Tagged: eV

Great Wall Motor accuses 2 BYD hybrids of failing to meet pollutant emissions standards as competition intensifies

Great Wall Motor's Haval H6 was the best-selling SUV for years, but that spot has been taken by 's Song family of models.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Chinese fuel-car giant Great Wall Motor is making its conflict with local new energy vehicle (NEV) giant BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) public, as the competition between the two grows fiercer.

Great Wall Motor has filed a report with Chinese regulators against BYD, alleging that the latter's Qin Plus DM-i and Song Plus DM-i use normal-pressure fuel tanks and are suspected of having substandard evaporative pollutant emissions, according to a statement today.

Great Wall Motor filed the report with China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on April 11, according to the statement.

Under Chinese law, environmental regulators are supposed to conduct a preliminary review of suspected violations and decide whether to open a case, according to the statement.

Great Wall Motor is now closely monitoring regulators' progress in handling the report, the statement said.

Great Wall Motor was once the top-selling SUV company in China, with its Haval H6 being the best-selling SUV for many years.

But in the past few years, BYD has risen to the top at a time of rapid growth in China's NEV industry, with its Song family of models often becoming the new No. 1 SUV seller.

From January to April, the BYD Song family sold 174,422 units, up 76.5 percent from 98,809 units in the same period last year, making it the best-selling SUV in China during that period, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

The Haval H6 sold 63,682 units from January to April, down 25.9 percent from 85,986 units in the same period last year, placing it fifth in the best-selling SUV retail sales rankings.

Great Wall Motor is trying to recapture lost share in the SUV market with new model launches, making the Xiaolong line of plug-in hybrid SUVs available on May 16, offering the Haval Xiaolong as well as the Haval Xiaolong Max models.

The Haval Xiaolong is a compact SUV aimed at the Song Pro DM-i series, while the Haval Xiaolong Max is a mid-size SUV aimed at the Song Plus DM-i series.

Later today, BYD will officially launch the 2023 Song Pro DM-i in China, which is expected to bring the price down from the previously available version.

Full CPCA rankings: Top-selling models and automakers in China in Apr

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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.

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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.

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

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What is all the fuss over AM radio in EVs?

2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E previewFord CEO Jim Farley confirmed via Twitter on Tuesday that the automaker would include AM radio on all 2024 models, reversing a policy Ford previously indicated was a byproduct of EVs. Ford removed AM radio from the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning after data collected from the vehicles showed that fewer than 5% of customers listened to it, a...

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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Ford CEO: We’re not going to go to 600-mile range on EVs

Ford Explorer electric crossover for EuropeFord is taking batteries very seriously, and it’s not going to spend more on them than it needs to. What that means, Ford product development chief and CTO Doug Field explained at the company's Capital Markets Day earlier this week, is redesigning next-generation EVs around weight savings, reduced complexity, lower rolling resistance, the...