it offers consumers, announcing on April 10 that from June 1, consumers who purchase the NIO ET7, EC7, ES7 and ET5 will no longer continue to receive free home chargers, and the free battery swap benefit will be adjusted to four per month.

NIO has been providing consumers with free home chargers and four free battery swaps per month for the past several years. If consumers choose to forgo the free home charger, they will receive 6 free battery swaps per month under its current policy.

For the new ES6 and the new ES8, these benefit changes will begin on August 1.

For NIO, the new ES6 is crucial, as it is the least expensive of NIO's SUVs and has been its main seller for the past several years.

NIO launched the first-generation ES6 in December 2018 and began delivering the model in China in June 2019.

In 2019, NIO delivered 20,565 vehicles, including 9,132 ES8s and 11,433 ES6s, with the ES6 contributing 55.59 percent, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

In 2020, the company delivered 43,728 vehicles, including 10,861 ES8s, 27,945 ES6s and 4,922 EC6s, with a 63.9 percent contribution from the ES6.

In 2021, NIO delivered 91,429 vehicles, including 20,050 ES8s, 41,474 ES6s and 29,905 EC6s, with a 45.36 percent contribution from the ES6.

Available data for 2022 show that from January to August, 32,877 units of ES6 were delivered, contributing 46 percent of NIO's total deliveries of 71,556 units during this period.

Potential consumers' wait for the new ES6 over the past few months may have been a critical factor in dampening NIO's sales, causing its April deliveries to fall to 6,658 units.

In the first three weeks of the month, NIO vehicles registered just 3,700 insurance units in China, data monitored by CnEVPost shows.

($1 = RMB 7.0473)

New NIO ES6 launch: Live updates

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New NIO ES6 launch: Live updates

is holding a launch event for the new ES6 in China, and this article is a live update from CnEVPost based on a live video stream.

NIO (NYSE: NIO) is holding a launch event for the new ES6 in China, and the following is a live update from CnEVPost based on a live video stream.

This post will be continuously updated until the end of the launch, with the latest content at the top.

NIO will open the City NAD function in a small scope in Shanghai in the near future.

The new ES6 comes standard with 23 safety and driver assistance features.

The new ES6 has a range of 490 km with the 75-kWh standard range battery pack and 625 km with a 100-kWh pack.

The new NIO ES6 can get a range of 930 km when equipped with the 150-kWh battery pack.

NIO's 150-kWh semi-solid-state battery pack will be available for use in July.

NIO develops these parts in-house because it can respond to user feedback more quickly.

The new ES6 is equipped with NIO's intelligent chassis controller, third generation continuous damping control system.

All of NIO's cars are built to the highest safety standards, said Li.

The new ES6 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds under half-load conditions.

The new NIO ES6 is equipped with NIO's in-house developed high-performance 4-piston calipers, allowing the vehicle to brake from 100 km/h to stop in as short a distance as 34.5 meters.

The NIO ES6 will be known as the EL6 in Europe (because of the lawsuit by Audu).

The new NIO ES6 will be available in 10 exterior colors.

NIO invited several users to jointly present the new ES6 at the launch event, including an architect and an automotive media reporter, the first time it has done so for a new car launch.

William Li, Founder, Chairman and CEO of NIO, began his presentation.

NIO pins high hopes on new ES6 with unprecedented delivery efficiency and marketing campaign

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NIO counting down to new ES6 launch, deliveries ready to go

Some auto bloggers on Weibo said is gearing up for deliveries of the new ES6, which could start even as soon as the launch event is over.

NIO (NYSE: NIO) is counting down to the launch of the new ES6, with the model that will be key to reversing its weak sales trend less than eight hours away from its official launch.

Visitors to NIO's website can see the countdown, and as of press time, the launch event for the new ES6 is 7 hours, 30 minutes, and 30 seconds away.

The launch event of the new ES6 will begin at 7:00 pm Beijing time on May 24 (7:00 am US Eastern time on May 24), and viewers will be able to watch a live video stream on channels including the NIO App, NIO.com, and NIO Weibo.

NIO announced on May 16 that test drives of the new ES6 will be available starting on launch day and deliveries will begin on May 25.

This will be NIO's fastest model from official launch to delivery, as its local peers, including (NASDAQ: LI), have proven that efficient delivery is critical to success in the highly competitive Chinese EV market.

Some auto bloggers on Weibo said that NIO is already preparing for deliveries of the new ES6, which could start even at the end of the launch event.

NIO originally said deliveries of the new ES6 would start on May 25, but because buyers want to get their hands on the new car as soon as possible, deliveries could start tonight, according to Wu Ying, an auto blogger with 970,000 followers on Weibo.

"What I know so far is that there are already a few cars in Shenzhen that are being readied and will be available for delivery at the end of the launch tonight," he said.

(Image credit: Wu Ying on Weibo)

Notably, NIO has not yet announced the price of the new ES6, which is expected to be below RMB 400,000 yuan ($56,700).

NIO gave the new ES6 its debut on the first day of the Shanghai auto show on April 18, when it began allowing consumers to pay an RMB 5,000 deposit to reserve the model.

On May 11, a large number of NIO App users received a push message from NIO containing a questionnaire asking them to vote on what they thought was a reasonable price for the new ES6.

NIO offered six options in that questionnaire: below RMB 368,000, RMB 368,000, RMB 378,000, RMB 338,000, RMB 398,000, and RMB 398,000 or more.

On May 20, NIO announced that the new ES6 show cars were available at nearly 300 NIO stores in 92 cities.

On May 22, it said the model was available in more than 330 NIO stores in 100 cities.

NIO's showrooms include the flagship NIO Houses as well as the smaller NIO Spaces, and they numbered 110 and 270 in China, respectively, as of April 30, according to data it released on May 1.

NIO released its first-generation ES6 in December 2018 and began delivering the model in China in June 2019.

Available data for 2022 show that from January to August, 32,877 ES6 units were delivered, contributing 46 percent of NIO's total deliveries of 71,556 units for the period.

The wait for the new ES6 by potential consumers may have depressed NIO's deliveries.

In the first three weeks of May, insurance registrations for NIO vehicles were 3,700, according to data from earlier this month.

($1 = RMB 7.0554)

China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 21: Li Auto 7,100, XPeng 1,500, NIO 1,400

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China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 21: Li Auto 7,100, XPeng 1,500, NIO 1,400

This article is being updated, please refresh later for more content.

vehicles registered 10,200 insurance units in China last week, bringing the number to 26,118 for the first three weeks of May.

founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said last week that they had been complained about by some of their peers and therefore could not continue to share the weekly insurance registration numbers.

Interestingly, however, the company resumed sharing those numbers today to continue to show that it leads the pack among Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) startups.

For the week of May 15 to May 21, Li Auto sold 7,100 units, far outpacing other new car brands and reigning as the weekly sales leader for new automaking brands in the Chinese market, the company said today on Weibo.

Li Auto did not explain on what basis the sales were counted, but apparently, they were insurance registrations.

Li Auto surpassed all other traditional luxury brands except Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi to remain in the top five luxury brands in the Chinese market in terms of sales, the highest-ranked Chinese brand on the list, it said.

In the first two weeks of May, Li Auto vehicles had 4,543 and 6,670 insurance registrations, respectively. This means that from May 1 to May 21, Li Auto sold about 18,313 vehicles.

The tables Li Auto shared today show that vehicles had 1,400 insurance registrations last week. This means that NIO had 3,700 insurance registrations for the first three weeks of May.

NIO deliveries continue to be curbed by the upcoming launch of the new ES6, with insurance registration figures of 1,100 and 1,200 in the first and second weeks of May, respectively.

NIO will officially launch the new ES6 on May 24, and its deliveries will start on May 25.

The company is getting the ES6 to market with unprecedented delivery efficiency, and as of May 20, the new ES6 show cars were available at nearly 300 NIO stores in 92 cities.

registered 1,500 insurance units last week, the same as the previous week. In the first three weeks of May, XPeng vehicles had 3,870 insurance registrations.

XPeng deliveries were also dampened by the new model G6, which is expected to officially launch and begin deliveries at the end of next month.

Insurance registrations for Tesla vehicles in China were 10,200 last week, bringing the figure to 26,118 for the first three weeks of May. The number was 5,928 and 9,990 in the first two weeks of May.

Data table: China NEV weekly insurance registrations

The post China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 21: Li Auto 7,100, XPeng 1,500, NIO 1,400 appeared first on CnEVPost.

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NIO Capital hosts investor conference, William Li highlights NIO’s choice in times of uncertainty

"We need to think strategically with a long-term mindset and use that to guide our short-term actions," Li said.

(Image credit: Capital)

NIO Capital recently held its annual investor conference in Hefei, Anhui province, where its managing partner William Li spoke and highlighted the choices NIO (NYSE: NIO), of which he is a founder, is making in times of uncertainty.

Li is not only at the helm of NIO Capital, a venture capital firm with a US dollar fund as well as a RMB fund, but is also the founder, chairman and CEO of NIO.

The conference was the first time in three years that NIO Capital brought together investors from its RMB and US dollar funds, and in addition to presentations and roundtable conversations, attendees toured NIO's manufacturing facilities, according to a press release today.

Li gave a keynote speech at the conference, sharing his views on the development of NEVs (NEVs) and corporate strategy, according to the release, which included a photo showing Li highlighting NIO's choice in times of uncertainty.

Last year was a landmark year for the global NEV industry, as global sales of NEVs exceeded 10 million for the first time, with China contributing close to 70 percent of the sales, according to Li.

Even during the Covid epidemic, China's NEV sales performance was still surprising, showing that the NEV industry has fully transitioned from being policy-driven to being product-driven and market-driven, which is a historic watershed, Li said.

Nonetheless, the future remains challenging, and increased uncertainty is a trend that almost everyone agrees on, he said.

"In today's world, we must learn to think about how to grow, how to manage risk, and how to take advantage of opportunities in a more volatile and uncertain world," Li said.

"We need to think strategically with a long-term mindset and use that to guide our short-term actions. We need to be more aggressive in meeting the challenges of the market while ensuring that the company's operational risks are manageable," he added.

Ian Zhu, another managing partner at NIO Capital, also spoke and said the venture capital firm has made aggressive investments in the areas of smart cockpits, battery technology, energy transition, semiconductors and automotive ecology since 2022.

NIO Capital didn't provide much more on NIO, though many of its investments are around the NEV industry chain and are sometimes made alongside NIO.

NIO and NIO Capital invested in fusion startup Neo Fusion, taking a 19.9 percent and 10.1 percent stake, respectively, according to a CnEVPost report last week.

NIO also seems to be hoping that NIO Capital's investment will help it get better access to resources for building more attractive electric vehicles.

NIO announced the panoramic digital cockpit PanoCinema when it launched the ET5 sedan on December 18, 2021.

It announced at that time the introduction of AR glasses developed jointly with Nreal, an AR technology company that is a portfolio company of NIO Capital.

NIO invests in nuclear fusion startup Neo Fusion

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