NIO - A Chinese Electric Car Company

NIO (Chinese: 蔚来; pinyin: Wèilái) is a Chinese automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shanghai, specializing in designing and developing electric autonomous vehicles. The company is also involved in the FIA Formula E Championship, the first single-seater, all-electric racing series.

NIO was founded in November 2014 by William Li (Chinese: 李斌; pinyin: Lǐ Bīn), the Chairman of Bitauto and NextEV. After launch, several companies invested in NIO, including Tencent, Temasek, Baidu, Sequoia, Lenovo and TPG. Its first model, the NIO EP9 sports car, debuted the same day the brand was established.

In October 2016, NIO announced that it had been given an "Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit" by the California DMV and it would begin testing on public roads under the "Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program" guidelines as part of its autonomous vehicle program. According to the company, it planned to launch vehicles with level-three and level-four autonomy.

In May 2018, NIO opened its first battery swap station in the Nanshan District of Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, dubbed the "Power Swap Station". Only batteries for ES8 cars would be available from this station.

Our Chinese name, Weilai, means Blue Sky Coming and this is represented in our symbol. The top is about the sky, openness, vision, the future. The bottom part is about the earth, direction, action and forward momentum. Blue Sky Coming is our guiding philosophy and stands for our commitment to a brighter tomorrow.

The automotive industry is on the cusp of profound change. We believe it isn’t just products and technology that must change; it is how people use these products, and their entire ownership experience. We want you to feel positive again about owning a car.

When the ownership experience exceeds expectations, electric vehicles will simply become the natural choice for everyone, leading to a more sustainable tomorrow. With that, our vision of a blue sky will come true.

In the past, cars gave people the freedom of mobility. In the future, cars will go one step further and free people from driving, giving them the freedom of time. It’s a future we’re excited to shape.

We’ve brought together the world’s automotive and technology leaders across our offices in Shanghai, Beijing, San Jose, Munich, London, and six other locations.

San Jose

NIO’s North American headquarters and global software development center is located in the heart of the Silicon Valley. The facilities cover over 187,000 square feet.

Shanghai

NIO's global headquarters is located in the Shanghai Automobile Innovation Park. The employees at the Shanghai office are primarily responsible for integrated vehicle R&D, manufacturing operations, sales, marketing, and customer service.

Munich

Our design headquarters is located in Munich, known for its history in automotive design.

London

NIO’s London office is responsible for the performance program and serves as the NIO Formula E team headquarters. The key functions of the office include commercial Formula E management, strategic management, and our supercar development.