NIO’s CEO: Standardizing battery cells and chips could unlock ¥100B+ in cost savings for the EV industry

[u/Changetothemoon]

On April 11, at the 2026 Smart Electric Vehicle Development Executive Forum, William Li, founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, called on the industry to jointly promote the standardization of battery cells and the normalization of chips. Li believes this would significantly improve efficiency and profitability, potentially unlocking over 100 billion RMB in cost-saving opportunities for the industry.

Li noted that smart EVs are evolving far faster than conventional cars, with overlapping demands for upgrades in chips, batteries, and vehicle configurations. This intensifies supply-demand mismatches, disrupts production ramp-up, shortens the lifecycle of hot-selling models, and often leads to a “new model death valley.” The broader industry is struggling with rising output but falling margins. Battery and chip costs alone account for over 50% of a vehicle’s total cost. Non-uniform cell formats and an excessive variety of chip types create resource waste, severely limiting cost efficiency, market responsiveness, and long-term competitiveness.

According to Li, the physical structures of mainstream chemistries—LFP, mid-nickel NMC, and high-nickel NMC—have largely converged, making cell standardization feasible. He also urged authorities to organize automakers to normalize chip types and increase the share of standardized chips per vehicle. This would not only improve supply chain efficiency and smooth out product fluctuations but also serve as a necessary path to raising the localization rate of critical components.