The pressure of rising raw material prices forced NIO to increase prices even though there was no such plan before.
NIO to hike prices on May 10, including vehicle prices and battery rental fees. The price increase was driven by rising raw material prices so far this year, according to a statement on the app today.
The price for each version of the ES8, ES6 and EC6 will increase by 10,000 yuan ($1,570). Meanwhile, the new ET7 and ET5 models will remain unchanged.
NIO will also increase the monthly rental fee for remote batteries in its BaaS (Battery as a Service) battery rental service. BaaS battery rental rates have changed from RMB 1,480/month to RMB 1,680/month for remote battery packs. For battery pack rental the standard range will remain unchanged at RMB 980/month
Customers upgrading from a standard battery pack to a 100 kWh long range battery pack, the annual payment will increase from RMB 7,980 to RMB 9,800, while the monthly payment will remain the same at RMB 880.
NIO CEO, William Li said the increase in raw materials, especially battery material prices have gone up too much this year, and does not see a downward trend in the near future.
NIO has temporarily halted the production of their electric vehicles after supply chain partners to shut down production due to Covid
“The price increase is because there is no choice, and please understand,” Li said. NIO itself will announce the new SUV ES7 at the end of May.
The increase in raw materials has hit the electric vehicle industry. Several electric vehicle manufacturers have raised the prices of their electric vehicles such as Tesla, XPng Motors and Li Auto.
In a tweet, Elon Musk has just raised the possibility of Tesla entering the Lithium mining business which is seen as a way to deal with rising raw material prices.