NIO founder: For sure, Tesla is our rival China’s electric vehicle start-up Nio launched its first mass-produced model over the weekend, in a home market marked by competition with companies such as Tesla.
The ES8, which starts at 448,000 Chinese yuan ($67,765) is half the starting price of Tesla’s 836,000 yuan ($126,470) Model X in China.
Nio also enjoys the advantage of Beijing’s state subsidies for electric vehicles.
“It’s hard to assume” how this will affect Tesla’s sales in China, Nio Founder and Chairman William Li told CNBC over the weekend. “Maybe Tesla will sell less … after our product is out. Or probably, because the whole market is growing, they will still maintain growth in sales. It’s hard to say.”
“But we do have lots of customers that turned to us from Tesla, and many who have bought buy products from both,” said Li, who spoke to CNBC on the sidelines of the ES8 launch event.
What is clear is that the two are competitors.
“For sure I think Tesla is our rival in that consumers will choose between our products. But I wouldn’t say we are the Chinese Tesla, or they are the American Nio,” Li said.
A seven-seat electric vehicle, the ES8 is made to order, customizable and equipped with an artificial intelligence system. The car will be able to accelerate to 100 km per hour (62 miles per hour) in 4.4 seconds.
Orders can be placed through an app.
The fierce battle for electric vehicle market share in China is backed by an aggressive drive by Beijing to cut severe – and politically-sensitive – air pollution in the country.
Beijing also provides generous subsidies and state investment in the sector, including building a battery charging network.
At its launch on Saturday, Nio introduced a battery charging plan with a rental subscription set at 128,000 yuan ($19,366) a month.
Owners of the ES8 can charge their cars at stations that allow their batteries to be swapped in three minutes, Nio said in a press release. A mobile service also travels to car owners who need to charge their vehicles.
Nio plans to build over 1,100 “Power Swap” charging stations and deploy over 1,200 “Power Mobile” vehicles by 2020, it added.
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