CnEVPost newsletter: How NIO's William Li built China's first local premium car brand; Xiaomi will start building its own cars

Born in a poor village, how NIO's William Li built China's first local premium car brand - CnEVPost During his childhood, the young man who lived with his grandparents until the second grade could never have imagined that he would one day be able to build China's first local high-end car brand, NIO, in the future.

Oil giant Sinopec chairman visits NIO's battery swap station - CnEVPost Sinopec has more than 30,000 gas stations, ranking second in the world. It is ranked No. 2 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the world's largest companies.

NIO says users drove over 4 million kilometers with NIO Pilot during Chinese New Year - CnEVPost Chinese users drove NIO a total of more than 30 million kilometers during February 11-17, up 318 percent year-on-year, for a total of more than 910,000 hours, NIO said.

NIO EP9 lands in top racing game 'Asphalt 9: Legends' - CnEVPost The first batch of NIO EP9 is limited to six units worldwide, and the owners are William Li, founder of NIO, Zhang Lei, founder and CEO of Hillhouse Capital, Pony Ma, founder of Tencent, Liu Qiangdong, founder of JD.com, Lei Jun, founder of Xiaomi, and Li Xiang, founder of Autohome and Li Auto.

Xiaomi will start building its own cars, LatePost reports - CnEVPost Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has decided it will build its own cars and sees it as a strategic decision, Chinese media outlet LatePost said, citing multiple sources.

Xiaomi reportedly tweaks organizational structure to pave way for making cars - CnEVPost Xiaomi has made a round of structural changes to its technology system ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday, possibly to pave the way for its entry into the car-making industry, according to the latest report.

Li Auto says Li ONE cumulative deliveries surpass 40,000 units - CnEVPost Li Auto announced today that its cumulative deliveries exceeded 40,000 units as of February 18, 14.5 months after Li ONE opened for delivery on December 4, 2019.

Hillhouse Capital takes part in BYD's latest private placement after liquidating its positions in NIO, XPeng and Li Auto - CnEVPost Hillhouse has just liquidated its position in shares of Chinese new car makers NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto.

Tesla allows owners in China to try EAP features for free for limited time - CnEVPost Tesla opened the EAP option in China on February 5 at a price of RMB 32,000 ($4,943), half the price of FSD in China.

Geely reportedly to establish independent EV firm - CnEVPost Geely plans to set up a new company to explore a new approach to product planning, marketing, and sales of electric vehicles (EV), a radical departure from the industry practice of marketing and selling electric vehicles alongside conventional cars, Reuters said on February 19, citing sources.

Baidu's Robin Li explains why the company enters car-making industry - CnEVPost Baidu hopes to bring advanced smart driving technology to the market in a timely manner by building its own cars, said Robin Li, CEO of the Chinese search engine giant.

Mobike co-founder said to be CEO of Baidu's car-making arm - CnEVPost Xia Yiping served as Mobike's chief technology officer until Mobike was acquired by Meituan in 2018.

Foxconn's first electric vehicles to be released by year-end - CnEVPost Apple supplier Foxconn expects to unveil 2-3 new vehicles built on its own EV platform - dubbed the MIH – at the end of this year, marking significant progress for the electronics giant on its path into the automotive sector.

Baoneng Motor's premium brand to release first EV this year to rival Tesla and NIO - CnEVPost The model will soon finish durability tests in the harsh cold and other environments and move on to the next phase of work.

NEV-related business registrations in China up 70.8% in 2020 - CnEVPost There were 78,600 newly registered new energy-related companies in China throughout 2020, up 70.8% year-on-year, according to data provider Qichacha.