Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com
NIO announced on Monday that held the the ceremony for the completion of NIO’s Vehicle Pilot Center on March 16 with the first vehicle from NeoPark in Hefei rolling off the production line. NeoPark is a hub for hundreds of key supporting enterprises with an annual production capacity of 1 million vehicles and 100 GWh battery. NeoPark is expected to realize a gross yearly output of RMB 500 billion ($78 Billion USD).
“In 2021, we established NEO Park. In 2022, in addition to the ongoing ET5 build, multiple new models will start their pilot build at this site. The vehicle pilot center will support the fast development and high-quality launch of NIO’s new products.” — NIO stated.
During the last Earnings Conference Call, William Li stated: “NEO Park is set to put in operation in Q3 20222. We are still facing volatility on the raw materials, Covid and chip shortage issues. Regarding the production capacity, the new factory will need some time to ramp up the production gradually. NEO Park will reach the 300,00 units of capacity.For the battery capacity production, we believe that should be able to cover the demand.
Actually, I believe that the chip shortage will be a bigger problem. Our vehicles have around 1,000 chips each one. Plus, also cheap cost is increasing. The main challenging about the chips are the supply. We can find other chip makers to avoid those risks, we believe that in the second half we may see some vehicles and battery production ramping.”
On April 29, 2021, NeoPark, a smart electric vehicle industry park at Xinqiao, Hefei, Anhui province, was officially kicked off. “NIO is honored to be one of the largest members of NeoPark, a world-class smart electric vehicle industry cluster encompassing innovative research and development of vehicles, core parts and components, and autonomous driving, envisions becoming a pioneering innovation chain with global competitiveness.” — the company said at the time. NIO is one of many companies in NeoPark’s vision. The 16,950-acre park features three main function areas, smart manufacturing, R&D and living space, and eco-park.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com