Chinese EV startup flirts with bankruptcy, then catapults higher

The Chinese EV startup, called NIO, was once teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. But following a bailout from the city of Hefei and a life preserver from investors, the near-defunct company is now the 4th most valuable car maker in the world. Only Tesla, Volkswagen, and Toyota are bigger. 

NIO was once branded as the "Tesla killer," but the company struggled early to gain any traction and was burning through billions of dollars. Between 2017 and 2019, the company lost a staggering $3.67 billion and sold less than 32,000 cars. It's stock price fell to $1.39 a share late last year, a steep plummet from its $10 a share IPO.

So what happened? Well, the state-financed bailout for one. But investors who have been witnessing -- or perhaps participating -- in Tesla's meteoric rise may be looking to competitor EV companies in hopes of riding a similar wave of enthusiasm.

NIO is still a far cry from Tesla. But the Chinese auto maker is betting on a different system for driving long distances and working around long charge times. The idea: battery swapping stations. Instead of waiting for the vehicle battery to charge, a driver could simply stop at a battery swapping station and do a quick swap out within minutes, and keep moving. The challenge will ultimately be building enough swap stations, and time will tell how long NIO can last with such a high burn rate.

What to make of the decision between NIO and Tesla? A.I.dvisor has the breakdown below.