Red Star Capital Bureau reported on December 24th that yesterday, NIO Motor (09866. HK/NIO. US) released the intelligent electric administrative flagship model ET9 on NIO Day, with a pre-sale price of 800000 yuan. It is currently the highest priced production model of NIO and also the highest research rate model of NIO.
ET9 integrates four core technologies: self-developed intelligent driving chips, self-developed 900V high-voltage architecture, Tianxing intelligent chassis system, and flagship safety standards. However, it is still a "futures" and delivery will not begin until the first quarter of 2025.
In April next year, NIO will also begin deploying 640kW fully liquid cooled ultrafast charging piles and a fourth generation power station. After achieving the "Thousand Stations" plan ahead of schedule this year, NIO will build another 1000 replacement stations and lay out 20000 charging stations next year.
Since 2016, NIO has invested over 40 billion yuan in research and development. ET9 is hailed as NIO's "40 billion research and development achievement". On ET9, NIO showcases the concept of "positioning its technological strength as a high-end brand". NIO now has the confidence to consider these long-term elements.
As of September 30th, NIO's cash reserves have risen to 45.2 billion yuan. Five days ago, NIO announced the issuance of approximately $2.2 billion worth of shares to Abu Dhabi investment firm CYVN, with delivery scheduled for the end of December. The investment of Middle Eastern institutions will ensure that NIO has sufficient ammunition in the coming period.
NIO Releases Executive Flagship Model ET9
Pre sale price of 800000 yuan
At a media communication meeting a week ago, NIO Chairman Li Bin said, "The ET9 is definitely the most technologically advanced car in the world. It cannot be said to be far ahead, but it is definitely the most advanced car in terms of overall performance. Any automotive technology you can imagine will become a reality on this car."
On December 23rd, NIO Automobile released its executive flagship model ET9 on NIO Day. This is the model with the highest self-developed rate and the highest selling price by NIO Auto, with a pre-sale price of 800000 yuan. Delivery will begin in the first quarter of 2025. It is reported that ET9 has gathered over 100 full stack technology crystallization and global leading technologies, including 17 global first release technologies, 52 leading technologies in the same level, and 525 patent applications.
NIO officially released its first self-developed intelligent driving chip, the Shenji NX9031, on NIO Day, which is manufactured using 5nm automotive technology. Li Bin stated that previously, NIO's intelligent driving system used four NVIDIA Orin X chips with an overall computing power of 1000+TOPS, while the Shenji NX9031 can achieve the performance of four industry flagship intelligent driving chips with one chip.
In terms of charging, ET9 adopts a self-developed 900V high-voltage architecture across the entire vehicle, with a maximum voltage of 925V, a peak charging power of 600kW, and a peak charging current of 765A. NIO has also independently developed 46105 large cylindrical battery cells and battery packs, with a single cell energy density of up to 292Wh/kg and a total capacity of 120kWh. It supports 5C fast charging and can achieve a 5-minute energy replenishment of 255 kilometers.
It is worth mentioning that NIO will not manufacture its own batteries in the short term. Li Bin explained in a media communication meeting, "Batteries are divided into research and development and manufacturing. In the manufacturing process, gross profit performance cannot be improved within three years because battery manufacturing has a large investment period, which requires increasing production capacity and improving yield. We do not have the resources to support this."
In terms of chassis, NIO has released the Tianxing Intelligent Chassis System, which is the industry's first integration of three core hardware systems: wire controlled steering, rear wheel steering, and fully active suspension. To demonstrate the performance of the system, NIO conducted a "Champagne Tower" challenge: stacking three layers of tall glasses filled with champagne on the front of the ET9, which drove on continuously undulating roads while the cups remained stable and champagne did not spill out.
The reason for releasing the administrative flagship ET9 is because the NIO brand is very determined to enter the business market. Li Bin mentioned that truly positioning a high-end brand requires tackling the business market, otherwise profits and the ceiling of the brand will be limited. The business market is the core base of BBA, and the administrative flagship is the cornerstone of the brand.
Further strengthen the moat of the supplementary energy system
At the media communication meeting, Li Bin reiterated that the rechargeable, interchangeable, and upgraded energy system is NIO's moat. "With the expansion of the network and the increase in joining peers, as their cars gradually go public and sell more, this moat will only become deeper and deeper."
On December 22nd, NIO's 1000th replacement power station was launched, completing the "Thousand Station Plan" for 2023 ahead of schedule. At present, NIO has built a total of 2305 power exchange stations, of which 745 are high-speed power exchange stations; 3566 charging stations, over 20000 charging piles, and 960000 third-party piles have been deployed nationwide.
In 2024, NIO plans to add 1000 new battery swapping stations and 20000 charging columns. By then, NIO will have built over 3310 battery swapping stations and 41000 charging stations.
On this NIO Day, NIO also released the fourth generation of battery swapping stations and 640kW fully liquid cooled ultra fast charging piles. 640kW fully liquid cooled ultra fast charging pile, with a maximum current of 765A, a maximum voltage of 1000V, and a peak charging power of 640kW, can intelligently allocate charging power in real-time within the station. The fourth generation battery swapping station is equipped with four NVIDIA Orin X chips, reducing battery swapping time by 22%.
It is worth noting that the new generation of battery swapping stations support multi brand shared battery swapping and are compatible with multiple specifications of battery packs. That is to say, the battery swapping cooperation between NIO, Changan Automobile (000625. SZ), and Geely Automobile (00175. HK) will officially be implemented in this generation of products.