NIO

Founder/s: William Li
Key people: William Li (Chairman), Padmasree Warrior (CEO-U.S./Chief Dev. Officer), Kris Tomasson (VP-Design)
Number of employees: 2,000+ (2017)

NIO is a global start-up based in China, designing and developing high-performance, premium electric, autonomous vehicles. NIO has R&D and design experts from around the world with significant technology and management background from leading automobile and high tech companies, with more than 2,000 employees in its 12 locations. The company is also involved in the FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first single-seater, all-electric racing series. The name for the company in China is Weilai.

History

NIO was founded by the Chairman of Bitauto and NextEV, William Li. After launch, several companies went in to invest, these including Tencent, Temasek, Baidu, Sequoia, Lenovo, TPG and other world-renowned investment institutions. Their track car, the NIO EP9 was debuted the same day the brand was established.

NIO was launched with the intention from William Li to lead the way with autonomous, electric-powered, and smart vehicles, and to make their owners feel positive about owning their products. They also want to redefine what premium service means for a car company.

In October, NIO announced that it was issued an Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit by the California DMV and it would begin testing on public roads under the Autonomous Vehicle Tester Program guidelines as it progresses on its path to bring autonomy to market.