BMW

"Nio is still a first-year student, but people are already paying us in advance of when we graduate with our PhDs. Over the next decade or so, we're going to finish school," he said.

For reference, Tesla currently has more than 6,300 Superchargers in China and more than 25,000 Superchargers worldwide.

BMW had hoped to use the iX3 to challenge Tesla and new car makers, including Nio, in the Chinese market.

High-precision positioning capability is a must for high-level autonomous driving, which allows the map to accurately reproduce the real road conditions.

Referring to his goal, Nio's Li quoted the famous Three Kingdoms era in Chinese history, and his words, if translated directly, were "The world is divided into three kingdoms, and we want to be one of them."

BMW announced on January 27 that it is adjusting the price of its all-electric SUV, the BMW iX3, in a move believed to be a response to the Tesla Model Y's pricing in China to secure sales.

William Li Bin said Nio ET7's competitors are German premium brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, and in the longer term, Nio's competitors even include Apple Car.

On the Nio App, a user asked which class of luxury cars such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi the sedan would target, and Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong responded: BMW7.

Nio's shares surged 6.54 percent to $35.50 on Tuesday, giving it a market capitalization of $48.3 billion, surpassing Frankfurt-listed BMW's €39.8 billion ($46.5 billion).

BMW on Sunday unveiled the iX3, the first all-electric midsize SUV in the history of the BMW Group, and the first product to be sold to the global market with China as the sole manufacturing base.