LONDON: Chinese electric car company Nio recently inaugurated its new R&D (research and development) facility in Witney, Oxfordshire.
Now operational, it brings together its UK engineering team of more than 40 people in a single location to further enhance collaboration and global EV (electric vehicle) innovation.
Nio’s new 9,460 sq ft site at Book End, Witney, merges Nio’s former UK facilities at Begbroke Science Park and Bicester Motion into a single unit, comprising a dedicated computer aided engineering (CAE) workspace and vehicle laboratory.
The new R&D centre will support closer collaboration across the UK team.
In 2016, Nio established its global R&D centre for performance and advanced concept engineering in Oxfordshire.
Over the past decade, the operation has contributed to Nio’s global R&D journey, supporting all its global vehicle development programmes, from the EP9 electric supercar launched in 2016, through to the Nio ET9, its smart executive flagship EV.
Its engineers in the UK have also worked on the development of Nio’s third brand, firefly, and its first compact EV.
Marking this important 10-year milestone and the role the UK team plays, the official opening of the new facility was attended by senior Nio representatives and guests.
Nio Europe vice president Hui Zhang said, “For a decade, our Oxfordshire team has been an integral part of Nio’s global R&D network, contributing to multiple vehicle programmes and engineering innovations across our global portfolio."
"As we celebrate this milestone, we thank the team for its dedication, expertise and contribution to Nio’s development over the past 10 years. The opening of our new Witney R&D centre reflects our long-term commitment to the UK, Europe and international collaboration in advancing smart electric mobility.”
Nio principal chief engineer Danilo Teobaldi said, “Bringing our virtual and physical UK engineering teams together in Witney will accelerate the development of innovations that improve the user experience."
"With new facilities, we can ensure Nio’s UK-based team continues to pioneer in areas such as class-leading Euro NCAP results for all three group brands, along with smart chassis system solutions for our global platforms.”
The new facility strengthens the growing role of Nio’s UK R&D operation as a multi-disciplinary engineering hub for the global manufacturer.
Its activities span CAE, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), simulation, safety, Euro NCAP safety assessments, durability, handling, and Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) developments.
Currently, Nio has R&D centres and manufacturing facilities in over 10 locations, including Shanghai, Hefei, Beijing, Nanjing, San Jose, Munich, Oxford, Budapest, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi.
It has built a sales and service network across 24 countries and regions, including China, Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central America.
Nio produced its 1,000,000th vehicle earlier in 2026.
