4Kᵁᴴᴰ :: Hi-tech EV from China :: NIO 2025-2026

Nio Inc. (Chinese: 蔚来; pinyin: Wèilái; 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).The company develops semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicle technologies and has participated in Formula E racing since 2014. In 2024, it launched the Onvo brand 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. 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. 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. The company filed for an initial public offering worth about US$1.8 billion on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2018. By 2020, Nio faced major financial difficulties, and its share price had fallen 62% since the IPO. 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. 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. 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%. In May 2021, the company began its European expansion, announcing plans to start deliveries to Norway by September that year. In the third quarter of 2021, it delivered 24,439 ES8, ES6, and EC6 vehicles, an increase of about 100% year-on-year. Nio also announced plans to expand to 25 countries and regions by 2025. Nio House in Oslo, Norway In August 2023, Nio Capital led the Series A financing of Mavel, a supplier of electric-drive systems. The same month, Nio was chosen to supply electric cars for taxi services in Oslo. 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. 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. Source: Wikipedia