The Onvo L90, the flagship three‑row electric SUV from NIOs mid‑market brand Onvo, has become one of China’s most talked‑about EVs as of late.

A new rumor circulated on Chinese social media, published by verified Weibo account 经观汽车 with over 118,000 followers, indicating that the L90 has accumulated 58,599 locked‑in orders—almost 60,000 vehicles.

Per the Weibo post, a sales staff member at the Zhenzhou store said “It’s inconvenient to disclose the store’s situation, but I checked this morning and found that the total number of locked-in orders nationwide has already reached 58,599 units”.

Source: Weibo @经观汽车

The post is not an official release by NIO nor as it been verified. Also note that NIO group has never announced order volumes for any of its vehicle releases, including its sub-brands Onvo and Firefly.

On a Morgan Stanley research note, it was revealed that NIO secured between 30,000–35,000 pre‑orders in first four days of launch. However, only a share of pre-orders actually convert to locked-in orders as it typically require a non-refundable deposit.

As a point of reference, the blockbuster Xiaomi YU7 launch had received 200,000 pre-orders within 3 minutes, with 120,000 of which were locked-in orders.

According to Onvo’s July 31 launch announcement, deliveries of the six‑seat version began August 1, 2025, and the seven‑seat version is due in late September 2025.

NIO did confirm is that it had prepared 20,000 units ahead of launch in anticipation of the demand. Through August 1-10, Onvo delivered more than 4,000 L90s in the first 10 days after launch.

Source: Onvo

Strong launch demand has stretched delivery timelines. After initial wait times of four to six weeks, Onvo extended delivery estimates to five to seven weeks and eventually to eight to ten weeks.

Those numbers point to strong demand, but 60,000 locked‑in orders would require a longer wait time at the current pace.

NIO currently expects to be able to deliver over 10,000 L90s in August, which means that Onvo’s website estimate waiting time for the remaining 50,000 orders to be 5-7 weeks. While unlikely manageable, Onvo’s website may also have yet updated its eto reflect the latest wait time.

During pre‑sales in July, a 2,000 yuan deposit secured a place in the queue and applied 5,000 yuan toward the final payment; buyers also received an additional 5,000 yuan credit for optional extras.

By mid-August, however, some dealers reportedly increased the deposit required to lock‑in an order, and some forum user claimed that the deposit requirement increased to 60,000 yuan.

While these reports have not been confirmed, Onvo did introduce a “Waiting Points” program under which customers whose deliveries exceed 28 days receive 500 points (worth 50 yuan) per day until delivery.

The goal, according to Onvo executives, is to maintain customer goodwill amid extended wait times while the company scales production to meet demand.

Conversion rate: 1 USD = 7.18 CNY as of August 17, 2025