What happened
Nio (NIO 2.27%) stock continued a rebound today off of a bottom after its 30% drop from recent highs. American depositary shares of the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker were trading higher by 5.5% as of 1:20 p.m. ET.
So what
Today's move adds to gains realized yesterday after Nio shares hit multiyear lows. The decline brought the stock down to a market cap of under $14 billion for the first time since mid-2020.
Its bounce from those lows began yesterday after a Barron's report highlighted the growing competition in China's EV market from smaller, growing companies like Nio. One way Nio seeks to boost its competitive advantage is through its EV technologies. That includes a unique Battery as a Service (BaaS) offering.
Image source: Nio.
That allows customers to lower the up-front vehicle cost by paying a monthly subscription for the battery and using Nio's battery swap stations to replace drained batteries with freshly charged ones in a matter of several minutes. The company will now be launching its third-generation battery swap stations earlier than expected, reports industry publication CnEVPost.
Now what
Nio announced the next-generation battery swap station at its Nio Day meeting held in late December. The new stations raise the capacity of each unit to more than 400 swaps per day, a 30% increase versus the current technology. Nio is expanding the use of the stations throughout China and into Europe.
The company had previously said it would ramp up deployment of the new stations in May 2023, but it now says the first 10 will go live on March 28.
That's just one step to increase efficiency and help move the company closer to profitability. But with more than $7 billion in sales in 2022, Nio's market cap dropped below 2 times sales at its recent bottom. That seems to be low enough for those investors who believe in its technology, as well as its competitive strategy in both China and Europe.
