SHANGHAI — Electric-vehicle startup Nio and fellow Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group are betting on smartphones that integrate closely with their cars as a way to stand out in a highly competitive market.
The recently announced Nio Phone can unlock car doors and turn on the air conditioner. Its built-in Nomi artificial intelligence assistant closes the trunk on a voice command. Nomi even accepts inexact phrasing. Tell it that “I’d like to change my battery,” and it searches for nearby battery-swapping stations.
