Nio Group said on Thursday it delivered 23,900 electric vehicles in April across its three brands: Nio, Onvo, and Firefly.
In a statement, the company detailed that the figures included 19,269 units of the premium brand Nio and 4,400 Onvo vehicles. Subtracting the two brands from the total of 23,900 vehicles, Firefly deliveries accounted for 231 units.
The brand started delivering its debut model in China on Tuesday, handing over a total of 231 vehicles—an average of 115 units per day over the two days.
Customers can currently only purchase the vehicle with the battery included, priced from 119,800 yuan ($16,400).
A version with Nio’s battery-as-a-service (BaaS) model — which allows users to lease batteries separately and swap them at the upcoming generation of stations — will be introduced in August, according to the company.
The debut Firefly model will support Nio’s upcoming fifth-generation battery swap stations. In the interim, buyers are being offered a 3,000 yuan ($410) charging voucher while the company finalises BaaS pricing, which is expected to be announced in early August.
Firefly will allow Nio to enter the compact EV segment against models such as BMW’s Mini and Mercedes-Benz’s Smart. The brand was formally launched in the Netherlands and Norway last month, with test drives scheduled to begin this summer. Orders are now open in the Dutch market, where the model starts at €29,900 ($34,000).
Firefly aims to be present in 16 countries across five continents by the end of the year. Target markets include the UK, Singapore, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Norway.
The selection was influenced by what Daniel Ge, head of Firefly, described as “relatively friendly policies, such as low tariffs, or favourable subsidies and traffic rights.”
