In China, an Electric Car Maker Loses Money but Thinks Big Nio can tap an extensive supply chain that Beijing has built to achieve its dream of dominating the manufacture of electric cars. More than 300 robots mainly from Sweden help assemble electric cars at the Nio factory in Hefei, China.Credit...Keith Bradsher/The New York Times HEFEI, China — Walk around the sprawling auto factory in central China, and the wealth pouring into the country’s electric car industry quickly becomes clear. Rows of bright orange, 15-foot-tall robots — 307 of them, mainly from Sweden — whir with activity. They glue lightweight aluminum panels to vehicle frames using aerospace-grade adhesives. In an industry in which speed can mean cost efficiency, the assembly line plods along at half the pace of many lines elsewhere.