Chinese electric-car startup NIO prices debut model at 448,000 yuan

Beijing

CHINESE electric-car maker NIO has launched sales of its first vehicle three years after the company was founded, undercutting the price of a rival model from Tesla Inc.

Chinese customers can buy the ES8 sports utility vehicle, with a range of 500 kilometres on a single charge, for 448,000 yuan (S$91,376), the company said late Saturday in Beijing. That compares with 836,000 yuan for Tesla's Model X, and 596,300 yuan for BMW's petrol-powered X5.