Nio celebrated its 10th birthday last month by officially unveiling its third brand, Firefly. The brand will launch and debut its first car on December 21 in China during Nio Day. Here is everything we know about it so far.
Firefly is the Shanghai-based EV maker’s third brand, after the premium Nio brand and the family-oriented Onvo. Its focus is on young buyers in need of compact and budget-friendly EVs. Firefly was initially believed to be a codename, but in November, Nio announced it was the actual brand and the name of the first model. The company recently launched its official website, app, and social media accounts.
This is quite a common marketing approach to name the first car of a new sub-brand only by the brand’s name. BMW, for example, did it with its Mini brand, where the first car was simply Mini. So, the first EV under the Firefly brand will be called Firefly.
Firefly was initially intended for Europe to compete with Volkswagen ID.3 and offer a small-budget electric hatchback to European customers who love those things. However, amid disappointing European sales and the announcement of new tariffs, Firefly shifted from the Europe-first strategy. It even announced that the brand would launch in China rather than Europe as initially planned.
However, Nio doesn’t give up on the old continent despite selling only 29 cars in November in the most significant European automotive market, Germany. Firefly’s chief, Daniel Jin, announced that the company might launch in Europe in the first quarter of 2025. After that, it would like to move to Southeast Asian and Latin American markets.
Firefly first model
Firefly’s first model is a compact electric hatchback with a swappable battery. Nio announced in July that Firefly would not be able to use the existing battery swap stations that Nio and Onvo use, confirming CarNewsChina report from June. The reason is dimensions problems – Firefly compact EVs are much smaller than large Nio SUVs and sedans, so the battery pack is adjusted accordingly.
Nio currently has 2,8000 swap stations in China and 59 in Europe – most in Germany, Netherlands, and Norway. None of them could be used for Firefly EVs as it will have a separate network. However, Firefly’s chief remains optimistic, saying that it will be faster to deploy the swap stations as they are smaller and cheaper to build. Jin concludes that Firefly will not create the battery swap stations in advance but will deploy them based on users’ demands.
Unlike Onvo, Firefly EVs will be sold in Nio’s existing sales network, the company CEO said in June. Deliveries will start in the first half of the 2025.
Daniel Jin
Daniel Jin joined Nio in 2022 as “General Manager of Nio Sub Brand” after working for 17 years in Shanghai Auto (SAIC) and SAIC-GM joint venture. Earlier this month, he was officially presented as Firefly chief during the Nio media event.
Interestingly, between 2009 and 2011, he spent in SAIC’s UK office in Birmingham. Jin previously claimed that “a lot of work has gone into adjusting the chassis of the Firefly, and this work is being done in the UK.”
Editor’s take
Despite Nio’s claim that the Firefly is a global EV, its primary market, driving sales, will be China, at least until 2026/27. As the bloody EV price war continues in the Middle Kingdom in 2025, many potential customers and analysts ask the same question: What will the price be? William Li teased it would be between 100,000 and 200,000 yuan (13,700 and 27,400 USD).
The entry-level Onvo L60 starts at 206,900 yuan (28,400 USD) with a 60 kWh battery. Firefly is a lower class than Onvo, and to be able to compete with BYD’s Dolphin and other EV hatchbacks, which start at 99,800 yuan, we expect the price to start at around 140,000 yuan (19,200 USD) with battery and around 100,000 yuan without the battery.
