The 150,000 to 200,000 yuan (28470$) home car market welcomes a strong contender. On September 19, NIO’s new brand, Ladao, launched its first model—the Ladao L60. The standard range version with a 60 kWh battery costs 206,900 yuan (29450$). The long-range version with an 85 kWh battery costs 235,900 yuan (33580$).
After adopting the BaaS battery rental plan, the car’s price drops to 149,900 yuan (21340$). This price breaks the floor for mid-sized smart electric SUVs. A new brand without a foundation cannot achieve this. However, LeDao has the support of NIO’s ten years of system development, allowing it to be so bold. NIO founder Li Bin revealed that after the L60 launched, orders surged. Their next focus is to quickly boost production capacity. In October, they aim to deliver 5,000 LeDao cars. By December, they plan to reach 10,000. In January, they expect to climb to at least 16,000. By March next year, they aim for 20,000 deliveries. Before the new car launch event, LeDao L60 owner number 0000001, Xia Qinghua, stepped out of a new morning orange car. He had just completed a journey around China in the LeDao L60. From the moment the first L60 rolled off the NIO Hefei F2 factory line, he drove the car for 36 days, covering over 20,000 kilometers across China. During the journey, Xia slept under the stars, cooked in the wilderness, and drank tea with herders. He faced emergencies, like encountering fog on the way from Wenzhou to Fuzhou. The L60’s smart driving system performed reliably. When Li Bin asked him why he hadn’t lost weight, he replied, “I actually gained weight,” because “the L60’s seats are too comfortable.” As the user service leader, Xia personally evaluated this new brand and car, including the product, service, and infrastructure. These scenes were not staged or scripted; they were real experiences in actual use. In today’s era of car manufacturing resembling consumer goods production, a newly launched car often has various imperfections disguised as “OTA.” It’s rare to take a freshly manufactured car and test it rigorously across different road conditions. This reflects LeDao’s confidence in product strength, manufacturing capability, and service system. It also shows the unique backing from the NIO system. We believe this is not just a successful communication effort. It proves to the public that this car has been well-developed and leads the market since its inception. It redefines the family SUV. When a new brand emerges, people often question the need for another brand in China. This time, we ask a different question: Can existing car brands meet all user needs? The answer is clearly no. This resolves the first question. In the era of smart electric vehicles, technology iterates according to Moore’s Law. Many consumers buy a “leading” car, only to see it become “outdated” soon after. The automotive industry’s long-standing technological accumulation has not truly reached the mass market. Unlike the approach of “pleasing new users while disappointing old ones,” NIO’s strategy targets different demographics. It launches multiple brands and makes good use of overall technological reserves. This maintains the NIO brand’s style while achieving “technology for all” in the family market. The LeDao L60 debuts seven globally leading technologies, ensuring a three to five-year lead and eight to ten years of mainstream appeal. In short, it remains fresh and relevant, eliminating concerns about the car aging quickly. However, the family SUV market has strong competitors. The best-selling Model Y stands as a significant challenge to the LeDao L60. So, where does the latter’s competitiveness lie? Product strength is its strongest advantage. In ten years, NIO has invested over ten billion yuan in R&D. The LeDao L60 is a product that embodies this decade-long effort. It emerges from the “NT3.0 platform,” making it even “ahead” of NIO. From the design phase, LeDao focused on high-frequency family car scenarios. The core demands for daily travel—safety, space, comfort, smart cabin, smart driving, and energy consumption—set the Leado L60 apart. The Leado L60 features the NT.Coconut smart system. This system, built on NIO’s SkyOS, integrates smart driving, smart cabin, vehicle control, and vehicle connectivity. It reduces costs and energy consumption while boosting computing power. The groundbreaking 900V silicon carbide architecture enables lightweight, compact, and efficient three-electric systems. This architecture allows the medium SUV to achieve an impressive energy consumption of 12 kWh per 100 kilometers. It matches the energy efficiency of small electric vehicles. Previously, no one imagined a 60 kWh battery could provide over 500 kilometers of range. Notably, the four-wheel-drive version of the Leado L60 consumes only 0.6 kWh/100 km more than the two-wheel-drive version. The overall range differs by just 30 kilometers, making this energy consumption difference rare among four-wheel-drive models. In terms of smart driving, the Leado L60 comes with the OSD smart driving system. This system is standard across all models and is ready to use upon delivery. This approach contrasts with manufacturers that require OTA updates for functionality. The Leado L60 clearly shows more sincerity. The vehicle includes advanced chips and features, with detailed specifications available in official materials. Based on our previous experiences, the system performs well and is enjoyable to use. Regarding space, the Leado L60’s length of over 4.8 meters allows for a wheelbase of 2950 mm. The second-row legroom measures 160 mm, and headroom reaches 1010 mm. This was previously unheard of. To illustrate, three individuals over 1.8 meters tall can sit comfortably in the back. The improved space utilization stems from the advantages of its advanced architecture. In terms of comfort, the Leidao L60 seats feature a thick composite surface. They feel soft and skin-friendly while providing ample support. This design makes the usually undesirable middle seat in the back row comfortable. The front passenger seat is also adjustable and can seamlessly connect with the rear seats, creating a spacious sofa for relaxation. These features are not isolated functions. They result from Leidao’s systematic design based on family users’ needs. They reflect NIO’s decade of technological accumulation. In this regard, the Leidao L60 truly redefines the family SUV. Leidao + NIO: 1 + 1 > 2. For consumers, the market now offers an epoch-making family SUV. This excites many. For NIO, Leidao holds even deeper significance. As the penetration rate of new energy vehicles surpasses 50% for two consecutive months, competition in the smart electric sector intensifies. Traditional automakers and new players must adopt a dual strategy for survival. One leg focuses on volume to ensure revenue. The other leg aims to enhance profit margins. Launching multiple brands requires strong system capabilities to achieve the 1 + 1 > 2 synergy. Otherwise, it merely adds another business line. Leidao benefits from NIO’s ten years of deep technical reserves, service systems, and energy infrastructure. For example, the Leidao L60’s smart driving features rely on NIO’s accumulated technology and real data. The current availability of over 300 battery swap stations and the rapid integration of over 1,000 stations by year-end stem from NIO’s prior establishment of a battery swap system. Additionally, Leidao’s first vehicle launched with over 350 service centers in more than 200 cities, largely thanks to NIO’s decade-long service support. NIO’s second factory in Hefei can produce multiple models on the same line. It provides flexible production capabilities for Lido. The Lido L60 is Lido’s first car, but it is the twelfth vehicle in NIO’s smart manufacturing system. From another perspective, Lido’s launch supports NIO. It boosts sales and market share. It also helps achieve breakeven. Additionally, Lido aids the continuous growth of NIO’s system capabilities. Take the battery swapping system as an example. Lido and NIO models have different battery specifications. This requires engineering adjustments at the swapping stations. It builds a smaller system within a larger one. Once the modifications are complete, NIO’s battery swapping network will diversify. It can accommodate more models and battery types. Many companies like FAW, Changan, GAC, Geely, Chery, Jiangqi, and new forces like Jiyue have joined NIO’s battery swapping alliance. This strong system enhances compatibility for brands within the alliance. It also strengthens NIO’s position in the energy sector. In summary, Lido and NIO’s relationship goes beyond Lido using NIO’s technology. They operate on a shared foundation while competing in the market. Together, they enhance their penetration in the consumer market. They serve a broader user base and accelerate NIO’s ultimate vision of “blue sky coming.” Finally, NIO’s vision aligns with the industry’s vision. The automotive industry agrees that the real competition for new energy vehicles is not among peers but with traditional fuel vehicles. BYD announced the end of fuel vehicle production first. It uses DMI technology to achieve lower fuel consumption than traditional cars. Huawei entered the market with HarmonyOS, pushing the industry from oil to electric. NIO launched a new brand, Lidu, applying advanced intelligence and electric technology to family cars. It balances user experience and technology costs. This allows mainstream families to enjoy high-quality travel with advanced electric vehicles. Each effort from Chinese brands shifts the automotive market away from the dominance of joint ventures and foreign companies.
The birth of the Leidao L60 redefines the 200,000 yuan (28470$) home SUV. It achieves unprecedented efficiency in its “three electrics.” This results in longer range, lower energy consumption, and faster charging. It surpasses rival gasoline vehicles in intelligence and comfort. The BaaS solution allows more users to access technology’s value at a lower threshold. New technology only gains practical significance when widely adopted. Ultimately, the significance of new energy vehicles goes beyond changing blue plates to green plates. They accelerate the industry’s shift to low-carbon and green practices. They promote the application of energy technology and electronic information technology, strengthening China’s entire industrial chain. In this process, Chinese cars break the old pattern dominated by joint ventures and foreign investments. This shift is a natural progression.