NIO has consolidated its UK engineering operation into a new 9,460 sq ft R&D centre at Book End in Witney, Oxfordshire, merging its former Begbroke and Bicester sites. The move brings together 40-plus engineers and marks 10 years of NIO R&D in the UK, supporting global smart EV development.
NIO, the Shanghai-based smart electric vehicle manufacturer, has consolidated its UK engineering operation into a new 9,460 sq ft (880 m²) research and development centre at Book End in Witney, Oxfordshire.
The facility, now operational, brings together NIO’s UK engineering team of more than 40 people in a single location, merging its former sites at Begbroke Science Park and Bicester Motion. The new centre comprises a dedicated computer aided engineering (CAE) workspace and a vehicle laboratory.
The consolidation supports closer collaboration across the UK team and streamlines development of future smart EVs between the UK, Europe and China. It also marks 10 years since NIO established its global R&D centre for performance and advanced concept engineering in Oxfordshire in 2016.
Over the past decade, the UK operation has contributed to NIO’s global vehicle development programmes, from the EP9 electric supercar launched in 2016 to the ET9 executive flagship. UK engineers have also worked on NIO’s third brand, firefly, and its first compact EV.
According to Danilo Teobaldi, principal chief engineer at NIO, combining the virtual and physical UK engineering teams will speed up development work.
“Bringing our virtual and physical UK engineering teams together in Witney will accelerate the development of innovations that improve the user experience,” says Teobaldi. “With new facilities, we can ensure NIO’s UK-based team continues to pioneer in areas such as class-leading Euro NCAP results for all three group brands, along with smart chassis system solutions for our global platforms.”
The UK operation functions as a multi-disciplinary engineering hub, with activities spanning CAE, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), simulation, safety, Euro NCAP assessments, durability, handling, and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) development. It also serves as NIO Europe’s focal point for artificial intelligence (AI) regulation and representation within the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers’ (OICA) AI Cluster through the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), and contributes to EU policy through United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) working groups.
“For a decade, our Oxfordshire team has been an integral part of NIO’s global R&D network, contributing to multiple vehicle programmes and engineering innovations across our global portfolio,” says Hui Zhang, vice president at NIO Europe. “The opening of our new Witney R&D centre reflects our long-term commitment to the UK, Europe and international collaboration in advancing smart electric mobility.”
The official opening was attended by senior NIO representatives including Mark Zhou, executive vice president and chairman of NIO’s Product Committee, alongside Mike Hawes, chief executive at the SMMT, and Yu Benlin, minister at the Chinese Embassy in the UK.
NIO operates R&D centres and manufacturing facilities in more than 10 locations, including Shanghai, Hefei, Beijing, Nanjing, San Jose, Munich, Oxford, Budapest, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, with a sales and service network across 24 countries and regions. As of May 31, 2026, the company’s cumulative deliveries reached 1,148,118 vehicles.
