People still frown when they hear about Chinese cars expecting them to have dodgy build quality and to use cheap materials, but while that may be true to some extent, more and more clients are willing to look beyond these things if the price is right.
And with Chinese cars, it usually is. The NIO ES8's price tag, however, might be a little too high for comfort, even though it does offer a lot of advantages. First of all, it's a full-size battery-powered electric SUV, which makes it a very rare type of vehicle. Apart from the Tesla Model X, there aren't any alternatives out there, and it doesn't look as though they would be coming anytime soon.
NIO has already shown the ES8's design earlier this year, but now, during a large event where thousands of reservation holders were flown in to assist, the Chinese startup offered some more information on its product.
Let's start with the usual EV bits, and by that we mean the maximum range. The ES8 comes with a 70 kWh battery, which is smaller than the one in the entry-level Model X. That shows in the number of miles it can cover on one charge: 220 miles (355 km) according to the NEDC, which is more like 180 miles (290 km) in the real world at best.
If that sounds a bit underwhelming, don't be too hasty to dismiss NIO's ES8. The company claims it has two charging solutions to make the life of EV owners more enjoyable, and while none of them is particularly original, it would still become the first to put them in practice.
The first revolves around battery swapping. NIO plans to build 1,100 fully-automated battery swapping stations by 2020 where robots can replace the energy storage unit in just three minutes. Provided the stations are placed on highways, it could very easily enable long-range traveling despite the somewhat limited range.
The second is more useful in urban areas as it involves mobile chargers. Vans fitted with battery packs would replenish the battery on site with 60 miles of range added in just ten minutes. It sounds like NIO thought of everything, now all that's left is to actually go and deliver everything.
It's about time we talked about money. The NIO ES8 can be had for approximately $68,000, or $57,000 after government incentives. We're talking about the Chinese market because that's where the company plans to begin commercializing its first production model (remember the NIO EP9?).
That's a lot of money, but it's also almost half of what Tesla is charging for its Model X. Sure, you won't get the Falcon Doors, the crazy performance or the "Made in California" badge, but there are plenty of potential clients that are much more careful with their money and could sacrifice all that for the right price.
NIO also plans to lease the battery which would drop the initial price of the SUV to $42,000. In this situation, the monthly rent is pretty high - $200 - but it also includes access to the battery swap system, making it the best solution for those who cover a lot of miles daily.
The Chinese company sure isn't short on claims and ambitions, but the fact it's been much more discreet than Faraday Future, for example, and that it also has strong financial backing makes us think it might actually succeed. Whether it'll become a global brand or not remains to be seen, but for now, the Chinese market should prove large enough to get it going.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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