I discuss NIO, the Chinese EV company that is trying to disrupt the EV market.
In this video, I will discuss NIO, the Chinese automobile company specializing in designing electric vehicles and how their crossover ES6 compares with the Tesla Model Y.
For those of us not familiar with China’s auto market, it’s the world’s largest by far with 24.6 million internal combustion engine or ICE vehicles sold in 2019 and 1.26 million EVs sold in 2019. For comparison, the US market was 16.97 million vehicles sold in 2019 and 329 thousand of those were EVs.
I wanted to go over NIO since it’s been called the Tesla of China. Why is this? NIO, like Tesla, is trying to disrupt the market dominated by ICE vehicles. It sells premium cars and also develops technology for autonomous vehicles through an alliance with Intel’s Mobileye.
NIO was founded in 2014 by William Li who is a self-made Chinese billionaire with an impressive history of co-founding or investing in 40 companies in the internet and automotive industries.
Son of a dairy farmer, Mr. Li seems like someone with vision. His company is not trying to make a knock-off Tesla but actually innovate. I’ll get into this a little bit later.
NIO has some big name investors backing them up including Tencent, Temasek, Baidu, Lenovo and TPG.
Like most EV companies, NIO is not making a profit. They have already achieved a positive vehicle margin of 10% which means that they are turning the corner. They have sold about 21,000 vehicles in the first eight months of 2020.
Let’s go ahead and look at the NIO ES6 crossover and see how it compares to the Model Y.
I chose the standard model NIO ES6 with the larger battery pack to compare to the Model Y Long Range since it was the closest in performance. There is an ES6 Performance model that has more power at about $5000 additional that provides improved performance.
The pricing for the NIO ES6 is approximately $59,700 when converted from Chinese market pricing. Keep in mind that the Model Y in China costs $69,000 due to tariffs and market conditions. In China, this NIO ES6 would be about $10000 less than the Model Y Long Range.
Looking at the specs, the NIO has 45 more horsepower than the Model Y. 429 horsepower is impressive. The Model Y is about a half a second faster to 60 miles per hour but the ES6 is very quick for a SUV. These numbers would have been great for sports cars not that long ago.
One reason why the NIO weighs more than the Tesla is that it’s just a bigger vehicle. We can see here that the exterior dimensions are significantly larger in all three aspects for the NIO ES6. That extra room should translate to more interior cabin room. The Tesla edges out the NIO in more cargo room. I did consider comparing the NIO ES6 to the Tesla Model X but the larger ES8 is their competitor to the Model X.
By all accounts, the NIO drives like a refined vehicle. It’s quick, has a soft suspension to provide a cushy ride, and has a solid feel that you would expect from a quality vehicle. The Tesla Model Y is going to ride stiffer and handle better than the NIO ES6. The NIO was designed to be more of a luxury cruiser than a sports car. This is a good thing as the ES6 is a family crossover and comfort is more important for most families than corner carving ability.
The interior has the design and quality material that you would expect from a luxury brand. The touchpoints are soft. There’s plenty of room for both front and rear passengers. Unlike the Tesla Model Y, there is a gauge cluster in front of the steering wheel. Like a Tesla, there is a large tablet style center screen for the infotainment system. NIO developed its own software and it’s responsive with excellent resolution.
There are a few innovative features that stand out when looking at the NIO. First, NIO’s NOMI is an artificial intelligence powered robot companion that sits on top of the dash. It responds to your voice and can sense emotion and interact with you. I think it’s kinda cool and different.
Another feature that sets the NIO apart from Tesla and other rivals is that NIO has the ability to swap batteries in as little as 3 minutes. Tesla has shown a concept of something like this before but NIO has already performed 500,000 battery swaps. NIO currently has 131 battery swap stations. This really eliminates any fears of taking a long trip with an EV and having to stop a good amount of time to charge your EV.
NIO currently only sells its vehicles in China. But they have big ambitions as they have offices in London, Munich, and San Jose. This is not an investing channel but they have gone from a $2 stock to an $18 within the last year. That to me tells me there are a lot of investors excited about the future of NIO.
#nio #nioes6 #niovstesla