Photo: NIO
As interesting as NIO’s new charging solutions are, the main stars at the NIO Day 2022 were the two vehicles the company promised to introduce. William Li said they would be new vehicles, which is technically correct. However, one of them is just a replacement for NIO’s first mass-production model. The Chinese manufacturer’s CEO presented the EC7 and the all-new ES8.
Some outlets are talking about a refreshed ES8, but that is far from the truth. The new SUV sits over a new platform, the NT2.0, which per se already makes it impossible for the new ES8 to have undergone a simple restyling. Having LiDAR shows that we are facing a completely new car, but the technical specifications prove that beyond a doubt.
The first-generation ES8 was 5.02 meters (198 inches) long, while the new one is 5.10 m (201 in). That can change with new bumpers, but the wheelbase does not lie: the first ES8 presented 3.01 m (119 in), while the new one stretches that to 3.07 (121 in). The second generation is also wider (1.99 m, or 78 in, against 1.96 m, or 77 in) and lower (1.75 m, or 68.9 in, versus 1.76 m, or 69.3 in).
The ES8 also got more powerful. The old one had a 160-kW (215-hp) motor for the front axle and a 240-kW (322-hp) unit at the back. The new SUV counts on a 180-kW (241-hp) front motor and a 300-kW (402-hp) rear powertrain. The drag coefficient is now 0.25, while the past generation presented 0.29 (already very good for such a vehicle).
Prices start at RMB458,000 ($65,801 at the current exchange rate) for the ES8 with Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) The Executive Version without a battery pack starts at RMB478,000 ($68,674). The regular ES8 with a 75-kWh battery pack costs RMB528,000 ($75,858), while the Executive Version with the same option has an RMB548,000 ($78,731) price tag. Finally, the 100-kWh battery pack will make your wallet RMB586,000 ($84,191) lighter. The Executive Version with the same battery pack will make NIO customers disburse RMB606,000 ($87,064). Deliveries are expected to start in June 2023 in China.
The EC7 arrives a bit earlier: in May. But this is the new NIO that buyers may be more anxious to get. Apart from the SUV coupe body it offers, it is the real novelty in the Chinese carmaker’s lineup, which will offer seven models with it. Apart from the EC7, NIO also sells the ET5, EC6, ES6, ET7,ES7, and ES8. That may soon expand to nine EVs with the ET5 Station Wagon that is still under development and a new flagship that will sit above the ES8.
The EC7 is 4.97 m (195.7 in) long, 1.97 m (77.6 in) wide, 1.71 m (67.3 in) tall, and has a 2.96 m (116.5 in) wheelbase. Its 0.23 drag coefficient makes it the world’s most aerodynamic SUV. As much as the Lucid Gravity also promises to be efficient on that matter, we suspect it will not manage to beat the EC7.
The electric SUV coupe uses the same motors as the ES8, but being smaller, lighter, and more aerodynamic has its benefits. While the ES8 goes from 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) in 4.1 seconds and comes to a complete stop from 100 kph in 34.3 m (112.5 feet), the EC7 performs the same tasks in 3.8 s and 33.9 m (111.2 ft).
The EC7 starts at RMB418,000 ($60,054) with BaaS. If the buyer prefers to buy the battery pack, the new electric SUV coupe will cost them RMB488,000 ($70,111) with the 75-kWh battery pack and RMB546,000 ($78,444) with the 100-kWh unit.
Both new EVs come with NIO’s Banyan intelligent system, composed by Aquila and Adam. Aquila is a “super sensory system” comprised of 33 high-performance sensors, including LiDAR. Adam is NIO’s computing platform, which presents four NVIDIA Orin X chips for a computing power of 1,016 TOPS. For comparison, the Tesla Model 3 has 144 TOPS.
In the first half of 2023, NIO will test an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) feature that will allow the EC7 and ES8 driving on highways to plan for a battery swap and perform it autonomously. The EVs will drive to a Power Swap station “through intelligent navigation, automatically complete the power swap and automatically drive out of the service area and back to the highway.” The feature is called “Power Swap Pilot for Highway.”
The first-generation ES8 was 5.02 meters (198 inches) long, while the new one is 5.10 m (201 in). That can change with new bumpers, but the wheelbase does not lie: the first ES8 presented 3.01 m (119 in), while the new one stretches that to 3.07 (121 in). The second generation is also wider (1.99 m, or 78 in, against 1.96 m, or 77 in) and lower (1.75 m, or 68.9 in, versus 1.76 m, or 69.3 in).
The ES8 also got more powerful. The old one had a 160-kW (215-hp) motor for the front axle and a 240-kW (322-hp) unit at the back. The new SUV counts on a 180-kW (241-hp) front motor and a 300-kW (402-hp) rear powertrain. The drag coefficient is now 0.25, while the past generation presented 0.29 (already very good for such a vehicle).
Prices start at RMB458,000 ($65,801 at the current exchange rate) for the ES8 with Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) The Executive Version without a battery pack starts at RMB478,000 ($68,674). The regular ES8 with a 75-kWh battery pack costs RMB528,000 ($75,858), while the Executive Version with the same option has an RMB548,000 ($78,731) price tag. Finally, the 100-kWh battery pack will make your wallet RMB586,000 ($84,191) lighter. The Executive Version with the same battery pack will make NIO customers disburse RMB606,000 ($87,064). Deliveries are expected to start in June 2023 in China.
The EC7 arrives a bit earlier: in May. But this is the new NIO that buyers may be more anxious to get. Apart from the SUV coupe body it offers, it is the real novelty in the Chinese carmaker’s lineup, which will offer seven models with it. Apart from the EC7, NIO also sells the ET5, EC6, ES6, ET7,ES7, and ES8. That may soon expand to nine EVs with the ET5 Station Wagon that is still under development and a new flagship that will sit above the ES8.
The EC7 is 4.97 m (195.7 in) long, 1.97 m (77.6 in) wide, 1.71 m (67.3 in) tall, and has a 2.96 m (116.5 in) wheelbase. Its 0.23 drag coefficient makes it the world’s most aerodynamic SUV. As much as the Lucid Gravity also promises to be efficient on that matter, we suspect it will not manage to beat the EC7.
The electric SUV coupe uses the same motors as the ES8, but being smaller, lighter, and more aerodynamic has its benefits. While the ES8 goes from 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) in 4.1 seconds and comes to a complete stop from 100 kph in 34.3 m (112.5 feet), the EC7 performs the same tasks in 3.8 s and 33.9 m (111.2 ft).
The EC7 starts at RMB418,000 ($60,054) with BaaS. If the buyer prefers to buy the battery pack, the new electric SUV coupe will cost them RMB488,000 ($70,111) with the 75-kWh battery pack and RMB546,000 ($78,444) with the 100-kWh unit.
Both new EVs come with NIO’s Banyan intelligent system, composed by Aquila and Adam. Aquila is a “super sensory system” comprised of 33 high-performance sensors, including LiDAR. Adam is NIO’s computing platform, which presents four NVIDIA Orin X chips for a computing power of 1,016 TOPS. For comparison, the Tesla Model 3 has 144 TOPS.
In the first half of 2023, NIO will test an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) feature that will allow the EC7 and ES8 driving on highways to plan for a battery swap and perform it autonomously. The EVs will drive to a Power Swap station “through intelligent navigation, automatically complete the power swap and automatically drive out of the service area and back to the highway.” The feature is called “Power Swap Pilot for Highway.”
Google News