Nio, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, unveiled an Android smartphone on Thursday. According to CEO William Li, the business anticipates that at least half of its consumers will purchase the device.

Li claimed in Mandarin that the Android phone, which ranges in price from $900 to $1,000, is $150 less expensive than a comparable Huawei phone.

More than half of the Nio customers who generate revenue for the company are iPhone users, according to him, while the other half use flagship Android devices from Huawei and other manufacturers.

According to a CNBC translation, Li said, “I believe this portion of users are very likely to use this new form [of device] when they are changing their phones,” highlighting the phone’s overall performance and automobile connectivity.

Developed in approximately a year, according to Li, Nio is the first high-end Chinese electric car brand to produce its own smartphone. In-car entertainment and mobile phone connectivity have been marketed as selling points for electric cars by Chinese automakers.

Orders can begin right away, with delivery beginning on September 28.

Polestar, a Swedish manufacturer of electric vehicles with China as a key market, announced earlier this month that it will be releasing a phone in December.

Apple and Xiaomi, two manufacturers of smartphones, have reportedly been developing their own cars for a while.

The Aito brand, which sells electric automobiles in China and is connected with the operating system of the smartphone business, was introduced by Huawei less than two years ago. Avatr and BAIC’s Arcfox are two more electric vehicle manufacturers that purchase software from Huawei.

Drivers can sync the settings of their personal devices with the vehicle via that connectivity, such as music preferences. There is a separate mobile app for Nio.

Li told CNBC on Wednesday that although the new Nio gadget looks like a standard smartphone, it has a unique button that serves as a key for the vehicle.

According to him, the Nio smartphone also enables users to switch between the phone and the vehicle more easily while participating in online meetings.

With the new product, Nio has the potential to increase user revenue.

“We focus more on the value that each user adds to our entire business, and connecting users is more convenient. Additionally, it is more effective than previously,” Li remarked. The “car experience” and the “emotional experience” we can offer to our users are what we are pursuing.

Li emphasised that the phone is accessible to all Chinese users, not just those who drive Nio vehicles.

He brought up the 600,000 daily active users of the Nio mobile app, which is roughly 1.5 times the number of car users.