NIO Cars, Deliveries, Stock, & More
We are launching a variety of resource pages on major cleantech companies, products, and topics. As a leading electric vehicle and lifestyle startup in China, one of the companies we’re starting with is NIO. We have resource pages on NIO, the NIO ES6, and the NIO ES8 to begin. Below, reposted from there, are initial guides on NIO and the popular NIO ES6.
NIO
NIO is one of the hottest new (or new-ish) cleantech companies on the planet. Launched in China in November 2014, it is constantly in tight competition with Xpeng for the title of “Top Selling EV Startup in China.” This NIO guide provides an overview about the company and is routinely updated.
NIO’s Product Evolution — Short Intro
NIO unabashedly — and many would say wisely — took lessons from Tesla’s success and tried to improve upon them with its own spin and style. It started in the luxury end of the market, unusual for a Chinese automotive startup, and particularly in the luxury sports car segment, with the EP9 launching in 2016. However, after that, the company jumped to large SUVs instead of sports cars, with the ES8 launching in 2018.
After entering the market in the luxury SUV segment in 2018, NIO has been gradually offering smaller, lower-cost models — a new one each year — but it is still sticking to the broader luxury SUV segment. The ES6 was launched in 2019 and the EC6 in 2020. Those SUVs are just getting a tad smaller and cheaper, opening the company up to many more buyers.
NIO Charging & Battery Swapping
Unlike every other automaker, NIO supplemented the charging option for its electric vehicles by launching a battery swapping system, a network which currently has swapping stations in 62 cities. NIO calls this service “Power Swap” and it takes just 3 minutes — faster than fueling a fossil-fueled SUV.
Going one step further, NIO is offering customers a “Power Plan,” in which they can have someone come and recharge their vehicle for them up to 15 times a month. This service is complimentary with any NIO vehicle.
Last but not least on the charging front, NIO decided to offer a luxury-class charging service for road trips. “NIO offers you lifetime free nationwide charging services when you are up to 200km away from your home cities.” However, there are some limits — you can use this benefit up to twice in a month and up to 12 times in a year.
NIO Lifestyle
NIO is big on offering a way of life, not just cars, and has a NIO Life arm. “Life is food, music, exploration. Life is being together, living well, learning. Life is where you go, how you dress, the joy you feel. To shape a joyful lifestyle,” the company writes. We’re not a fashion/clothing website, so we don’t have much to say on this, but the Life arm of the business seems to just be a high-class, hip fashion side show.
NIO House is actually where more of the lifestyle stuff seems to come into play, as it has built “clubs” for people to enjoy. Each “club” includes a “living room,” forums, “labs” (shared workspace), libraries, cafes, kids areas (called “camps”), and car galleries, of course. It’s unclear at this stage how popular these clubs are, but the concept certainly goes far beyond a typical auto dealership or store and promotes this idea of NIO being about a certain lifestyle.
NIO Sales
The company has gotten off to a relatively fast start and just produced its 50,000th vehicle.