A little less than a year ago, we published images of two vehicles BYD was developing for the European market: a convertible and a station wagon based on the Han. We’re yet to see these derivatives around, but that will probably only happen when BYD has reached more countries. NIO, on the other hand, is already expanding. Theoretically, it could reveal the station wagon it seems to have designed for European customers in a few months.
Station wagons are very dear to this market – especially in Sweden – and not very popular in China, where customers prefer SUVs. In Europe, there are only three options powered by a battery pack nowadays: the MG5 on the affordable side and the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo or Sport Turismo on the premium segment. A NIO ET5 SW would fit perfectly as an intermediary choice.
According to CarNewsChina, the car was filmed on Chinese roads by the Weibo profile Fei Yao Shuo Che. As soon as the video emerged, the rendering artist SugarDesign removed the heavy disguise the vehicle had to reveal its final lines. The camo was not enough to confound people about what the prototype was: the ET5 has a very peculiar front end.
The new body option should preserve the main technical specifications the ET5 sedan already presents. In other words, the station wagon should be 4.79 m (188.6 inches) long, 1.96 m (77.2 in) wide, 1.50 m (59.1 in) tall, and have a 2.89 m (113.8 in) wheelbase. The ET5 station wagon could be slightly taller due to roof rails, but that is pretty much all that should change compared to the sedan. Like the ET5, the station wagon should have a 50:50 weight distribution, a gravity center at 482.6 mm (19 in), and an ultra-wide wheel track of 1,685 mm (66.4 in).
Like all NIO cars, the ET5 SW will have two battery pack options: a 75-kWh hybrid unit (with LFP and NMC cells), and a 100-kWh pack, both swappable at Power Swap Stations (PSSs). The main difference should be a larger luggage compartment and more practicality than the sedan offers.
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