Nio is gearing up for an IPO, hoping for a valuation of $8 billion
The Chinese EV startup is proving itself to be a real contender in its home market, but will its success there extend to a successful IPO in the US?
Chinese EV startup Nio is ramping up plans for an American initial public offering, and despite having a highly publicized showing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the company's valuation target of $8 billion seems optimistic.
Nio is hoping that with sufficient funding, it will be able to take on the likes of Tesla in the US and around the world, but even with its extremely cool EP9 electric supercar, it's a relatively unknown name here.
With a carbon fiber monocoque chassis as a foundation, the EP9 features four electric motors and four gearboxes to deliver a net system output of 1,342 horsepower.
Nio is hoping to sell 160 million shares of its stock in the US, raising $1.3 billion in capital, which it will use for research and development and building manufacturing facilities, as well as for sales and marketing.
In addition to its EP9 hypercar prototype, Nio has been selling its ES8 electric SUV in its Chinese domestic market since July. The ES8 is actually pretty cool looking and packs 648 horsepower. The company has sold approximately 1,300 ES8s since July and has another 15,700 preorders, according to its investment prospectus.
The Nio ES8 retails for the equivalent of around $66,000 and produces 648 horsepower from its all-electric drivetrain.
Nio is working on bringing a smaller, less expensive crossover to market by next year, which is slated to be called the ES6. It's not entirely clear if there are any concrete plans to bring this model to the US at this time.
