Mass production and delivery delays – common challenges facing China EV startups

As Tesla postponed delivery yet again, its Chinese rivals are scrambling too

In February this year, Chinese electric car maker NIO unveiled its mass production plan, announcing the first batch of its ES8 model would be delivered in April. When the time came, NIO said the vehicles would be ready instead at the Beijing Auto Show, at the end of April. But it missed the deadline yet again, presenting a new schedule on May 18, for 550 vehicles to be rolled out by June and 10,000 more by end-September.

NIO finally delivered its first cars on May 31. Just ten were sent to its first batch of users, comprising NIO staff including co-founder Qin Lihong and product manager Li Tianshu.

Such embarrassing delay and limited internal release have raised doubts about NIO’s mass production capability. Yet it is not alone in the market, as most, if not all, of its rivals are facing the same problem.

Another EV startup Xpeng Motors has already received orders for 6,000 G3 vehicles, its first mass production model, and announced

To continue reading, please download the full report.

Your payment was not successful.

Please make sure you have entered your payment details correctly. Or try again in a few moments.

small logo

The discount code you entered is invalid

Please make sure you have entered your discount code correctly. Or try again in a few moments.

Download successful.

Your sample has been sent. Please check your email.

By accessing and using www.compasslist.com and all pages within the domain (the “Website”), You accept and agree to have read, understood, accepted and agreed to be bound by the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy in full. If you disagree with all or any part of these Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, please do not use or continue any further use of this website. You acknowledge that you are aware that this Website contains an archive of existing content as at 31 December 2021 and is not being actively managed. We are under no obligation to update the content on this Website and, accordingly, no new content or articles will be posted to the Website after 31 December 2021.