How Nio from China owned all the electric cars in the world. When the battery is empty, it will be replaced with a new one in 5 minutes

All automobile companies are now paying great attention to electric vehicles. For many of them this is a priority.

Manufacturers are convinced that customers are switching to electric vehicles, but many are reluctant to do so due to charging problems. This is one of the biggest problems now.

The Chinese company Nio has found a way out of this situation. It produces cars with replaceable batteries. When the battery runs out, the driver goes to the emergency station, where in 5 minutes they change the battery at a pedestrian station. This is a unique approach that no other car manufacturer uses. Now let’s try to figure out why this happened.

Short description

• How Nio came to be
  The main feature of all Nio
  How much does it cost
  The company almost closed due to Covid
  Nio operates without dealers
  What to surprise Nio in the future

How Nio came to be

Nio EP9

In 2013, Chinese entrepreneur William Li, also known as Li Bin, sold his company to Bitauto. Initially, it was a news site and platform on which dealers offered cars to customers, and for a subscription they asked for access to information about prices and discounts, reviews and testimonials from car owners. Then the company began to engage in auto lending, and now it is an automobile marketplace in China.

William Lee invested the proceeds from the sale into opening his own automobile company, Nio. The second co-founder was Lihong Qin, who at that time retired from his position as executive director of Longfor Properties, which heads a company involved in development and investment in China.

Nio initially called it NextEV. At the start, the company managed to attract investments from Chinese tech giants such as Xiaomi, Tencent and Baidu.

Nio EP9

The renaming occurred in 2016, when the company introduced its first car. It was the Nio EP9 hypercar, the fastest to date. His power 1360 hp, acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h takes 2.7 seconds, to 200 km/h in 7.1 seconds.

The EP9 was developed and produced in 18 months. A total of 16 vehicles were produced. Six of them were sold to Nio investors for approximately $3.1 million. The remaining ten were sold by ordinary customers.

Interestingly, the EP9 does not have permission for use on public roads. You can only drive a hypercar on a track.

Also in 2016, Nio received permission to operate unmanned vehicles on city roads.

Nio ES8

Nio’s next car was the more familiar technological crossover ES8, which was introduced in 2017 and launched in 2018.

All Nio vehicles are manufactured in JAC factories. Partnering with JAC Resource Nio reduces production time and eliminates the need to apply for your own manufacturing license.

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The main feature of all Nio

All Nio vehicles come with removable batteries that are maintained on a daily basis. Regardless of the class and characteristics of the car, drivers can replace batteries without charging them.

The company provided more than 2,400 battery replacement stations and 22 thousand fast chargers. The vast majority are in China, with more than 100 studies in Shanghai alone.

The stations are mainly used by Nio customers who live in apartments and do not have the space to install a charger at home. People buy cars and pay a monthly subscription that allows them to quickly replace the battery..

The stations operate fully automatically. When the driver approaches the station, he stops at a specially designated place. Then he presses a button on the screen to look into the box, the machine starts itself and goes into battery replacement mode.

The entire process from appearing in the box to removing and installing a new battery takes approximately 5 minutes.

Due to the car’s external replaceable battery, Nio is quite wide. For example, the EL6 crossover measures 2212 mm, which is slightly larger than the Range Rover. Of course, this has its advantage: there is much more space in the car.

Another limitation is related to charging speed. At Nio, all batteries are standardized. The 75h model can only be charged from kW at a power of up to 140 kW, the version from 100 kWh to 180 kW. Alternative charging is much faster. For example, the Kia EV6 charges at 225 kW, and the future Porsche Macan EV at 270 kW.

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How much does it cost

Nio EL6

The removable battery allows Nio to sell cars without a battery, thereby making them cheaper for the consumer. But here everything is very individual, because it is not always profitable.

Now let me explain the history of Nio EL6:

▪️ Nio EL6 prices in Germany start from €53.5 thousand (~5.2 million rubles) for version without battery

▪️ We add to it a monthly subscription for 75 kWh batteries for €169 (~15.8 thousand rubles) or by 100 kWh for €289 (~28.5 thousand rubles)

Each subscription includes 4 battery replacement announcements, which in the case of a 100 kWh battery equates to approximately ~1920 km of range per month (~480 km per battery).

▪️ If the limit is exhausted, there is a fee to replace it: 10 euros (~988 rubles) for the work of replacing the battery and 0.2 euros (~19 rubles) per kWh. Thus, an additional 100 kWh battery replacement would cost 30 euros (~2900 rubles)

If you wish, you can immediately buy a battery and charge the car like a regular electric car. A 75 kWh battery costs €12 thousand (~1.1 million rubles)and at 100 kWh – €21 thousand (~2 million rubles). With a top battery, the Nio EL6 costs as much as an Audi Q8 e-tron.

But that’s not all. Nio can be purchased via subscription. EL6 costs €1179 (~116 thousand rubles) per month for a model with a 75 kWh battery or €1309 (~129 thousand rubles) for a version with a 100 kWh battery. Prices are based on a fixed subscription term of 36 months.

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The company almost closed due to Covid

At the end of 2018, there were several fires in the first production electric car, Nio ES8. It turned out that the problem was a faulty plug in one of the connectors, which caused a short circuit.

The company recalled all ES8s in early 2019 to fix the problem. At the time, the ES8 was Nio’s only production car on sale, so the fires caused serious reputational damage.

In mid-2019, Nio launched the cheaper ES6 crossover. The company spent a lot of money to launch production, plus the scandal with car fires did not subside. At the same time, China has sharply reduced consumer incentives and subsidies for electric vehicles, causing the market to collapse.

By the beginning of 2020 the company was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. The onset of quarantine only worsened the situation.

William Lee was looking for money to save the company. As a result, he managed to receive more than 10 billion yuan from the Hefei city administration. In exchange for the investment, the city received a lucrative stake in Nio. The company also provided transportation for its headquarters from Shanghai to Hefei.

Sales of electric vehicles have surged in China during the pandemic. Demand for Nio models has also increased. The company completed a record stock run in 2020, and its market capitalization overtook SAIC, which now sold 100 times as many cars.

Nio was then able to repurchase some of its shares by exiting its holding companies with Changan and GAC. The company announced a plant in Hefei with JAC and invested in a new battery plant in Wuhan.

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Nio operates without dealers

Nio’s approach to selling cars is different from other brands. Most sales occur via the Internet; the company does not have traditional dealership centers.

During the crisis, it became clear that Nio had a large, dedicated fan base. The company launched its own economic network in which Nio owners can develop their cars, learn about new promotions and communicate with each other.

Instead, Doma Nio is opening in major cities. This is a place where there is a work area, a coffee shop, the opportunity to leave a child and other advantages. For example, sometimes the company does yoga. Of course, cars are also featured in Houses of Nio, but they don’t pay much attention to the occasion.

In 2023, the company introduced the Nio Phone, a small smartphone aimed at Nio car owners. The phone has an application for unlocking the car, adjusting the seat and activating auto parking.

You can also write directly to William Lee through the app. It is known that Lee called some top managers at night with the understanding to implement clients’ proposals.

William Lee actively heads social networks. In December 2023, he tested the ET7 150 kWh battery live. Li traveled 1,044 km from Shanghai to Xiamen in 14 hours. When he finished the trip, the car had 3% charge left.

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What to surprise Nio in the future

Onvo L60

Outside of China, NIO is sold in Norway, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. The company is expected to enter the UK market. There is no talk yet about launching in the USA and Russia.

On May 9, Nio unveiled its 500,000th vehicle, becoming the leader in premium electric vehicles in China.

Nio currently has 8 different electric vehicles on sale. On May 15, the company launched a new brand, Onvo, under which it will sell budget cars. The first of them was the L60 crossover, which costs $30.5 thousand (~3.1 million rubles). Sales will begin in the third quarter of 2024.