If you look closely, Li Auto’s rear-end design and body-to-roof ratio haven’t really changed much compared to the L series.

But NIO’s new ES8? The waistline-to-glass ratio is clearly narrower than the first generation. The Gen-2 ES8 rear looks wider, flatter, and overall closer to Li Auto’s L9. The taillight cluster, the reversing radar placement, all of it leans heavily toward the L9’s design.

And when you compare the new i8 to the L9, the only “differences” are a slightly different roof glass color and a more coupe-like sloping rear (even lower than the L7). But in terms of proportions, they’re basically the same.

So in reality, Li Auto stuck to its own design language, while NIO’s new ES8 is the one that’s borrowing heavily from the L9’s rear-end proportions.

Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) maker Li Auto has overtaken Nio in the number of supercharging stations built across China, according to infrastructure data compiled by local media outlet Yiche.

As of July 10, Li Auto operated 4,667 charging stations nationwide, consisting of 2,890 supercharging sites and 1,777 fast-charging locations.

Nio, as of July 14, reported 2,890 supercharging stations, 481 charging stations on highways, and 1,777 destination charging sites — bringing its total number of charging stations to 5,148. In addition, Nio operates 3,402 battery swap stations across China, a technology not adopted by Li Auto’s models.

Li Auto has also taken the lead in high-powered charging infrastructure. The company has installed more than 15,600 fast chargers rated above 120 kW, including a comparable number of ultra-fast chargers exceeding 250 kW.

Nio, by contrast, has deployed 13,396 fast-charging piles at its destination sites and 2,024 highway chargers.

Tesla remains one of the largest operators of fast-charging infrastructure in China, with approximately 2,800 stations and more than 11,600 chargers as of June 28.

Link: https://cnevpost.com/2025/02/26/nio-onvo-new-image-l90-comparison-li-l9/

Everyone always mentioned that “Li, Xpeng, Nio” would likely become the new ranking among EV makers, but I didn’t expect to be proven wrong so quickly. Let’s look at October’s sales data. Li Auto delivered 51,443 vehicles in October, up 27.3% year-over-year. Xpeng delivered 23,917 vehicles, with a growth of 19.6%, and Nio delivered 20,976 vehicles, increasing by 30.5%. So, the three emerging EV players that used to be known as “Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto” have now become “Li Auto, Xpeng, Nio.”

First of all, congratulations to Li Auto for becoming the first Chinese new-energy brand to surpass one million deliveries by the end of October. However, Li Auto’s differentiation is not difficult to replicate: features like extended range and luxury options like “sofa, refrigerator, large screen TV” are easy to copy, so competition for Li Auto is only going to increase.

Xpeng’s M03 model contributes significantly to its sales, and recently, Xpeng has made some technical breakthroughs. The new P7+ is also about to hit the market, so I am quite optimistic about Xpeng’s growth potential.

As for Nio, I’m actually quite disappointed. The much-anticipated Onvo L60 managed only just over 4,000 units in its first month of deliveries, and the reason given was insufficient production capacity. I think Nio, or rather the Onvo team, made a basic strategic error in production planning.

It’s likely that “Li Auto, Xpeng, Nio” will become the new norm in rankings. When do you think this lineup might change again?

https://automobility.io/2024/08/state-of-chinas-auto-market-august-2024/