€20,000 Chinese electric car that charges in a flash is coming to Europe soon

Is there going to be ahe new brand of Chinese cars in Europe shortly ? The answer is yes. While more and more manufacturers from the Middle Kingdom are trying their luck here, a new arrival will soon join the ranks. But what do we already know about this?

A young affordable brand

The latter is known under the name Fireflywhich means “firefly” in Shakespeare’s language. It comes to us from China but in reality it doesn't really come out of nowhere, since it was in fact created by the company Nio, founded in 2014. And to be honest, it's already been a while that we hear about it, since last June, the firm announced the arrival of a small electric car for less than 25,000 euros.

So here it is, since it has just been made official, with a price below 20,000 euros, according to the current exchange rate and a conversion from the Chinese currency (yuan). And good news, this electric city car, which should in particular hunt in the lands of the Renault 5 E-Tech and the Citroën ë-C3 will indeed be sold in Europe. And if Firefly boss Daniel Jin hadn't given many details, Nio CEO William Li is a little more talkative on the subject.

Relayed by the specialized site CNEVPosthe explains that the new Firefly brand will be launched in China during the first half of next year.

As for his arrival on the Old Continent, this should happen a quarter later, no doubt at the end of summer 2025. Questioned by the Chinese media, the businessman, however, did not want to communicate on the precise month for the moment. He emphasizes that he still needs agree with local partners.

And for good reason, Firefly will not sell its cars itself in dealerships dedicated in its name. In fact, the electric city car, which does not yet have its own name, will be marketed in Europe thanks to local importers. According to the manufacturer, there should be only one for each country where the brand will be present. It is also possible that there will be a partner for several of them, but everything has not yet been set up at the moment.

The fault of customs duties

Some partners have already been named, but everything still needs to be finalized because for the moment, everything is not completely ready. But you should know that things should have turned out differently. Indeed, the Firefly brand was originally intended to be launched first in Europe. But the increase in customs duties decreed by Brussels forced the manufacturer to change its mind. For the record, Nio is subject to a tax of 20.7%in addition to the 10% already in force.

And inevitably, this will have an impact on the sales of the young brand, even if the latter should remain competitive all the same. But the price will be revised upwards, and it should undoubtedly turn around 30,000 euros on the Old Continent. In addition, the electric city car should not be entitled to the ecological bonus in France, due to its manufacture in China. On the other hand, good news, the new Firefly will also be compatible with battery exchange in Europe.

But be careful, because these will be new battery exchange stations, smaller than the current ones from Nio and Onvo.

More than 50 Nio stations are already installed on the European continent, particularly in Germany and the Scandinavian countries. Enough to leave with a full battery in less than three minutes, all in a completely automated manner on the very latest generations. And according to Nio, new infrastructure should still developing over the years on the territory. Especially since these stations are designed to be installed quickly and at very low costs, in order to make their deployment faster.