(Source: Nio)

NeoPark, an intelligent electric vehicle industrial park in Xinqiao, Hefei, jointly promoted by Nio and the Hefei municipal government, officially started construction on April 29.

The park will invest RMB 50 billion in the first phase, and the total annual output value will reach RMB 500 billion. It will have an annual capacity of 1 million vehicles and 100GWh of batteries.

The park covers an area of 16,950 mu (11.3 square kilometers), about 12 times the size of Tesla's Fremont facility, and is divided into an intelligent manufacturing area, an R&D living area, and an ecological and cultural area.

The goal is to build an intelligent electric vehicle industry cluster that is world-class in scale, innovation, talent, and efficiency, according to William Li, founder, chairman, and CEO of Nio.

After the NeoPark is completed, Nio can save RMB 3,000 per vehicle in logistics costs, Li said, adding that currently, the average mileage of Nio's entire vehicle logistics is 901 kilometers, which is much less than the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

In February, the Hefei Municipal People's Government and Nio signed a framework agreement to deepen cooperation, and both sides agreed to jointly plan and build the Xinqiao Smart Electric Vehicle Industrial Park to create a world-class smart electric vehicle industrial cluster with a complete industrial chain.

The new park took only six months from the signing of the agreement to the start of construction.

Hefei will increase its support for the smart electric vehicle industry, introduce more industry chain enterprises to the park, and provide policy support in terms of construction, funding and talent.

Nio, on its part, will carry out long-term development planning and layout around the park, establish R&D and manufacturing, marketing, and management teams in the park, and help Hefei further introduce industrial chain enterprises.

There is no timetable for the construction of the park, although an April 16 tender document seen by CnEVPost shows that the project duration for the first phase of the park, including earth grading and building construction, is 337 calendar days and the contract amount is about RMB 2 billion yuan.

Li said today that Hefei not only gave Nio funds but also confidence.

In 2019, Nio underwent extreme stress tests and was able to recover from the intensive care unit without the support of Anhui and Hefei, he said.

The Nio China headquarters was officially launched a year ago on April 29, and so far Nio China has 1,000 employees.

Li said the NeoPark will attract more than 10,000 R&D staff and 40,000 skilled workers.

(Source: Nio)

(Source: Nio)

(Source: Nio)

(Source: Nio)