Nio’s sub-brand Onvo has sharply reduced the battery upgrade fee in China for its sole model L60 SUV.
The cost to switch from a 60 kWh to an 85 kWh battery under Nio’s Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) program was now slashed from 3,000 yuan ($412) to just 1 yuan, equivalent to 14 cents.
The change, quietly implemented this week according to local media outlet IT Home, removes (99.9%) the fee for customers upgrading from the 60kWh battery to the longer-range 85kWh version.
Under the BaaS model, customers lease the battery separately from the vehicle and pay a monthly rental fee— 599 yuan ($82) for the 60 kWh option and 899 yuan ($123) for the 85 kWh pack.
The updated pricing means Onvo L60 drivers can now access a longer driving range for a small monthly premium of 300 yuan ($41) without the previous 3,000 yuan ($412) upfront cost to change packages.
In mid-April, Shen Fei shared a new incentive that runs until June 30. On social media, the executive said existing owners and co-users of Nio or Onvo vehicles can receive rewards for referring new buyers of the L60.
The referral campaign joins two other incentives announced a few weeks earlier. Customers who place a deposit for the L60 before the end of April will receive a 6,000-yuan ($825) “worry-free” charging bundle, which can be applied to public charging, home charger installation, or battery upgrades.
The offer is equivalent to roughly two years of free charging based on four battery swaps per month.
Buyers are also entitled to five years of free access to Onvo Intelligent Driving, its assisted driving system, valued at 19,200 yuan ($2,640). Owners who have already taken delivery will receive an additional two years of service at no extra cost.
These incentives are stackable with Onvo’s existing five-year, interest-free financing plan, which allows customers to secure the L60 with a 45,000-yuan ($6,150) down payment and monthly installments of 2,350 yuan ($320), with no service fees.
Onvo delivered nearly 6,000 vehicles in January, followed by 4,049 in February and 4,820 in March—well short of the brand’s previously stated targets of 16,000 units for January and 20,000 for March 2025.
In April, deliveries fell 9% from the prior month to 4,400 units, despite increased promotional efforts.
As reported earlier this Tuesday, a Chinese automotive blogger, known as Electric Planet Xiaoxin, shared a social media screenshot showing a message from an employee using a verified Onvo corporate WeChat account.
The employee wrote: “There used to be a meme about ‘selling like crazy,’ but now… let’s check the first-week sales rankings of May 😉” — referring to the weekly registration figures shared every Tuesday on Chinese social media.
Fei Shen, a longtime Nio executive who recently took over as head of the Onvo brand, swiftly responded to the post, saying the employee “has already been seriously criticized.”
