This Tesla, Nio Rival Is The Latest EV Maker To Hike Prices As Material Costs Bite

Li Auto Inc LI on Wednesday became the latest electric vehicle maker to increase prices due to a significant increase in upstream raw materials, CnEVpost reported, citing the company.

What Happened: The U.S. listed Chinese electric vehicle maker will increase the price of Li One, its only model currently on sale, to $55,968 (RMB 349,800) from $54,080 (RMB 338,000).

The price change will be effective from April 1 and will not affect customers who have made a deposit through the Li Auto App, Li Auto website, and Li Auto retail centers before then, the report said.

The company did not respond to Benzinga's request for comment at press time.

EV Prices Rocket: Li Auto’s price hikes follow similar steps taken by rivals. Tesla Inc TSLA was among the first automakers to announce the steep increases that it announced the increases in three installments in a span of one week.

Rivals such as BYD Co BYDDY and Xpeng Inc XPEV were not far behind and have announced hikes as well.

The development follows Li Auto CEO Li Xiang’s recent comments that battery costs have risen by a ridiculous amount in the second quarter.

Nio Inc NIO, which relies on battery-swapping services, is the only EV maker that has said it does not plan to increase prices as of now.

Price Action: Li Auto stock closed 1.1% lower at $106.8 a share on Tuesday.

Photo courtesy: Li Auto

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