William Li

"Whether or not Nio qualifies for the final round, we don't know yet, but some conclusions will start to emerge by about 2024," he said.

Although it costs more money and is more difficult, the innovation ability accumulated in this way is different from that of midway entrants, Nio CEO said.

While the transition from fuel to electric vehicles is difficult, once consumers accept the shift, they basically won't go back to fuel cars, Li said.

Some older car brands will also launch competitive products in the second half of the year, but overall, they are latecomers to the smart electric vehicle space and have a lot of work to do, he said.

Nio also expects to release new initiatives for charging station service facilities, laying the groundwork for rapid growth in its user base, he said.

After the Nio ET7, Nio will "definitely" launch a second sedan that will be more competitive than the current Tesla Model 3, said William Li.

William Li, founder and chairman of Nio, said he is confident that the Chinese electric car maker will become the smart electric car brand with sales exceeding 1 million in China.

Given that Xiaomi just announced its entry into the car-making industry three days ago, this gathering of the leaders of China's most prominent new energy vehicle companies has quickly generated widespread interest among Chinese Internet users.

"The stamping line equipment for Tesla's Shanghai plant was sold to them by us, which is kind of like us selling a weapon to a competitor," Li said.

During his childhood, the young man who lived with his grandparents until the second grade could never have imagined that he would one day be able to build China's first local high-end car brand, Nio, in the future.