- Nio will take orders from other automakers after spinning off its chip business, according to a local media report.
- William Li said in March that Nio's chips and operating system are open to the entire industry and welcomes peers to use them.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) will accept orders from other automakers after spinning off its chip business, according to a report by local media outlet Cailian today, citing a source close to the company.
Yesterday, another local media outlet, LatePost, reported that Nio plans to bring in strategic investors for its chip-related business, selling a small stake while maintaining control over the project entity.
The electric vehicle (EV) maker's chip team currently operates as a business unit but will become an independent project entity in the future, LatePost said, citing a document.
In today's report, the source told Cailian that the LatePost report is accurate, and the independent project entity has already been registered under the name Anhui Shengji Technology Co Ltd.
CnEVPost noted in its report yesterday that Anhui Shengji was registered on June 17, with Nio vice president Bai Jian as its legal representative.
Its registered capital is RMB 10 million ($1.39 million), and its business scope includes chip design and sales, according to data from Tianyancha.
Bai joined Nio in November 2020, previously serving as general manager of Xiaomi's (HKG: 1810, OTCMKTS: XIACY) chip and advanced research department.
Bai currently leads Nio's chip unit and smart hardware operations, according to Cailian's report today.
Nio launched its in-house developed smart driving chip, Shenji NX9031, in December 2023. The ET9, which began deliveries in late March, is equipped with two Shenji NX9031 chips, while the updated ET5, ET5 Touring, ES6, and EC6, launched last month, each feature one Shenji chip.
On March 29, Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li said during an interview with local media on the sidelines of the China EV 100 Forum that Nio's chips and operating system are open to the entire industry and welcomes peers to use them.
"If you want to buy the best chips, you can go to Nio," he said at the time.
The cost of developing the Shenji NX9031 is roughly equivalent to building 1,000 battery swap stations, Li previously said, the report by Cailian noted.
The construction cost of Nio's first-generation battery swap station was about RMB 3 million, while the cost of the third-generation station has been reduced to about RMB 1.5 million, according to the report.
Nio has strong financing needs, but whether investors are still willing to invest in autonomous driving chips is another issue it must address, Cailian's report noted.
For autonomous driving chip projects, investors' exit paths have significant uncertainty, and currently, domestic automakers have a growing number of domestic suppliers to choose from, the report cited a semiconductor investment expert as saying.
Nio's domestic peer Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) has also launched its in-house developed Turing AI smart driving chip, which is first used in the G7 SUV (sport utility vehicle).
Xpeng's smart driving chip is also open to the entire industry, its chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said last week.
Last week, the Financial Times reported that Xpeng is working to use its Turing smart driving chip in some of Volkswagen's models in China.
($1 = RMB 7.1873)
Nio plans to cede a small stake to strategic investors and will retain control over its chip project, according to local media.
