Chinese EV Maker Nio Shares Surge 14% to Hit $100 Billion Market Valuation Following ET7 Sedan Debut

Shares of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) company Nio jumped as much as 14% on Monday, propelling the carmaker to a market valuation of more than $100 billion, making the start-up the third most-valued automaker after Tesla and Toyota.

Monday’s gains followed the success of the company’s annual Nio Day over the weekend, when it announced plans for its first luxury electric sedan with self-driving technology, the ET7.

The ET7 will be equipped with a set of autonomous driving features including lidar sensors and four onboard computer chips developed by Nvidia.

The new sedan is due to be delivered in early 2022, with prices starting at 448,000 yuan ($69,000) with a 70 kilowatt-per-hour battery pack. The closest comparison in size and luxury would be with a Tesla Model S.

Nio also announced plans to introduce a 150 kWh solid-state battery pack in late 2022 which will increase its vehicles’ driving range to more than 1,000 km (621 miles) between charges. Contrary to typical batteries, solid-state batteries have no liquid electrolyte and are safer and cheaper to produce while promising a higher range.

Meanwhile, Tesla is expected to begin delivering its China-made Model Y sport-utility vehicle as early as April with a price tag of 339,900 yuan ($53,000).

SEE ALSO: NIO Reveals Its First Electric ET7 Sedan to Compete with Tesla

Nio closed up about 6.4% Monday to just under $63 a share. Shares are up roughly 1,700% over the past year.

The new developments unveiled by Nio will “help the company continue to trade more like a fast-growth technology/EV stock than a carmaker,” JPMorgan said, bumping its price target.

Nio currently delivers three sports utility vehicle (SUV) models built at its Hefei plant, which are mostly priced above 300,000 yuan. The company delivered 43,728 vehicles in 2020, representing annual growth of more than 100%.