Shanghai Weilan Power Technology Co., Ltd., an affiliate company of Chinese EV maker Nio, recently added a patent that features "dynamic facial recognition device and method, computer program" to its patent portfolio, information from data provider Tianyancha showed.

The patent application date is June 2019 and the publication date is September 2020.

Shanghai Weilan Power was founded in May 2016 with legal representative Zeng Shuxiang and registered capital of about 317 million yuan.

The company's chairman is William Li Bin, founder of Nio, and its director is Qin Lihong, president of Nio, and Jiangsu Weiran Automotive Technology Co. holds 100% of the company's equity.

Nio currently allows passengers to take selfies via voice control, and it's unclear how Nio will use facial recognition technology in its products.

This is the latest move by Nio to increase its technology footprint.

Last month, cnTechPost reported that Ren Shaoqing, formerly Momenta's director of research and development, has joined Nio, hinting that Nio will increase its investment in automated driving technology.

Ren Shaoqing serves as assistant vice president and reports directly to Li Bin.