Nio is the new brand of electric cars that arrives in Spain with Tesla as a rival, but cheaper, and with a subscription business model.
We recently attended the Nio launch in Berlin, where we learned about the three models that will only be available for subscription. First it will land in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Holland, and in two years it is expected to land in Spain. Nio is the new brand of electric cars that arrives in Spain with Tesla as a rival, but cheaper.
William Li, the CEO of Nio, announced during the brand presentation event in the German capital that Nio will be present in up to 25 European countries by 2025. The company has already been operating in the largest electric car market in Europe, in Norway, for a year and has exploited the subscription acquisition system that it will implement from now on in other countries.
Nio, this is the new brand of electric cars that arrives in Spain with Tesla as a rival (but cheaper)
During that first year, Nio sold 750 electric cars in Norway on a subscription basis. For Germany, the subscription or renting offers range from one month to 60 months and include comprehensive insurance, maintenance, winter tires, courtesy car and battery change included.
The Chinese manufacturer thus makes a strong commitment to a market as demanding as the European one, which is in the midst of a revolution, while sending a message to what will be its main rival, Tesla.
One of its main bets will be to develop a network of automated battery exchange stations that will allow the empty batteries of its electric cars to be exchanged for new and charged ones, which will save waiting time. The manufacturer announces that the entire process will last about 5 minutes.
The first of these stations will be commissioned in southern Germany, on the motorway between Munich and Stuttgart, and will be one of 20 expected to be operational before the end of this year. The plans are for constant expansion in the coming months, reaching 120 battery exchange stations in 2023 and 1,000 by 2025 throughout Europe.
It will arrive in Spain in 2024
That same year, Nio expects to be present in up to 25 countries in Europe, which includes most markets and, of course, Spain. Our country is not in the initial plans of the company, which in addition to Norway, expands to Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Holland this year. However, its launch in the Spanish market is scheduled for 2024.
To the European market, the company arrives with three different models. On the one hand, the Nio ET5 sedan that is equipped with two electric motors and a range of 1,000 kilometers, according to the Chinese homologation protocol (pending homologation by the WLTP).
The Nio ET7, on the other hand, is another larger sedan with up to 3.6 meters of wheelbase, while the Nio EL7 is a twin-motor SUV with a body length of 4.9 metres. All models can be charged at home charging points or at a network of chargers and superchargers with up to 380,000 stations in Europe.
As for prices, Nio cars will go on sale in these first markets from October 16. They will do so by subscription, with prices ranging from 999 euros per month for ET5, going through 1,199 euros for ET7 and 1,299 euros for EL7 (prices corresponding to Germany).