• Onvo conducted the first deliveries of the L90 in 44 cities across China today.
• The number of vehicles available for test drives has been increased by 400, reaching a total of 1,000, to reduce waiting times.

Onvo, the family-focused sub-brand of Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO), began deliveries of its flagship SUV (sport utility vehicle) L90 in China today, following the official launch of the model yesterday.

Onvo conducted the first deliveries of the L90 in 44 cities across China today, according to a video shared by Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li on Weibo.

After concluding media communications this morning, Li visited an Onvo delivery center in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang province, where he handed over L90 vehicles to 21 owners.

"We will accelerate production and hope everyone can receive their vehicles soon," Li said.

Onvo officially launched the L90 yesterday at an event in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, with a starting price of RMB 265,800 ($36,860) including an 85-kWh battery pack.

This represents a further reduction of RMB 14,100, or 5.04 percent, from the model's previously competitive pre-sales price of RMB 279,900.

The first L90 vehicles delivered are six-seaters, with seven-seaters to follow in late September.

Onvo has already produced a batch of L90 vehicles in advance to enable rapid delivery after the launch.

As of this morning, there are still finished L90 vehicles available, Nio management said in response to rumors that the first batch of vehicles had been sold out.

These vehicles need to be fully matched with the configurations selected by users before delivery can be arranged, said Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of Nio.

Onvo began pre-sales of the L90 on July 10 and allowed customers to test drive the SUV on July 23.

Initially, nearly 600 vehicles were available for test drives at Onvo's more than 400 showrooms covering 140 cities.

Yesterday, Onvo said it had added 400 vehicles for test drives, bringing the total number of test drive vehicles to 1,000 to reduce waiting times for potential buyers.

The L90 vehicles used for test drives are equipped with 60-kWh battery packs, Li said in the media event where CnEVPost was present today.

Onvo's first model, the L60, comes standard with a 60-kWh battery pack and can be flexibly upgraded to an 85-kWh battery pack for an additional fee, while the L90 comes standard with an 85-kWh battery pack.

As for whether the 60-kWh battery pack will be available for the L90, Onvo's team needs to conduct further research, Nio management said today.

($1 = RMB 7.2104)