Chinese EV maker Nio to debut in Singapore, its first Southeast Asia market

The carmaker will launch with its compact electric hatchback Firefly, it said in a news release on Monday.

The vehicle supports standard EV charging while its battery can also be swapped for a fully charged one in just three minutes at Nio’s stations.

This debut will see the Firefly offered in a right-hand-drive version for the first time, The Straits Times reported.

Nio had earlier announced plans to produce right-hand-drive vehicles in addition to left-hand-drive ones for markets such as the U.K. and Southeast Asia. It will be distributed by multi-brand motor group Wearnes Automotive in Singapore.

Founded in 2014, Nio was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018 and later on Singapore and Hong Kong exchanges in 2022, according to The Business Times.

Nio is known for its battery swap technology, which is currently not permitted for passenger EVs in Singapore, though the system has been approved for motorcycles and is being tested on heavy vehicles.

The company and its local distributor Wearnes said they "will evaluate" introducing the technology in the city-state, but offered no specifics on when or how it might be implemented.

Nio’s entrance followed those of several other Chinese EV brands, including JMEV earlier this month and Avatr in late July, as reported by AsiaOne.

BYD, another Chinese EV-focused automaker, currently leads Singapore’s passenger car market, accounting for nearly 20% of new registrations in the first half of this year.

Japan’s Toyota and German luxury marque BMW follow with market shares of 14.4% and 11.1%, respectively.