Photo: NIO
The ET5 was NIO’s star at the Auto Shenzhen 2022 event. The Chinese carmaker gave some more details about it at the car show. For example, we did not have its pricing, but we discovered that NIO talked about it back in December 2021. It is a pity it took us so long to find out that BaaS (Battery-as-a-Service) does not make NIO’s vehicles as competitive as we thought they would be. At least not in the ET5’s case.
Thanks to our colleagues at CarNewsChina, we learned that the new sedan costs RMB258,000 ($38,573 at the current exchange rate) without the battery pack. That’s about 10% less than Tesla charges for an entry-level Model 3 in China: the ET5 competitor costs RMB279,900 ($41,847). If the price includes the battery pack, the NIO sedan starts at RMB328,000 ($49,038), or 27% more.
That’s curious, because the NIO ES8 is really competitive in Norway with the BaaS system. Without the battery pack, it costs NOK519,000 ($55,372) due to a NOK90,000 ($9,602) deduction for the battery pack. Add it to the price tag, and the ES8 becomes a NOK609,000 ($64,974) machine. The Tesla Model X has no prices in Norway for the latest refresh, but it will undoubtedly cost more than that in its most affordable derivative.
The major advantage of not buying an EV with its battery pack is the discount you get and the peace of mind of not having to worry about the battery pack’s health. However, this price reduction makes no sense if you can buy a strong competitor for the same price or just a bit more. Although the Model 3 does not present swappable batteries, Tesla has a pretty vast Supercharging network. More than anything, this is what presented Tesla’s products as a feasible alternative to vehicles with combustion engines.
We have no idea what NIO will claim that makes the ET5 worth the extra RMB48,100 ($7,191) compared to the Model 3. Better build quality and LiDAR are the most likely arguments. CarNewsChina did not mention if NIO addressed that at Auto Shenzhen 2022 We’ll see if they are enough, especially considering that the Chinese carmaker wants the ET5 to be its best-seller.
That’s curious, because the NIO ES8 is really competitive in Norway with the BaaS system. Without the battery pack, it costs NOK519,000 ($55,372) due to a NOK90,000 ($9,602) deduction for the battery pack. Add it to the price tag, and the ES8 becomes a NOK609,000 ($64,974) machine. The Tesla Model X has no prices in Norway for the latest refresh, but it will undoubtedly cost more than that in its most affordable derivative.
The major advantage of not buying an EV with its battery pack is the discount you get and the peace of mind of not having to worry about the battery pack’s health. However, this price reduction makes no sense if you can buy a strong competitor for the same price or just a bit more. Although the Model 3 does not present swappable batteries, Tesla has a pretty vast Supercharging network. More than anything, this is what presented Tesla’s products as a feasible alternative to vehicles with combustion engines.
We have no idea what NIO will claim that makes the ET5 worth the extra RMB48,100 ($7,191) compared to the Model 3. Better build quality and LiDAR are the most likely arguments. CarNewsChina did not mention if NIO addressed that at Auto Shenzhen 2022 We’ll see if they are enough, especially considering that the Chinese carmaker wants the ET5 to be its best-seller.
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