The Lixiang ONE 2020 has begun to roll off the production line for mass distribution.
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Lixiang Automotive, formerly known as CHJ, has announced that its EV project 'Lixiang ONE 2020' is officially mass-produced at the Changzhou factory and will start mass delivery in early December.
After closing Series C round of funding on August 16 led by Meituan's founder Wang Xing, Lixiang Automotive has raised more than USD 1.18 billion in total financings, boosting its valuation to USD 2.93 billion. This figure has surpassed the market capitalization of NIO (USD 1.93Billion as of Nov 21, 2019), a New York Stock Exchange-listed Chinese EV manufacturer.
In September, Lixiang was said to launch IPO filing already and should be able to go public in the U.S. as early as next year at a valuation of USD 500 million.
The main feature of Lixiang is to produce an EV without 'Range Anxiety'. This goal will be achieved by the extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) which is effectively an all-electric vehicle, with all the motive power provided by an electric motor, but with a small ICE present to generate additional electric power.
Apparently, the storm of competition is coming, and the phase-out of Chinese government subsidies on EVs is not stoping the startups' steps.
The premium segment dominators BBA have launched their new EV products recently. On November 8th, Mercedes-Benz EQC has taken the lead, with a guide price of CNY 579,800-62,280, and Audi e-tron has also listed on November 18.
On the other hand, along with the mass production and delivery of EVs, tighter competition in this gold rush will push the industry to upgrade and accelerate the technology breakthrough, which will bring more to the burgeon of the market.