Li Bin: Battery Standardization and Chip Unification Could Save Industry Over $100 Billion Annually

On April 11, at the High-Level Forum on Intelligent Electric Vehicle Development, Li Bin, CEO of NIO, stated that the intelligent electric vehicle (IEV) industry is currently under significant profit pressure, with accelerated product iteration making it harder to maintain supply-demand balance. He noted that battery and chip costs together account for more than 50% of total vehicle costs, forming the core of the cost structure. Li Bin highlighted that the lack of standardized cell formats severely hampers cost efficiency, market responsiveness, and long-term competitiveness. However, he added that battery technology has now largely converged, creating a solid foundation for standardization. Meanwhile, the rapid proliferation in chip types and quantities has increased management complexity, and fragmented chip architectures are reducing overall efficiency. Chip consolidation, he argued, is essential to boosting domestic sourcing rates. Li believes that advancing battery standardization and chip consolidation will enhance supply efficiency for key components and estimates these measures could unlock over RMB 100 billion in industry-wide cost savings.