Australia potentially on the cards for budget Chinese electric car: 2025 Nio Firefly revealed as competitor to the MG4, BYD Dolphin, GWM Ora and Mini Cooper Electric

Chinese electric car brand Nio has revealed its first foray into the budget EV space with its new Firefly sub-brand.

Designed for overseas markets, which could eventually include Australia, the brand will be spearheaded by its Firefly namesake, a compact electric hatchback.

Despite much of the Firefly’s technical details remaining under wraps for now, CarNewsChina reported the Firefly will likely start at 148,800 Yuan in China, approximately $32,600.

Should it arrive locally, that would put it in the ballpark of Australia’s cheapest EVs and fellow Chinese competitors such as the GWM Ora ($35,990) and MG4 ($39,990), both of which are national drive-away prices.

The BYD Dolphin, meanwhile, starts at $36,890, before on-road costs.

According to CarNewsChina, Nio boss William Li also has more expensive Chinese-made rivals such as the Mini Cooper Electric and Smart #1 in his sights, both of which exceed the $50,000 mark in Australia.

“Firefly is smarter than Mini and more mini than Smart,” said Li at the car’s reveal in Guangzhou, China in December last year.

2025 Nio Firefly

The Firefly was designed by industrial designer Kris Tomasson, Nio’s Senior Vice President of Design, who has previous experience at BMW and Ford.

Its trio LED headlights, running lights and tail-lights are the biggest design hallmarks of the vehicle, along with the thin black fascias that run between them at each end of the car in lieu of a grille.

The Firefly’s interior is yet to be revealed, although we know from previous leaked images it will carry a floating centre multimedia screen, a head-up display mounted to the steering wheel column and an oval-shaped steering wheel.

Dimensions at this stage are also unclear, although the Firefly has been revealed with an impressive bootspace of 1250 litres with the rear seats folded and an extra 92 litres by way of a front trunk.

For reference, that’s 25 litres more storage in the front than the much larger Kia EV5, while 392 litres more than an MG4 at the rear, or 72 litres more than an MG4.

In true Nio style, the Firefly is also rumoured to be compatible with swappable battery tech, but that’s about as much as we know in terms of its battery capacity.

As China’s fifth best-selling electric car brand, Nio has pioneered battery swap technology domestically, where it currently operates some 3000 stations.

The Firefly will officially launch in China in April 2025, with release dates for European, South American and Asian markets expected shortly after.

Australia remains a possibility as Nio looks to build foundations in the European market despite heavy tariffs, with the brand last year confirming plans for its Onvo sub-brand in the UK – another right-hand drive market that does not impose tariffs on Chinese EV brands.