NIO to Raise EV Prices With Release of 2022 Versions in May

Chinese electric vehicle brand NIO said on Saturday that it expects to release the 2022 versions of its ES8, ES6 and EC6 models in late May, featuring several major upgrades and increasing the prices of vehicles and batteries. NIO has not yet decided whether to raise the price of the five models on sale.

There will be a major smart hardware upgrades for the 2022 models, comprising 8155 chips, 360-degree surround cameras and 5G modules. Given these sharp performance improvements, the prices of car models and batteries are set to edge up. NIO will also provide intelligent cockpit hardware upgrading services for existing ES8, ES6 and EC6 users at preferential prices.

During its earnings conference call on March 25, William Li, CEO of NIO, revealed some price increase information. “From the second half of last year to this year, the cost of raw materials for batteries has indeed increased a lot. At present, we haven’t raised the price of our products yet, but we have some product upgrading plans this year. At that time, we will judge our price strategy according to market changes and raw material prices.”

In January and February, NIO delivered 9,652 vehicles and 6,131 vehicles respectively. According to its financial report, it expected to deliver 25,000-26,000 vehicles in the first quarter. In other words, NIO expects to deliver about 10,000 vehicles in March.

SEE ALSO: NIO Narrowed Net Loss to $629M in 2021

Recently, a range of electric vehicle companies have increased their prices due to the rising cost of raw materials and a persistent global shortage of computer chips.

Tesla has announced price increases three times so far in March. More than 20 car companies, including XPeng, Li Auto, Neta Auto, Leapmotor and WM Motor have also raised the prices of their products by a difference ranging from several thousand yuan to 10,000 yuan ($1,567), covering almost 40 models in the current electric vehicle market.