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Daniel Ren

Tesla’s Chinese rival NIO is making a foray into Norway, with plans to export its smart electric vehicles to the Nordic country in September.
The company plans to sell the ES8 SUV this year, and the ET7 luxury car that can go nearly 1,000km on a single charge next year.
It comes after fellow mainland competitor, Xpeng Motors, delivered over 100 of its G3 smart SUVs to individual Norwegian customers in late December.
Here’s why Chinese smart EV start-ups prefer Norway as their maiden export market.

High rate of EV adoption
Penetration of EVs in Norway is the highest worldwide, with pure electric cars making up over 54 per cent of overall new car sales. Last year, more than 140,000 new passenger vehicles were sold in the country, of which 76,789 were fully electric.
In China, although the penetration rate of EVs stood at 6 per cent last year, annual sales stood at 1.17 million units because of the much larger market. Some 19.3 million cars were sold last year on the mainland.
Incentives encourage use of EVs
In Norway, no purchase and import taxes are imposed on EVs. Buyers are also exempt from paying a 25 per cent value-added tax, while EV users can save at least 50 per cent on toll charges.
While the Norwegian government has decided to keep the incentives for zero-emission cars until the end of 2021, there are plans to revise the incentives and adjust them in accordance with the market development.

Bestselling EV models
The Audi e-tron SUV was the bestselling model last year, selling 9,227 units in Norway.
Tesla’s Model 3 was the runner-up, with sales of 7,770 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen’s ID.3 at 7,754 units.
Rounding off the fourth and fifth places were Nissan’s Leaf at 5,221 units and VW’s eGolf at 5,068 units.
Prospects of Chinese EVs
NIO and Xpeng will face tough competition in Norway. As latecomers, their success hinges on whether customers accept their technologies and the pricing of their products.
In China, the two start-ups along with Li Auto are dubbed as Tesla challengers. They delivered a combined 17,259 vehicles in March, representing less than half of Tesla’s sales of 35,478 units.
NIO targets Tesla, VW in Norway, the runaway electric car leaders in the Nordic country, with ES8 SUV, ET7 luxury sedan
But NIO hopes its “battery as a service” (BaaS) model, which allows customers to buy an electric car while subscribing to a separate battery-leasing plan for a fee, will help it gain an advantage in Europe. BasS can help lower the upfront cost of owning an EV by about 20 per cent.
Xpeng announced recently that it planned to fit its P7 all-electric saloon car with a cheaper battery to appeal to price-sensitive customers. From this month onwards, a fast-charging lithium iron phosphate battery pack will be available as an option on the P7 along with the lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide version currently in use.
Its upcoming P5 model, which is yet to hit the market, will be fitted with lidar sensors, making it among the first batch of cars to use the technology. Lidar is a critical technology for self-driving cars.

What about the big Chinese carmakers?
Apart from the start-ups, it is widely expected that a clutch of Chinese companies, buoyed by Beijing’s ambitions of becoming a global leader in EV, will expand to Europe soon.
Among them is Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. One of China’s biggest carmakers and owner of Volvo Cars, last month unveiled its new EV brand Zeekr. Geely has formed partnerships with many companies, including Baidu and Foxconn, to build smart electric cars as part of its ambitions to become a global leader in the automotive industry.


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Electric & new energy vehicles

Why Chinese electric car start-ups NIO, Xpeng are making a beeline for Norway

NIO plans to sell its ES8 electric SUV in Norway later this year. Photo: Xinhua

An art installation of a vehicle at the XPeng Inc. booth at the Auto Shanghai 2021 show in Shanghai, China, on Monday, April 19, 2021. The Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition kicked off on Monday in ChinaÕs financial hub, a multiday event aimed at showcasing the best and brightest car innovations in the worldÕs biggest vehicle market. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.'s Zeekr Co. 001 electric vehicle at the Auto Shanghai 2021 show in Shanghai, China, on Monday, April 19, 2021. The Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition kicked off on Monday in China’s financial hub, a multiday event aimed at showcasing the best and brightest car innovations in the world’s biggest vehicle market. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

An Audi A6 e-tron concept electric vehicle (EV) is seen displayed during a media day for the Auto Shanghai show in Shanghai, China April 20, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song

Chinese Tesla challenger NIO posts best quarter on record EV deliveries, helping narrow losses and crush analysts’ estimates

Nio’s electric vehicles rolling off the production line in the Anhui provincial capital of Hefei in eastern China on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Photo: Bloomberg

The interior of Nio’s eC6 electric car during the 19th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai on April 19, 2021. Photo: AFP

Chinese Tesla rival NIO targets Europe with its smart EVs as it takes a first step towards going global

People visit the NIO booth at the Auto Shanghai show. Photo: Reuters

JPMorgan fund picks NIO, Xpeng to prosper with Tesla even as Chinese EV makers may take years to become profitable

A Tesla electric vehicle (EV) speeding across a street in Shanghai on March 9, 2021. Photo: Reuters

Tesla’s Chinese rival Xpeng ups the self-driving game with world’s first mass-produced LiDAR in P5 sedan, defying Elon Musk

Xpeng Motors’ all-electric P5 sedan. Photo: Xpeng

Xpeng Motor’s P5 all-electric sedan at its launch in Guangzhou on April 14, 2021. Photo: Iris Ouyang

Tesla’s Chinese rival Xpeng fits P7 electric saloon cars with fast-charging, short-range batteries to pass cost savings to customers

Xpeng’s new factory in the Guangdong provincial city of Zhaoqing touts 100 per cent automation for installation of car bodies at its welding workshops, with over 200 robotic arms. Photo: SCMP

P7 Car

graphic for online Tesla compared to domestic electric vehicle brands in China Mileage of electric vehicles China 's best-selling new-energy vehicles in July Model Tesla Model 3 NIO ES6 All New BYD Qin xpeng P7 Li ONE Driving range (km) 445 490 421 706 800 Model Volume (units) Model Chery eQ Volume (units) Tesla Model 3 GAC Aion S Buick Velite 6 All New BYD Qin Baojun EIOO 11,014 3,685 3,411 3,400 3,329 Great Wall ora RI NIO ES6 Li ONE BMW 5 series PHEV Sources: Company data, China Passenger Car Association 3,056 2,771 2,610 2,445 2,336 SCMP

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Norway is fast becoming Chinese electric car start-ups’ key export market. There’s a reason for that: it’s the world leader in terms of EV uptake
Nearly 77,000 EVs were sold in Norway last year, accounting for over 54 per cent of overall new car sales



Norway is fast becoming Chinese electric car start-ups’ key export market. There’s a reason for that: it’s the world leader in terms of EV uptake.


Automotive industry

Self-driving cars and autonomous vehicles

Future of transport

Tesla

Technology

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Xpeng

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Explainer

Explainer | Why Chinese electric car start-ups NIO, Xpeng are making a beeline for Norway

Norway is fast becoming Chinese electric car start-ups’ key export market. There’s a reason for that: it’s the world leader in terms of EV uptake Nearly 77,000 EVs were sold in Norway last year, accounting for over 54 per cent of overall new car sales

Norway is fast becoming Chinese electric car start-ups’ key export market. There’s a reason for that: it’s the world leader in terms of EV uptake

Nearly 77,000 EVs were sold in Norway last year, accounting for over 54 per cent of overall new car sales