NIO

NIO

NIO Inc.
🇨🇳 China

Chinese premium EV maker known for battery-swap infrastructure and three-row electric flagships. Owns the mass-market ONVO brand and the performance-focused Firefly city-car brand.

NIO models
ES9
EV
ES9

The NIO ES9 is a three-row flagship electric SUV built on the NT 3.0 platform, with a 900V architecture, a 102 kWh battery, and up to 620 km of CLTC range. Dual motors produce 697 hp for a 4.3-second 0-100 km/h time. Prices start from ¥498,000 in China.

697 hp 620 km AWD
Explainers
China's Car Brands: Explained
China's Car Brands: Explained

China's car market runs on a handful of giant groups, each fielding a stack of brands. Here is who owns what - the parent companies, the sub-brands, the Huawei alliance, and why the chart keeps changing.

About

NIO was founded in November 2014 as NextEV and renamed NIO Inc. in July 2017. The Shanghai-based company builds premium electric SUVs and sedans, and it is best known for a proprietary battery-swap network that lets owners exchange a depleted pack for a charged one in about three minutes rather than plugging in to charge.

The core NIO lineup spans sedans like the ET5 and ET9 and SUVs including the ES6, EC6, and the three-row flagship ES9. NIO Inc. also owns ONVO, a mass-market marque sharing the same NT platform family and swap infrastructure at lower price points, and Firefly, a compact city-car brand.

Frequently asked questions
Who owns NIO?
NIO is a publicly traded company.
What country is NIO from?
NIO is a Chinese brand, headquartered in Shanghai.
When was NIO founded?
NIO was founded in 2014.
What kind of cars does NIO make?
NIO makes premium electric SUVs and sedans.
What does NIO's battery-swap network offer?
NIO operates its own network of battery-swap stations across China where a depleted pack can be exchanged for a charged one in around three minutes. Owners can also subscribe to Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS), which lowers the purchase price in exchange for a monthly battery rental fee.
What other brands does NIO own?
NIO Inc. also owns ONVO, a mass-market EV brand launched in 2024 that shares NIO's NT platform and swap network at lower price points, and Firefly, a compact city-car brand introduced in 2025.
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