Onvo, Nio’s family-focused sub-brand, is again confronting battery supply constraints—this time on the L90, its six-seat SUV launched on July 31, with deliveries starting on August 1.
Lead times have widened quickly. The L90 configurator moved from 4–5 weeks at launch to 5–7 weeks, and then to 8–10 weeks, where it remains.
Onvo admitted on Wednesday delays attributing them to a “rapid surge in order volume,” while saying that some orders will take “slightly longer than expected” despite full-capacity operations with supply-chain and logistics partners.
The family-oriented brand said that the increased waiting times come despite it did “relatively sufficient production preparations in advance and have tried our best to coordinate with our supply chain, manufacturing, and logistics partners to run at full capacity and work overtime to increase production.”
Last year’s delay led to order cancellations of the L60 model, the previously brand chief Alan Ai revealed in an interview earlier this year.
The cancellations then led to a much slower than expected start of the year as the management was targeting 16,000 units delivered in January and 16,000 in March.
To stem cancellations for the new model, Onvo introduced an “L90 Waiting Points” programme: if the car isn’t delivered within 28 days of the order lock, customers accrue 500 points per day from day 29.
“If, due to our reasons, we are unable to deliver your car within 4 weeks (28 days) after your order is locked, starting from the 29th day after locking the order, we will give you 500 points per day,” the company stated on its app this Wednesday
“No matter the circumstances, as long as the wait exceeds four weeks, there will be waiting points,” chief Shen Fei commented on the post, adding the brand will “speed up deliveries.”
Weekly insurance registrations released on Tuesday underline the strain.
For August 4–10, Onvo’s total registrations in China fell 13.5% week on week, while L90 registrations edged up by 5.6% to 2,090 units, a modest gain that contrasts with the brand’s claim of more than 20,000 L90 units ready for handover.
The current squeeze follows the L60 launch last year—the five-seat SUV whose deliveries began in September 2024 — when Citi’s Jeff Chung reported constraints on 60 kWh LFP packs from BYD’s FinDreams.
Nio founder William Li confirmed the issue in December, saying CATL had ramped 85 kWh packs by November and that a third supplier was being added.
At the time, Li said “batteries will certainly no longer be a major issue,” while targeting 20,000 monthly deliveries by March; actual March deliveries were below 5,000.
Nio mainly sources batteries from CATL and CALB (60, 75, 85 and 100 kWh), and also offers a 150 kWh semi-solid pack co-developed with WeLion.
Several automotive bloggers reported earlier this Wednesday that CATL will begin supplying an 85 kWh pack for the L90 as soon as September to ease the current shortages.
“With double insurance, the continued delivery of the L90 should have absolutely no problem,” Weibo user ‘叫海啸的猫’ wrote on Tuesday.
Neither Nio nor Onvo has yet commented on the information on Chinese social media.
