It has 28 patents at the control level, but zero patents at the autonomous driving decision level.

In 2019, Nio North America disclosed a patent for a "suicide" that would automatically drive the vehicle to a safe location to self-destruct when the vehicle identifies an electrical system failure.

Compared to Baidu, the leader in autonomous driving with 632 patents, Nio still has a long way to go in autonomous driving technology.

Since its inception, Nio has been researching its own intelligent cockpit, and the most critical achievement so far is the in-vehicle artificial intelligence system, the voice assistant NOMI.

Li has said, "NOMI is a voice interaction system and emotional engine that combines powerful in-vehicle computing power and cloud computing platform, which can establish a new way of human-vehicle interaction."

However, after searching and filtering by keywords such as "interaction", "dialogue" and "machine learning", there are only 14 patents, all of which are still pending licensing.

On the design patents, besides the highest percentage of graphic interface design and car-related design, it is interesting to note that there are 29 seemingly "unprofessional" products in the "others" category.

These include scooters, toy cars, hoodies, thermal cups, and folding umbrellas. Most of these products can be found in Nio's Nio Life store.

"You're not just buying a car, you're buying a ticket to a new way of life," Li said in February 2019.

For Nio, which focuses on user service and is committed to building a community of fans, a car is not only a means of transportation but also a ticket to a middle-class life. The imagination of this is also broader and deeper than selling cars.

In general, the most important layout of Nio is on the core service scenario "battery swap station". This year, Nio is laying out the second generation of battery swap stations and plans to reach 500 battery swap stations by the end of the year.

In terms of intelligence, including autonomous driving, intelligent cockpit, and other major intelligent scenarios, Nio still has a lot of room for improvement.

Finally, if you think Nio is selling cars, you may have underestimated it. What Nio sells is a lifestyle that many people aspire to.