Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Twelve hours after Nio unveiled its luxury sedan ET9 and the Firefly brand at its annual event, founder and CEO William Li and co-founder and president Lihong Qin held a media Q&A session in Guangzhou.
Onvo, the sub-brand launched by Nio in September, faced challenges meeting its October delivery target for the L60, its first model. While the company aimed to deliver 5,000 units during its first full production month, it fell short, delivering 4,319 vehicles.
Battery Supply Challenges
Earlier this month, Citi analyst Jeff Chung revealed—citing Nio management—that Onvo’s standard-range L60 variants, which rely on 60 kWh lithium iron phosphate batteries from BYD’s FinDreams Battery division, were constrained by supply limits. BYD could only provide between 5,000 and 6,000 battery units per month in both October and November.
When asked by EV for confirmation and an update on the battery supply issue, Li confirmed it and revealed that the company has now added a new supplier to ensure that the ambitious production targets are met.
“For Onvo’s delivery, our production plan before October used BYD battery packs for initial rollouts. By November, CATL’s ramp-up was completed, and mass production began, including the start of deliveries in December with 85 kWh CATL battery packs,” Li said. “Overall, by December, we will have three battery suppliers. So, in the future, batteries will certainly no longer be a major issue.”
Li said that Onvo initially relied on BYD’s battery arm to supply all the 60kWh battery packs needed for the SUV’s standard range variant. Nio’s founded did not disclose the name of the new 60kWh battery supplier.
In his note, the analyst Jeff Chung said CATL would begin supplying 85Kwh batteries at an initial volume of 6,000 to 8,000 units per month with capacity expected to increase to 14,000 units per month.
Ambitious Delivery Targets
“I would also like to emphasize that for Onvo’s L60, deliveries began from the end of September. Within two months, we delivered 10,000 units, with December targeting a single-month delivery of 10,000 units. By March, our goal is to reach monthly deliveries of 20,000 units,” Li said reiterating the previously mentioned delivery goals.
The chief executive added that Onvo’s ramp-up production “is normal and very fast” adding that “ensuring quality during the ramp-up requires time, so it is a reasonable ramp-up speed to guarantee quality.”
Li also commented Nio’s approach to managing inventory, distancing the company from the practice of building up large inventories for initial launches to inflate delivery figures.
“However, we are also aware that many companies, from a marketing perspective, may build up inventory for a large launch in the first month to deliver more. We don’t do that often,” Li stated. “While we have done it for one or two models, it is not our usual practice. For me, this is a normal ramp-up process.”
Nio primarily sources the batteries for its models from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL), with capacities of 75 kWh and 100 kWh. The company recently introduced a 150 kWh semi-solid-state battery developed in collaboration with the startup WeLion New Energy Technology.
For the full month of November, Onvo delivered 5,082 vehicles, up 17.6% from October when it delivered 4,319 units.
Nio’s sub-brand Onvo registered 1,700 units of its debut model, the L60, in China between December 9 and 15, marking its second-best weekly performance since deliveries began on September 28, data shared by multiple automotive bloggers showed last week.
Insurance registrations figures from the third week of December will be unveiled on Tuesday, December 24. As Onvo adds a new battery supplier, it is expected that Onvo reaches a new
Onvo has lost some reservations as reservation holders became concerned about potentially missing out on purchase incentives if they took delivery of the L60 after December 31 — as confirmed by the company’s management at the earnings conference call.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
