Nio said, "We are rivals, but also teammates. 2021, go forward together". And Nio is offering additional incentives for Tesla owners. "Welcome to test drive Nio, even if you eventually choose Tesla, you can still get 3 free Nio Power one-touch recharging service."

Earlier Tesmanian quoted sources as saying that within 10 hours of the announcement, the number of orders soared to more than 100,000 units. The outlet also said that about 300 Chinese-made Model Ys have already been produced from Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory and that all 300 of the new EVs are being used for demonstration purposes.

But according to Yicai.com, Tesla insiders say reservations and test drives for the Model Y have been brisk, but that the 10-hour, 100,000-order figure is overstated.