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Nio (NYSE:NIO) is a leading electric vehicle (EV) maker in China. That alone puts the company in a position that attracts investment interest. China is the world’s biggest market for battery electric vehicles, and in 2019, 85% of all EV sales in the country were booked by Chinese manufacturers. However, when you look at NIO stock, it’s going through a rough patch. Growth has been nothing short of spectacular since 2020. At several points last year, $2.40 would buy you a share — but, currently trading around $43, NIO stock is down 20% in 2021.

That slump is an opportunity.

The latest reason to be optimistic about Nio went down last week. The company held its first annual Power Day event. The presentation showed that the company is not just churning out cars, it’s also committed to playing the long game, ensuring infrastructure is in place to support buyers. That’s important for the long-term growth of NIO stock.

Nio’s Power Day Event

Last week, Nio held its first ever Power Day event, providing investors with some key updates.

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The company has taken a different approach from most EV makers in terms of tackling range anxiety. Nio has built charging stations — the usual solution — but it is focused on its Battery as a Service (BaaS) program. Nio owners can pay for their battery as a subscription. This has the the effect of lowering the cost of purchasing a Nio EV, since the battery is the most expensive component in any electric car. However, BaaS also lets users swap out for higher or lower capacity batteries as needed.

The idea of swapping batteries has also been extended to charging. Instead of having to wait hours for their drained battery to fully charge, Nio owners can simply drive to a battery swap station and have a fresh battery installed in minutes. The company has already built around 300 battery swap stations in China. It announced at Power Day that it will not only build more traditional charging stations, but that a total of 4,000 battery swap stations will be built by 2025.

In a key international development, Nio has also shipped the first batch of battery swap stations to Norway. It plans to start delivering EVs to Norway in September, the first step in a move to expand into the European market.

June Delivery Update + Extended Range ET7 in 2022

There are other reasons besides the Power Day announcements to be optimistic about NIO stock.

At the start of the month, Nio announced June deliveries for its EVs hit 8,083. That’s a 116.1% year-over-year increase. And it continues a string of monthly delivery records being smashed.

When talking about range anxiety, charging and battery swapping, don’t forget the Nio ET7. When announced in January, Nio was focused on the fact that this luxury sedan will be its first crack at autonomous driving. The bigger win is likely to be its range. Nio says that an ET7 equipped with an optional new 150 kWh battery will have a range of over 1,000km. That’s 621 miles, which is a lot of driving between battery swap stations. The ET7 is available now for pre-order and is expected to begin shipping in Q1 2022.

Bottom Line on NIO Stock

There is no doubt that the world’s automotive market is going to turn electric. The transition has moved beyond tentative steps to having huge momentum at this point. Nowhere is that more evident than in China. NIO stock is a solid bet to take advantage of this EV surge.

China’s Nio has a local advantage in its home market, the company is pumping out EVs in increasing volume and selling them as quickly as it can assemble them, it is effectively tackling range anxiety and price concerns with its BaaS, and next year it has a new EV arriving with an extended range of up to 621 miles on a charge.

NIO stock has a “B” rating in Portfolio Grader. It’s also not without risk. Any car maker at this point is dealing with global chip shortages. Nio is also facing foreign competition in China. Rising interest rates could make consumers less likely to choose a premium EV over a cheaper gas-powered car.

Risks aside, I side with the investment analysts polled by CNN Money. They have NIO rated as a consensus “Buy” with a $59.60 price target. That’s nearly 40% upside. With the pieces falling into place for the EV industry and this EV maker, I’m expecting to see NIO stock recover from this year’s rough patch and set into a long-term growth trajectory.

On the date of publication, Louis Navellier had a long position in NIO. Louis Navellier did not have (either directly or indirectly) any other positions in the securities mentioned in this article. InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

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