New Chinese startup Nio is gearing up to give Tesla a run for its money next year as they just revealed their electric ES8 SUV at the Shanghai auto show earlier his month. Up until now, Tesla has always held the top spot when it comes to electric cars, but more and more companies are coming out of the woodworks, ready to get a piece of that very lucrative, upcoming market.
The Nio ES8 is due to go into production later this year with deliveries expected for 2018. However, the ES8 will be specifically for the Chinese market only (for the time being at least). It’s a large, electric SUV that will fit perfectly into the market right now in China. The Chinese love their electric cars and in both 2015 and 2016 China sold more electric cars than the whole of Europe. It’s a trend that’s likely to continue too, as the government seeks to tighten emission standards even more.
Tesla has also made the most of these tightened regulations and in 2016, tripled its revenue in China to $1 billion. That may still not be quite as much as it makes in the U.S., but is still a huge chunk of money. The company seems to have been welcomed in too, with Chinese internet company Tencent acquiring a 5% share in Tesla just last month. Tencent has also invested in the likes of Nio too. So, it seems there’s an electric race of its own going down in China at the moment but who will come out winning? It’s still too soon to tell!
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