Nio Unveils Its New Electric Vehicle Sedan and AR Glasses

Chinese electric vehicle startup Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) has unveiled its new electric vehicle sedan, the ET5, its latest addition to its fleet set to begin deliveries by 2022. The revelation was made at the annual ‘Nio Day’ event and it can be used with a new Augmented Reality (AR) glasses that was developed by Nreal, a startup backed by the company’s venture capital arm, Nio Capital.

The ET5 is the second sedan in the series after the ET7 that was initially unveiled by Nio back in January. The ET7 is billed to be delivered in March 2022 and goes for a price of 448,000 yuan, higher pricing compared to ET5’s 328,000 yuan ($51,250). Despite this friendly budget, Nio said the AR glasses will be priced separately and interested buyers have to buy it as a standalone product.

The function of the AR glasses is to enhance driving as the ET5 sedan can project an effective screen size of 201 inches at 6 meters, according to a release. Beyond these functional AR glasses, Nio also revealed it has an active partnership with another Chinese startup Nolo and the duo is developing another virtual reality glasses.

Nio’s standing in the electric vehicle world is impressive despite the tough competition both in China and around the world. The company’s operation had also been strained by the global chip shortage and the supply chain issues, however, deliveries bounced back in November with a total of 10,878 vehicles, up from the 3,667 cars in November.

As of the end of November, the company said it has delivered a total of 80,940 vehicles and ranks amongst the EV companies with the best performance thus far this year. Nio’s ES6 and EC6 SUVs were among the top 10 new energy SUVs sold in China this year through November, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

Nio Electric Vehicle Planned Expansion into Europe

Nio plans to expand its electric vehicle line into other countries in the European Union beyond Norway where it currently has an operation. Amongst the countries the company plans to wade into include Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark. By 2025, the company hopes to have an active operation in at least 25 countries.

Amongst the major firms, Nio competes with include American electric vehicle giant, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), BYD Ord Shs (SHE: 002594), and Xpeng Inc (NYSE: XPEV) amongst others. These companies already have a good market share in highbrow European nations and despite Nio’s bold ambitions to penetrate these markets, the plans may not be actualized up until the end of next year.

The need to commercialize electric vehicles in a bid to reduce carbon emissions is fast becoming a core concern for regulators around the world. The realization of this need is giving electric car startups the right policy standing to push their products into the mainstream. Nio is amongst the firms benefiting from the switch and is positioned right for further growth in the near future.