ZHANG YUSHUO
20 Dec 2021
(Yicai Global) Dec. 20 — Nio has unveiled its latest electric vehicle which is expected to be delivered from next September. The new model will be the Chinese electric car startup’s cheapest, founder Li Bin said.
Nio’s smart electric sedan ET5 will be priced at CNY329,000 (USD51,420) before subsidies, the Shanghai-based firm said on the Nio Day held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Dec. 18.
The ET5 offers three battery options that include packs of 75 kilowatt-hours, 100 kWh, and 150 kWh for ranges of 550 kilometers, 700 km, and 1,000 km, respectively. The model equipped with the ultra-long-range battery pack is not available yet on Nio’s app.
The EV also comes with a Battery-as-a-Service option, which allows drivers to purchase Nio’s second sedan without the battery for CNY258,000 (USD40,450). But such price is still higher than Chinese carmaker Xpeng’s P7 and US EV maker Tesla’s Model 3, which are priced at CNY219,900 and CNY256,600, respectively.
Nio delivered 10,800 vehicles last month, up 105.6 percent from a year ago.
The penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China’s new car market will exceed 90 percent in 2030 and the newly released ET5 will become the most ordered model of Nio’s history, Li said.
The EV market is still in a stage of rapid rise in penetration, Everbright Securities said in a report, noting that the securities brokerage is optimistic about Nio’s financial capabilities. The automaker will further expand its user base and data volume through price reduction and spinning off sub-brands, it added.
Nio had 733 battery swap stations in China as of Dec. 18 and plans to reach 1,300 next year, Li added, noting that the company will introduce its full-system services also in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark next year to serve over 25 countries and regions worldwide in 2025.
The battery swap mode has become an important tool for Nio to differentiate itself from other brands, Everbright Securities said, adding that the market outlook is generally bullish with the release of policies to support such practice which allows drivers to go to swapping stations, drop their discharged battery pack and immediately change them for a fully charged one.
Editor: Futura Costaglione, Xiao Yi