Nio opens ‘innovation centre’ in Berlin

The Chinese electric car manufacturer Nio has opened a 1,500 square metre innovation centre in Berlin. As a European technology hub, the location in the German capital is to contribute to the development of new technologies and applications. We asked around on-site.

The new Amazon Tower is just around the corner, as is the RAW site and its clubs popular with expats. Rotherstraße in Berlin Friedrichshain, where Nio’s new Innovation Centre is housed in an old brick building, is a perfect fit for the “smart vehicle” that is constantly talked about at the opening ceremony. “With our new Berlin location, NIO will attract world-class software developers and engineers for the future of user-experience defined vehicles,” explained Nio European CEO Hui Zhang in his short speech.

In future, the developers in Berlin will be responsible for localising global applications and testing and validating them in Europe. Five teams will work in the new hub, including Digital Systems, Digital Development, Digital Cockpit, Autonomous Driving and Nio Power. The latter unit is the charging infrastructure team and the battery swap stations. Thus, Nio Power’s European infrastructure will also have its research and development focus at the Berlin Innovation Centre. And the squad will soon deliver the new “Smart Charging” package to the vehicles – of course via Firmware-Over-The-Air-Update (FOTA), as Benjamin Steinmetz proudly announces. The Product Experience Director Europe also announces new functions such as price-optimised charging.

Now that Nio already has a design centre in Munich, concrete development work is also taking place in Europe – after Asia and North America, three continents are now involved in the global Nio network. Nio currently employs more than 10,000 people worldwide in research and development – around 6,000 of them specialise in software development. In Berlin, Nio is officially welcomed by Michael Biel. The state secretary in the Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Industry dutifully thanks Nio for its “commitment” to Berlin. And says: “We are in the ramp-up phase of electromobility.” All forces must be combined, including the Chinese.