NIO's Li Bin claims that battery swapping business is sustainable: The whole internet teaches me how to be a CEO, but I am a money-making person who can do accounting and not a fool
William Li, the founder of NIO, stated after the listing ceremony of the L60 on LeDao that the battery swapping business model is sustainable in the Chinese market. He emphasized that the automotive industry is a capital, technology, and talent-intensive industry, and success takes time. He mentioned that although there are many excellent competitors in the industry, NIO chooses to communicate positively rather than dismantle competitors. He believes that business sustainability requires long-term consideration, rather than just focusing on short-term profits
After the listing conference of the NIO L60, NIO's founder, chairman, and CEO, William Li, was interviewed by the media. When asked by the media, "In the current less than ideal and less than rational automotive industry, the price of the NIO L60 has raised the stakes again. What are the moats of the NIO brand and the NIO L60 brand?"
IT Home attached William Li's response as follows:
Over the years, we have endured a lot, with many outstanding peers who have delved into and dissected us. Our approach is not to dissect, but to directly and joyfully compare. We do not engage in underhanded tactics behind the scenes; our communication is generally positive and candid.
Some users live-streamed saying that we are losing money. With our current scale, if we were to make big profits, then there would actually be a problem. The industry is capital-intensive, technology-intensive, talent-intensive, and has a very long industrial chain. Companies in the industry have experienced decades, even hundreds of years of history. Some time ago, during a test drive exchange with Chery's CEO, Mr. Yin, I said, "Mr. Yin, you've been doing well recently." He replied, "I've been at it for 27 years. The first 24 years were tough, and only in the past two or three years has it gotten slightly better." Even Tesla took 16 years to become profitable. I believe this is a true reflection of the automotive industry, there are no shortcuts, no luck involved.
Maybe in five or ten years, other hotels have opened, are making money, and your building is still under construction. What does it matter? I'm not trying to build a ten-story building; I want to build a 100-story building.
We chose battery swapping because it aligns with China's market demand and user scenarios. I spent three years studying battery swapping, not to study successful cases, but failed cases. A few days ago, a user said that Tesla wanted to do it back then but gave up. He didn't give up, he just didn't succeed, or he found out that his car wasn't designed that way, and the cost was too high. Whereas we are native, starting from scratch to think about it makes it easier to drive forward.
Our mindset is very simple:
First, start from the user's interests, written in the company's vision driving force.
Second, sustainable in business. Although the whole internet teaches me how to be a CEO, I am someone who has made money. Do you think I wouldn't consider business sustainability? I'm not stupid. We do the math, but our calculations are not based on a quarter or a year.
Business sustainability is crucial, but it must be viewed over time. A business that makes money on the first day is definitely not a good business. Amazon Web Services lost money for over 20 years, Tesla lost money for 16 years, and we have been losing money for over 9 years. We raised $18.9 billion from around the world to develop China's smart electric vehicle industry. The vast majority of our investments are used in basic research and development. Even if these employees don't work at NIO, they are still important seeds. Even if we serve the supply chain for others, we are happy because we have driven a lot of innovative supply chains.
Third, it must be beneficial to society and sustainable.
Why did NIO set 60 kWh as the basic range for the L60? Because over 500 kilometers is enough for daily use for users. Changing or charging a few times a month is enough, and for long-distance travel, switching to an 85 kWh or a future longer-range 1000-kilometer battery, how much resources would that save? Due to the swappable battery, NIO's 75 kWh option is at 97%, and the 100 kWh option is at 3%. This not only saves money for users but also saves a lot of social resources The issue of battery life, batteries also age, shouldn't this question be answered? In the past 8 years, China has already had nearly 20 million new energy vehicles in stock. In the next 8 years, it means that these 20 million vehicles will gradually reach the end of their battery warranty period. Shouldn't this problem be addressed? A battery pack costs over 60,000 RMB to purchase, which amounts to 1.2 trillion RMB. Shouldn't this be resolved?
Therefore, it is beneficial to users, sustainable for businesses, but it needs to be done within a normal evaluation cycle, ensuring social sustainability and industrial sustainability. This is actually the way NIO does things. This is what I think, and my thoughts are correct. Do I have to lie about it?
