Nio Inc. (stylized as NIO) is a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Shanghai. Founded in 2014, it adopted its current name in 2016. The company designs and sells electric vehicles, including sedans and SUVs, and has expanded into smartphone development.
In 2018, Nio filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. It collaborates with the government-licensed vehicle manufacturer JAC Group to operate two production plants in Hefei, Anhui, China.[4]
Nio operates more than 1,300 battery swapping stations in China (as of 2022).[5] The company develops semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicle technologies and has participated in Formula E racing since 2014. In 2024, it launched the Onvo and Firefly brands to serve the mass-market segment.
Overview
Nio launched its brand on 21 November 2016 at the Saatchi Gallery in London. Investors included Tencent, Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Lenovo, and TPG Capital. The company also unveiled its first model, the Nio EP9 sports car, on the same day.[7]
A month earlier, in October 2016, the company received an autonomous vehicle testing permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles and began testing on public roads under the state’s Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program. It stated plans to develop vehicles with level-three and level-four autonomy.[8]
In May 2018, Nio opened its first battery-swap station in the Nanshan District of Shenzhen, Guangdong, called the Power Swap Station. It initially served the ES8 model only.[9]
The company filed for an initial public offering worth about US$1.8 billion on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2018.[10]
By 2020, Nio faced major financial difficulties, and its share price had fallen 62% since the IPO.[11] The Hefei city government acquired a 25% stake and helped the company secure loans from six local banks to strengthen its battery, engine, and control-system supply chains.[11] In April 2020, Nio raised about US$1 billion from Chinese investors and transferred its main assets to a new subsidiary, Nio China, headquartered in Hefei.[12] Vehicle production increased by 81% over the following year, and the company's valuation rose to about US$100 billion.[11]
In August 2020, Nio introduced its Battery as a Service (BaaS) program and created a joint battery-asset company with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL), Hubei Science Technology Investment Group, and a subsidiary of Guotai Junan International Holdings. Each partner contributed CN¥200 million (about US$32 million) for a 25% share. The service lowered the purchase price of Nio vehicles by roughly 25%.[13]
In May 2021, the company began its European expansion, announcing plans to start deliveries to Norway by September that year.[14] In the third quarter of 2021, it delivered 24,439 ES8, ES6, and EC6 vehicles, an increase of about 100% year-on-year.[15] Nio also announced plans to expand to 25 countries and regions by 2025.[16]
In August 2023, Nio Capital led the Series A financing of Mavel, a supplier of electric-drive systems.[17] The same month, Nio was chosen to supply electric cars for taxi services in Oslo.[18]
On 14 December 2023, founder and CEO William Li announced that Nio would launch a new brand for the family-car market to compete in lower price segments. The brand was planned to include three models and target the 200,000 yuan (≈€25,000) range.[19]
Later that month, the company obtained full production qualification for automobiles and announced the purchase of JAC factories that manufacture Nio vehicles, for 3.2 billion yuan. The transaction ended JAC's role as Nio's original-equipment manufacturer.[20]
Vehicles
Nio brand
Nio's first car, the Nio EP9 electric sports car, was unveiled on 21 November 2016, the same day the brand was launched.[21] The company introduced the ES8, a seven-seat electric SUV, in December 2017 and began deliveries in June 2018. The ES6, a five-seat SUV, followed in December 2018 with deliveries starting in June 2019. In December 2019, Nio unveiled the EC6, a five-seat coupé-SUV, with deliveries beginning in September 2020. The ET7 sedan debuted in January 2021, and the smaller ET5 sedan was revealed at Nio Day in December 2021.[22]
Battery swapping
Nio operates an automated network of battery swapping stations that allow vehicle owners to replace or upgrade their battery packs in under five minutes. The service supports both permanent upgrades and temporary rentals and forms part of the company's wider energy system.
Network development
The first phase of Nio's swap network was completed in November 2018, with 18 stations installed at 14 sites along the 2273 km G4 Beijing–Hong Kong and Macau Expressway, linking Beijing with the Pearl River Delta.[31] A second phase, completed in January 2019, added eight stations along the 1212 km G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway.[32]
By March 2021, Nio had completed its two-millionth battery swap in Suzhou and operated 193 swap stations, 134 supercharging stations, and 327 destination stations across China.[33] In December 2021, the company reached its goal of 700 stations ahead of schedule, after performing more than 5.3 million swaps.
Technologies
Nomi AI
Nomi[44] is Nio's in-car digital assistant integrated into the dashboard. The company describes it as the world's first AI assistant available in a production vehicle.
The Nomi Mate 2.0 has a circular AMOLED display with an animated, human-like avatar that rotates and blinks to look toward passengers.[45] The system uses artificial intelligence to learn driver habits and can automatically adjust seat position, steering wheel height, and cabin temperature. Drivers can also give Nomi voice commands to open windows, change the temperature, or take in-car photos displayed on the infotainment screen.[46]
Nio Pilot
Nio Pilot is the company's SAE level 2 semi-autonomous driving system that provides
Sales
Divisions
Nio Phone
On 22 February 2022, it was announced that Nio is planning to venture into China's smartphone market and preparing to make its own handsets. The company has formed a smartphone division in Shenzhen, and is hiring staff to expand the team. The move is preceded by similar plans to manufacture smartphones by automakers Geely and Volvo.[77]
The first Nio Phone was launched in September 2023. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 system-on-chip and has a 6.81-inch curved screen with 2K resolution from Samsung Display. The phone is equipped with a 5200 mAh battery that supports 66-watt wired charging, 50-watt wireless charging, and 10-watt reverse charging. It is equipped with an action button that allows drivers to launch over 30 functions related to their EV controls. CEO William Li believes that many competitors will learn from the smartphone innovations, however the primary interest of the automaker is likely to collect user data rather than making the phone a key contributor to revenue.[78]
Management
William Li
William Li is a Chinese business executive and entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Nio. In June 2021, Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated Li's net worth to be US$7.11 billion. Li co-founded and invested in over 40 companies in the internet and automotive industries.[91]
Awards and honours
- GQ China Entrepreneur of the Year – 2017 [92]
- China Automobile Dealers Association Person of the Year – 2017
- 2017 Top 10 Economic Personages of China
- Forbes
Motorsport
Formula E
The Nio team is one of the original Formula E teams, originally competing under the name Team China Racing.[101] Before the first season was completed, they rebranded as NEXTEV TCR. In this inaugural season, their main driver Nelson Piquet Jr. became the FIA Formula E Driver's Champion, after winning two races in Long Beach and Moscow.[102][103] The team was only able to achieve fourth in the constructor's championship though, in part due to a rotating line-up of second drivers that did not achieve as consistent a level of success as Piquet.
From season 2 onwards, Formula E opened up car development, with teams creating their own powertrains.[104] Nio used their own design NEXTEV powertrain, but it saw a downturn in the team's performance for the constructor's championship, as they finished only ninth in season 2, sixth in season 3 and eighth in season 4.
Public listing
In September 2018, Nio listed on NYSE after raising about $1 billion selling American depositary shares at $6.26 apiece. The shares started trading under the symbol NIO.[109]
In 2018, while Nio was preparing for an IPO, the company told investors that they were building a new factory in Shanghai.[110] Then in March 2019, Nio disclosed that the factory would never be built. According to former employees, construction had never started. Investors sued and accused Nio's promoters, which included Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, of negligence in examining Nio's financial statements.
In 2020 Nio received a significant investment from the Chinese government to help it survive.[111] In 2023, it was investigated by the SEC over disclosure of CCP officials in key positions.[112] Although Nio's stock price on the NYSE has risen in August and September 2023, it has yet to make a net profit and underperformed Q2 expectations.[113]
See also
External links
- by Everything Electric AUSTRALASIA
References
- About NIO, retrieved 11 April 2022^
- NIO Inc. Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2020 Financial Results Nio.com, retrieved 2 March 2021^
- NIO: About LinkedIn, retrieved 2 March 2021^