Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio (NYSE: NIO) will host its annual event, Nio Day, on January 9 in Chengdu, Sichuan province in southwest China.
BofA Securities expect the company to unveil the new electric sedan set to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The new sedan will be designed and manufactured based on the Nio's second platform, which will equip advanced vehicle chips to enable comprehensive autonomous driving (AD) technology, BofA said in a note to investors.
Besides, Mobileye is likely to cooperate with NlO to rollout robotaxi in China based on the new Sedan, the note said.
BofA expects NlO to introduce the 150kWh battery pack to enhance driving range, with the new subscription package under the BaaS model.
Before the Nio Day, Nio is likely to launch certain initiatives in NlO's used cars to facilitate used car transaction backed by quality assurance and reasonable residual value, and trade-in program.
"We believe such initiatives will be positive for new car sales in the long term," BofA said.
On December 27, Nio sent out invitations to formally invite media to attend the upcoming Nio Day.
Nio said it will unveil its first sedan, a 150kWh battery pack, the next-generation autonomous driving technology platform called NT2.0, and a 2nd-generation swap station.
Previous media reports have said that Nio's fourth new car could be mass-produced in the fourth quarter of next year at the JAC Nio plant in central China's Anhui Province.
The sedan will be Nio's fourth model, which could feature a coupe design similar to the Audi A7.
It is expected to be built on the second-generation platform NT2.0 which is currently under development and will be equipped with LIDAR. The car will be still using a dual-motor, four-wheel-drive system, and will be compatible with the L4 driver assistance system.
Nio will also launch the 150kWh battery pack, which is compatible with all existing models.
On October 30, at Nio's top user club, EP Club, Nio founder William Li Bin said that Nio was working on a 150kWh battery pack that will give its cars a range of more than 900km.
This means that even compared to fuel-efficient Japanese hybrids, Nio will be able to get more mileage from one battery cell than these hybrids can get from one tank of gas.
If the 150kWh battery pack is put into use, it would effectively more than double an ES6's range of 430km.
Separately, Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of Nio, said on December 26 that the company will release a used car service policy on January 3, 2021, in order to guarantee owners a higher residual value when they sell their cars in the future.
Qin said Nio will allocate funds to guarantee the value of its models in the used car market.
Prior to that, Nio had said that its used cars are expected to retain their value at a higher rate than the market price.
Regarding specific information about the used car service policy, it was previously rumored that Nio would guarantee that its used cars would retain their value at a rate no lower than that of luxury gasoline cars in the same class. If this is not achieved, Nio may pay to make up the difference, but Nio has not officially admitted this.
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