Here are the key events that happened in the EV sector during the week.
Nio Unveils Executive EV to Take on Panamera
Chinese electric carmaker Nio Inc. unveiled a flagship sedan at its annual customer event Saturday, with the vehicle set to take on Porsche AG’s Panamera series and Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s luxury S range.
The four-seater executive sedan dubbed ET9 is expected to start delivery in the first quarter of 2025, with an estimated starting price at around 800,000 yuan ($112,000). It is more expensive than Tesla Inc.’s Model S, which starts at 698,900 yuan in China.
The model will be equipped with Nio’s self-developed five-nanometer automotive-grade chip and large cylindrical battery cells, said the company’s founder and chief executive officer William Li at Nio Day, the carmaker’s annual event. It will also be compatible for a 900 Voltage ultra-fast charging platform that could extend its range by 255 kilometers in 5 minutes.
Tesla Gets Price Target Boost To $350 by Wedbush's Ives
Tesla, Inc. received a price target boost even as thestock struggles to find any decent momentum to break outof its current trading range.
Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives reiterated an Outperform rating on Tesla shares and raised the price target from $310 to $350.
The optimism over Tesla stock is based on the increasingly bullish view of further electric vehicle share gains and margin stabilization in 2024, Ives said in a note. The analyst said he sees Tesla hitting the $1 trillion market cap in 2024 despite Wall Street’s skepticism.
Xpeng Offers $1400 Discount On G6 SUV Price As EV Market Competition Intensifies
Xpeng communicated through its social media channels that customers buying the G6 SUV within December would receive a discount of RMB 10,000 ($1,400), reported CnEVPost on Sunday. An alternative offer is a 24-term zero-interest loan for clients who choose not to take the discount. The offer would be available from Dec. 18 onwards.
The promotional offer brings down the G6’s starting price to RMB 199,900 ($28043.55). The G6 model, which was officially unveiled in China on June 29, has witnessed robust sales, although growth has plateaued in the last two months.
Tesla China Sees 18% Increase in New Vehicle Registrations
Tesla China saw over 18,000 new vehicle insurance registrations last week. The impressive 18.83% increase over the previous week’s total suggests that the electric automaker may be focusing more recourses on the region’s domestic market.
It should be noted that in December’s first week, Tesla China saw 17,400 insurance registrations.
Tesla China does not publicly disclose its weekly sales figures, but observers can gauge the company's performance in the local automotive market through the weekly tracking of new vehicle registrations. Luckily, these figures are closely monitored by industry experts. Even other car manufacturers, like Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), have proactively shared China's weekly insurance data to provide additional insights.
VinFast Agrees Deal With Marubeni to Recycle Used EV Batteries
VinFast will supply the used batteries and Marubeni will repurpose into what it said would be affordable Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) that were easy to manufacture, the Vietnamese firm said in a statement.
The process would not require disassembly, processing and repackaging of the batteries, according to the deal, which it said was signed at the weekend during a regional leaders summit in Japan.
NIO Announces $2.2 Billion Strategic Equity Investment from CYVN
NIO Inc. has entered into a share subscription agreement with CYVN Holdings, through its affiliate CYVN Investments RSC Ltd, an investment vehicle based in Abu Dhabi, pursuant to which CYVN will invest an aggregate of US$2.2 billion in cash to subscribe for 294,000,000 newly issued Class A ordinary shares of the Company at a per share purchase price of $7.50.