03
The Investments in
Electric Cars and
Their ESG Characteristics
8 out of the Top10 institutional investors of NIO carries an ESG mandate with a 19.97% interest in sum
8/10Topinstitutional investors
Among the 27 top institutional investors behind NIO, Xpeng, LI Auto and Tesla, 16 are UNPRI signatories, accounting for around 60% of them, but many of the signatories have exposure to two or more carmakers, unlike the non-signatories all of whom invest in merely one enterprise. BlackRock has a stake in all four electric carmakers and J.P. Morgan has a stake in three of them, while the most favorable combination for these signatories is investing in both Tesla and NIO.
Source: Nasdaq, Inc. Official Site and Institutional Investors’ Official Sites
Funding is completed in 4-6 years
Unlisted
Unlisted
2018 IPO
2020 IPO
2020 IPO
2010 IPO
Source: Publicly available press releases, all the derivative rounds are not additionally marked in this figure, e.g., Series B+ is contained in Series B
It took four to six years for them from the very first capital obtained (strategic investment or angel round) to stock exchange debut. NIO was the quickest one to finish the entire process, starting fundraising in 2014 and filing for IPO in 2018. Except for a shorter duration, start-up electric carmakers can attract more sophisticated investors as the funding progresses. WM Motors, an upcoming IPO, closed its first round of funding in 2016 with a USD 1 billion investment from Yuema Capital, a second-tier investment firm, but before its latest series D+ funding closed on September 22 where SAIC Capital led the investment, Baidu Capital affiliated in series B, and Sequoia Capital China and Tencent Investment converged in series B+.
Shift in Energy   is also underway
In China, the part of the electricity generated from clean sources has gone through significant growth over the past decade, although high-carbon thermal electricity still has the biggest share. In 2019, around 28% of the electricity was generated from clean sources.
Thermal83.02% Hydro12.88% Nuclear1.89% Wind1.53% Clear Power Generation (%)
Source: CEIC Data. (2020). China Electricity Production