Founder of Nio, China’s Tesla challenger, apologises after battery fires lead to recall of nearly 5,000 EVs

The founder and chief executive of Nio has apologised in an open letter after the Chinese electric car start-up had to recall around 5,000 vehicles after battery fires sparked safety concerns.

The New York-listed company will speed up production of new battery packs and replace those that are defective, said William Li in an open letter posted on the company’s app on Thursday.

“The battery safety incidents over the past two months have not only caused losses to affected car owners, but also upset many customers and concerned friends that have been supportive of Nio,” said Li in the letter. “I am deeply sorry … and feel responsibility and grief over the situation.”

The recall affects about 4,800 ES8 vehicles, whose battery packs are equipped with modules that due to improper positioning can cause short circuits in extreme cases, the company said in a regulatory filing to the New York Stock Exchange on June 27 after concluding an investigation.

The defective NEV-P50 modules were produced between April and October last year, and installed into vehicles accounting for about a quarter of all ES8 units sold. Nio said in its filing that the battery replacement is expected to be completed within two months.

The Shanghai-based company launched the ES8, which is an SUV, in 2017 as its first production model. Nio is among dozens of Chinese start-ups attempting to upend established electric carmakers such as Tesla. EVs have lowered the barriers to entry for car making because they do away with internal combustion engines that require hundreds of precisely engineered parts and China has been pushing the creation of an EV sector to rival efforts in the West.