Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | Twitter
In an event for the China Central Television (CCTV) broadcasted on Saturday, July 9, NIO CEO William Li discussed the significance of Anhui province in NIO’s strategic plan for the production of its vehicles and how BYD joined NEO Park.
When asked about the reasons why NIO built its second plant at NEO Park in Anhui province, Li mentioned the favorable investment conditions and also the lowering of global logistics costs in Hefei by ¥4,000 to ¥5,000 ($600 – $750).
Later, the interviewer asked William Li if he had approached other companies or partners to consider Anhui province and the CEO revealed that he had played an important role with Wang Chuanfu, BYD’s CEO.
“I think the province will send me a small certificate of commendation. In the past year, I have done a lot of work as a part-time investment consultant. In a recent example, I happened to attend an industry meeting in the automotive industry once where I talked to Wang Chuanfu [BYD’s CEO] and he asked “How are you in Anhui?”.
I told him about the business environment in Anhui, including some of our efficiency improvements, and the improvement of our operations. I think he implemented it very quickly. In August 2021, they started construction on the park in Hefei. Two days ago, I met him again and said that their car went offline in June,” NIO CEO said.
BE THE FIRST ONE TO GET THE NEWS
“Anhui has a very strong talent pool… the University of Science and Technology of China and Hefei University of Technology all have strong capabilities in the fields of transportation and vehicles. In addition, Anhui is also the largest transportation hub in the central and eastern regions, with low logistics costs (Beijing-Kowloon Railway/high-speed rail, Hehangshang, Hehangjiu, etc.) all pass through Anhui). The province is also the largest call forwarding center, logistics, and warehousing center in the country”.
In late May, NIO completed the construction of the modern assembly line at its second factory needing only 7 months from breaking ground to the completion of the main project and the installation of process equipment.
NEO Park construction started on April 29, 2021 and NIO is one of the largest members of the hub. The 16,950-acre park features three main function areas, smart manufacturing, R&D and living space, and eco-park. NeoPark will have production capacity for one million electric cars and 100 GWh of batteries per year on an area of 11.3 square kilometres.
On Friday, the company announced that due to the current flight problems affecting millions of travelers is now offering free charging in the European Union countries that operate for its Norwegian users. In the last two months, airlines canceled tens of thousands of flights with Europe having more than double the cancellations of the U.S. between April and June, according to RadarBox.com data.
Earlier this week, NIO launched the 1,000th Battery Swap Station, the company hosted the 2022 NIO Power Day where it unveiled what the company is working on for the upcoming months namely the new 500kW ultra-fast charger and the third generation of NIO’s Battery Swap Stations.
NIO will enter 4 new European Markets in 2022: Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and The Netherlands. During the last NIO Day, the company revealed that will be present in 25 Countries by 2025.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | Twitter