Gasgoo Munich- NIO Co-founder and President Qin Lihong announced in a video on August 21 that the all-new ES8 reached 140,000 deliveries in just 335 days — a new benchmark for high-end pure electric vehicles in China. The model claimed the top spot in July for both the large SUV segment and the 400,000 yuan price bracket.
Image Source: NIO
Qin also offered a broader industry forecast in the video. China's new energy vehicle penetration rate made history by breaching 60% in July, while pure electric adoption is on track to top 50% this year.
He went further, predicting that "within a single month this year, pure electric penetration will exceed 50% — accelerating the arrival of an endgame where pure electric models become the absolute mainstream." Data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows retail penetration for pure electric models hit 44.3% in July, marking a fourth consecutive month of record highs.
Qin also reiterated that NIO will not produce range-extended vehicles, remaining committed to its pure electric strategy. He noted that with NIO’s current capabilities, it could bring a range-extended model to mass production in just 20 months. However, he estimates that the material cost for each range-extended vehicle exceeds 20,000 yuan. At a volume of 1 million units, that would mean an additional 20 billion yuan in expenses. "With that kind of money," he argued, "we’d be better off building more battery swap stations."
