NIO's long-termism looks like it's going to work.
A few recent details allow us to see the rise in the value of the NIO brand:
Li's frequent live broadcasts have brought popularity and popularity, NIO's battery swap alliance partners have increased to six, and NIO's April sales exceeded 15,000 units despite not unveiling a new model at the Beijing Auto Show.
At the same time, choosing the most popular family car market as a breakthrough, NIO is preparing to officially launch the new brand Ledao on May 15.
According to rumors, the first model is the L60 mid-size electric SUV, which is scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of this year.
In order to escort the new brand, Li Bin even invited Ai Tiecheng, who had participated in the preparation of Shanghai Disneyland, hoping to use his understanding of the needs of home users to bring NIO the results of more than one million annual sales.
But this also means that Ledao has grabbed at least half of the orders from the Model Y, which has an average monthly sales of 4-50,000 in China.
So, can the "rich second generation" Ledao, which was born by battery swapping, save the main brand NIO, which loses 20 billion yuan every year, from fire and water?
#01 Forecast configuration and price of the L60 in Ledao
According to the information leaked so far, the main configuration information of Ledao's first model, L60, is summarized as follows:
- The battery capacity is available in 60kWh and 90kWh options, and the range of the entry-level version should be between 480-560km, with suppliers including BYD, CATL and China Innovation Airlines;
- The official announcement will surpass Tesla's energy consumption data, and the energy consumption will be controlled within 13kWh per 100 kilometers, making it the first model to surpass the Model Y in official energy consumption data.
- The suspension adopts a combination of MacPherson and five-link, and the rear seats are comfortable, which is in line with the positioning of family cars;
- The interior workmanship is close to that of NIO's flagship model, with the same large central control horizontal screen, Snapdragon 8295 chip, and 900V high-voltage platform as the ET9.
NIO ET7 interior
- It supports battery swap mode, and can use NIO's third-generation battery swap station network as soon as it is listed;
- In terms of intelligent driving equipment, it has been confirmed that it will be equipped with a front-view camera, but it is not yet known whether it will provide a high-end intelligent driving version of LiDAR.
In terms of price, according to the existing leaks, the pricing information of the Ledao L60 is as follows:
1. Adopt the traditional car purchase model, with a starting price of 229,900 yuan;
2. Adopt the BaaS battery leasing model, with a starting price of about 170,000 yuan.
#02 Ledao is the touchstone of NIO's battery swap
Since its birth, there are 1,000 battery swap stations waiting for Ledao, aiming to fully amplify the value of NIO's battery swap system.
After all, NIO has adhered to the high-end positioning of "no price drop", and the most differentiated thing is the battery swap service.
On the vehicle side, battery swapping solves core issues such as energy replenishment efficiency and battery safety.
For example, although the existing supercharging technology can achieve a "range of 200km on a 5-minute charge", NIO's battery swap mode can complete 100% battery replacement in 5 minutes, and the energy replenishment speed is faster.
In terms of battery safety, each battery swap is equivalent to a comprehensive inspection of the vehicle and battery pack, and retired batteries can also be properly recycled.
Moreover, for consumers, the battery swap mode is one of the most effective ways to solve battery overwarranty anxiety.
At present, the batteries of the first batch of new energy vehicle owners have begun to pass the 8-year or 120,000-kilometer warranty period stipulated by the state, and nearly 20 million new energy vehicles will face this problem in the next 8 years.
The battery is out of warranty, and the car owner has to face the loss of battery life and even safety hazards, and the solution is to buy a new battery or directly exchange it for a new car.
NIO's battery swap mode can transfer the risk of battery use, and car owners no longer need to bear the consequences caused by battery aging.
Regardless of the quality of the battery, NIO's second-hand retention rate is quite impressive, according to the ranking data released by the NIO App, the ES6 has a one-year retention rate of 78.12%, while the ES8 has a 68.59% retention rate.
At the same time, NIO's "Battery Swap Alliance" is also constantly recruiting new members, and has reached strategic cooperation with six OEMs, including GAC Group, and other partners are Changan Automobile, Geely Holding Group, Chery Automobile, Jiangqi Group, and Lotus.
In general, NIO's battery swap system has finally begun to circulate, and with the addition of more and more heavyweight car companies, not only will the scale of the battery swap station network expand, but more users will buy battery swap models, which will further promote the unification of battery swap standards.
Li Bin also said that the launch of the Ledao brand marks the basic completion of NIO's stage from 0 to 1, opening a new stage from 1 to 10 and from 1 to 100, and entering a broader mass market.
It can be said that the future of NIO is basically pressed on the Ledao brand, and only with the popularity and best-selling of battery swap models, NIO's vision of battery swapping can finally become a reality, and only when battery swapping is recognized by the market, NIO can survive.
#03 Epilogue
Previously, NIO invested heavily in technology and charging and swapping infrastructure, all of which put users first, to pay for NIO's high-end brand positioning, and when NIO's long-termism reached its 10th year, there must be a volume model, and Ledao was born.
As of May 13, 2024, NIO has built 2,415 battery swap stations nationwide, including 798 highway battery swap stations.
Li Bin is like a loving father, buying the best school district house and looking for the best school for his unborn child early, and it is precisely the better battery swap support conditions, more mature production end, and better brand equity that constitute the confidence foundation for NIO to enter the 200,000 level, the most competitive market.
Ledao undoubtedly has many advantages — cheap, swappable, and its biggest challenge is to make NIO make money — which is perhaps what NIO and Li Bin are least good at.
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