Hamburg The next Chinese manufacturer of electric cars starts its model offensive in Germany and Europe. The premium supplier Nio is expanding its vehicle range from one to three this year. The company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, presented its first SUV for the European market in Hamburg at the beginning of the week.
Nio is one of a number of Chinese electric car manufacturers that are now entering the international market. Last year, the volume supplier BYD had already announced its model offensive for Europe. Polestar, a Swedish subsidiary of the Chinese Geely Group, is also significantly expanding its model range this year.
Nio has decided to go its own way when it comes to electric propulsion. The Chinese company uses so-called exchangeable batteries in its vehicles. The entire battery can be replaced at special exchange stations. This process only takes a maximum of five minutes. In contrast, most electric cars currently sold take at least half an hour to fully charge the battery.
“The lack of acceptance of electric cars is still the biggest challenge,” said Nio Germany boss Ralph Kranz at the presentation of the new SUV EL7. The Chinese automaker believes that the removable batteries can significantly improve the competitive situation for electrically powered vehicles.
According to Kranz, the decisive factor is the shorter time required to replace a Nio battery.
Nio builds new exchange stations
The success of Nio stands and falls with the changing stations, which have to be set up across Europe at a cost of millions. The Chinese car manufacturer currently has just three stations in Germany, namely in Berlin, in the greater Düsseldorf area and near Augsburg.
By the end of the year there should be 100 of the very special Nio filling stations in Europe, most of them in Germany. Nio is currently represented in five European countries, with the exception of Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. The Chinese manufacturer wants to sell cars almost everywhere in Europe by 2025, and a start of sales in the USA is also being prepared.
The large SUV should only be the start of a model offensive.
The next Nio exchange stations are to be built primarily along the most important motorways. “We’re concentrating on the long-haul at the moment,” said Germany boss Kranz.
In a second step, Nio wants to go to the metropolitan areas. The Chinese car manufacturer has signed an agreement with the electricity group EnBW to build 20 switching stations.
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The company consoles Nio customers who cannot find an exchange station in the immediate vicinity of their place of residence by saying that the cars can also be charged regularly at ordinary charging stations.
Nio plans electric station wagon as an alternative to diesel
As a premium provider, Nio wants to become a challenger to German competitors Audi, BMW and Mercedes. The cars from China are therefore anything but cheap. The new EL7 SUV with the smallest battery starts at just under 86,000 euros. In addition, Nio also offers its vehicles on a subscription basis.
In industry circles, the expectation prevails that companies like Nio will be able to establish themselves in Europe. “Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers will shape the year 2023 in Europe by gaining a foothold in these markets even more than before,” says Cristóbal Colón, partner at the strategy consultancy LEK Consulting.
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Audi, BMW and Mercedes make good money selling company cars. Nio sees a starting point in this and therefore also wants to get into the lucrative fleet business. A further expansion of the model program should contribute to this in the coming years. Station wagons are being prepared at Nio, with which the Chinese manufacturer would like to appeal in particular to representatives and other sales representatives. “We want to win over those who are still on the road with diesel, but don’t want to spend a lot of time at the charging stations,” says Germany boss Kranz.
In China, around 250,000 Nio vehicles are already registered on the road. Nio has been selling his cars there for four years. In addition, there are already 1,300 exchange stations in China, and the number is set to increase by another 1,000 this year.
Nio plans second brand for the mass market
Kranz, on the other hand, is covered when it comes to his sales targets for this year. He doesn’t even let on how many cars he wants to sell in Germany in 2023. “We look less at the numbers,” he said. It’s about slowly building up the brand in Germany. As reported by industry circles, Nio wants to sell more than 10,000 cars in Germany this year.
In the longer term, Nio could become much bigger in Germany and across Europe. The headquarters in China is preparing the start of production of a second car brand, which is to be placed specifically for the European market in the volume range below the premium models. This would make Nio a mass supplier in Europe. Details are not yet known.
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