NIO was founded in Shanghai, China in 2014. The first car model was revealed in 2016, the EP9, an electric-powered, two-seat sports car.

Since then NIO sold over 50,000 cars, primarily in China. Interestingly, they also provide a sophisticated battery-swap infrastructure, offering a fully charged battery within 3 minutes, so far at over 140 stations.

Because NIO offers premium cars, and to help adoption and sales, they are now planning a battery rental service called BAAS (Battery as a Service), in the process reducing the car prices significantly, by about $10,000.

Surely, battery rental will very likely help to continue power more record sales, the company accomplished during the past months, even during a difficult time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company which already runs a car design studio in Munich, Germany, plans to offer their BEV fleet in Europe, come 2021.

NIO Stock

The NIO stock took some time to take-off, partly because of difficulties with production quality.

Today, NIO stands strong and still offers opportunities for people who missed out when TESLA begun their success story.

Besides market volatility, this car maker seems like a solid bet, even if it turns out that battery swapping will no longer be needed, because of sufficient range and fast charging.

In my opinion NIO should be part of every shareholder portfolio, currently looking to participate, and help, to boost the fast deployment of the electric vehicle.