NIO Reaches One Million Vehicles Produced in Hefei

NIO announced the production of its 1,000,000th vehicle in Hefei, highlighting growth across its brands, technology investment and charging infrastructure. Read the details.

NIO has reached a symbolic milestone as its one-millionth vehicle rolled off the production line at NIO Factory Two in Hefei. The milestone car, an All-New ES8 finished in Nebula Green, marks more than a production figure, reflecting the company’s transformation from a young startup into a recognised player in China’s smart electric vehicle sector.

The vehicle was not retained by the company. Instead, NIO donated its millionth car to the Micius Quantum Foundation in Anhui Province, where it will support leading experts working in the field of quantum science. The decision highlights NIO’s intention to link industrial progress with broader technological and scientific development.

The production milestone mirrors the expansion of NIO’s brand portfolio. From the launch of its first ES8 models in 2018, the company has grown into a multi-brand manufacturer operating across NIO, ONVO and firefly. Each brand targets a different segment of the electric vehicle market, collectively contributing to the company’s rapid rise to one million produced vehicles.

During the event, NIO also unveiled the ET9 Milestone Edition, a special version of its flagship model designed to honor innovators across industries. In parallel, the company signed framework agreements with Chery Automobile and JAC Motors to co-build an automotive innovation platform, alongside a vehicle-chip industrialization partnership with Lontium Semiconductor. These agreements underline NIO’s focus on collaboration within a broader industrial ecosystem.

The achievement comes against the backdrop of rapid growth in China’s new energy vehicle market. National production in 2025 is expected to exceed 15 million units, and Chinese automakers are increasingly reshaping global automotive dynamics. Within this context, NIO positions its one-millionth vehicle as evidence of the sector’s technological and brand-level progress.

Long-term investment has played a central role in this trajectory. NIO has invested RMB 65 billion in research and development across 12 core smart EV technologies. Infrastructure has been another priority, with RMB 18 billion allocated to charging and battery swapping networks. As of now, NIO operates 8,541 charging and Power Swap facilities in China and has completed more than 96 million battery swaps cumulatively.

Rather than viewing the milestone as an endpoint, NIO describes it as a new beginning. The company is entering what it calls its third stage of development, focused on high-quality growth, deeper technological capabilities and steady global expansion. In this sense, the one-millionth vehicle stands as both a marker of scale and a signal of growing maturity in NIO’s long-term strategy.