What happened
Nio (NIO 1.38%) shares soared more than 8% Wednesday as technology stocks rallied on Wall Street. Nio's American depositary shares held on to much of those gains, up 6.8% as of 3:47 p.m. ET. Today's move has brought the stock into the black for 2023.
So what
The rally coincides with moves higher by many electric vehicle (EV) and other alternative energy growth stocks. That might help explain why Nio's jump outpaced the approximately 1.8% rise in the technology-filled Nasdaq Composite index. That's because the news from Nio today is that it is partnering with Norwegian smart-energy provider Tibber to give European Nio drivers an improved charging experience.
Now what
Nio already offers a unique EV charging option giving customers the ability to exchange a fully charged battery into the vehicle in just a few minutes via its battery swap stations. Citing an article published by the European Nio app, CnEVPost said today that Nio owners can now connect their vehicles to the Tibber app.
That will allow drivers to track energy use and monitor energy prices to better plan and schedule charging around electricity prices -- for charging at home or with traditional charging stations. Nio's power segment offers Power Home charging equipment. The new partnership will allow smart-charging with Tibber on the home charging boxes that will automatically charge vehicles during times with the lowest electricity prices.
The news comes as investors await the latest delivery data from Nio, which will be released over this upcoming weekend. Nio has previously projected first-quarter deliveries of between 31,000 and 33,000 vehicles. That's a sharp drop from the more than 40,000 EVs it shipped in the prior quarterly period.
Nio stock had already been hovering near multiyear lows after that company guidance. That could allow for more upside potential should the company hit its target as well as project higher second-quarter delivery estimates.
