The Chinese electric car takes Emirati capital on board
The former premium electric car startup, soon to be in Europe with lower-end cars, is tempting in Abu Dhabi. UAE holding acquires 20.1% of Nio: founder and CEO William Li retains control
2023 has demonstrated to the world, even to the most committed environmentalists, that the electric powertrain of plug-in cars, just like the old internal combustion engine, can cough. Also very noisy.
In fact, sales have suffered a sharp decline and many manufacturers, from the USA to old Europe ( Volkswagen above all ) have distanced themselves, abruptly slowing down the investments already planned. A situation that does not seem to worry Chinese electric cars, supported by Beijing and now looking for capital among the sultans of oil.
THE ARAB EMIRATES LIKE NIO
This is the case of Nio, one of the most promising and aggressive Chinese companies, to keep an eye on because it is among the few to believe in the battery swapping technique ("replacing the battery" for non-English speakers), which involves going to special refueling stations for an on-the-fly exchange of the depleted battery with a charged one. Pure Stellantis has decided to experiment with it from 2024 in Spain, but Nio is already moving forward by colonizing Northern Europe, which is currently the main market for electric cars.
SOME NUMBERS
But that's not all, because in its homeland that brand has made itself known for its premium cars, much appreciated by drivers with a rather high standard of living. Soon the Chinese from Nio will invade the streets of the Old Continent also with Firefly cars, an ad hoc brand designed for Europe to occupy the lower segments of those already covered in China by the same startup, offering only electric propulsion.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates get on board. Cyvn Holdings, a financial vehicle based in Abu Dhabi is ready to bet on Asian boldness by putting 2.2 billion dollars on the table in order to purchase 20% of the capital of the Chinese manufacturer. The Emirates Holding will become the first shareholder and will be able to have two of its men sit on the board of directors of the brand which will continue to have the CEO and founder William Li at the helm.
ENTRY INTO THE CAPITAL IN THE SUMMER
In reality, Cyvn had already shown up at the doors of Nio's headquarters last July, with 1 billion under its arm. It is therefore clear that the slowdown in the electric car between the end of summer and autumn did not dissuade it from its aims on Chinese technology. The new resources – the parties said in a statement – will allow Nio to raise the capital necessary to continue the development of its technology.
A RACE NOT WITHOUT DIFFICULTIES
A providential injection considering the budget losses (it cut its workforce by around 10%) and the difficulties in production: Nio delivered 126,067 vehicles in 2023, which in absolute terms marks a leap of +36.3% compared to previous year, but if we look closely at the industrial plan we can see how it is still far from the 250,000 target.
Furthermore, by relativizing it, the dimensions are better understood: Byd, the Chinese champion of electric cars, in the same period churned out 5 million cars on tap, one million more than Tesla. Among the most interesting projects brought by the Chinese brand is a new semi-solid state battery which would guarantee a range of over 1,000 km.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/lauto-elettrica-cinese-prende-a-bordo-i-capitali-emiratini/ on Wed, 20 Dec 2023 10:46:11 +0000.