Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Nio’s co-founder and president, Lihong Qin, revealed a sharp rise in the number of semiconductor chips used in each vehicle since the Nio ES8, the company’s first production model that was released in 2018.
Speaking at the 2024 Semiconductor Industry Ecosystem Expo in Shenzhen, the executive stated that Nio’s first models used approximately 3,200 chips each, a number that rose to 3,600 by the second quarter of 2022 with the debut of the company’s second-generation vehicle platform (NT2.0).
Lihong Qin stated that Nio now uses over 4,200 chips per vehicle as it prepares to launch the ET9 sedan, the first model based on the new platform NT3.0.
On average, the latest electric vehicle models use between 1,000 to 3,000 semiconductor chips.
Semiconductor chips are used for several different functions including Engine Control Units (ECUs), Driver Assistance and Power Steering, Infotainment Systems, Safety Systems and many others.
Nio, which began delivering its first production model, the ES8, in 2018, is set to launch its ET9 sedan, built on the latest NT3.0 platform, in early 2025.
The company’s co-founder emphasized that as electric vehicles become more advanced, the number of semiconductors per vehicle is expected to grow significantly adding that a projection of “a trillion dollar market” for the semiconductor industry is conservative as vehicles become smarter and more connected, as local media Sina Finance initially reported.
According to Qin, conventional fuel-powered vehicles typically require $200 to $300 worth of semiconductors, while electric vehicles (EVs) use between $1,000 and $1,500.
Premium smart EVs, such as those produced by Nio, the value of semiconductor components ranges from $2,500 to $5,000.
Regarding Autonomous driving chips, both Nio and its domestic rival Xpeng have been working on in-house chip development.
Nio unveiled its first self-developed autonomous driving chip, the Shenji NX9031, at Nio Day 2023. Built on a 5-nanometer process, the chip, which will debut in the ET9 sedan early next year, is identical to the power of four Nvidia Drive Orin X chips, according to Nio.
In addition to the NX9031, Nio has been developing the Yang Jian, a LiDAR controller chip that was unveiled in September 2023.
When unveiling it, the company said the new chip provides “stronger supports to vehicle’s performance in complicated scenarios” adding that “it is highly integrated design with lower energy consumption and higher performance makes the chip a leading product among LiDAR SoCs”.
The ET9 was unveiled at Nio’s annual event in December 2023. Pre-orders opened immediately after the event with the company saying that deliveries were planned to begin in the first quarter of 2025.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
