NIO was invited to attend a roundtable of Sino-German entrepreneurs and was the only smart electric vehicle company present.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO (NYSE: NIO), was one of the entrepreneurs who accompanied the Chinese Premier to Europe and participated in high-level Sino-German meetings.
On June 20 local time, 15 Chinese and German companies, including NIO, State Grid, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and SenseTime, were invited to attend a roundtable of Sino-German entrepreneurs in Berlin, NIO Europe vice president Zhang Hui announced yesterday on the company's mobile app.
NIO is the only smart electric vehicle (EV) company among them, and Li participated in the roundtable, Zhang said, adding that the NIO CEO also attended the 11th China-Germany Economic and Technical Cooperation Forum on the same day.
As an EV company that insists on global development, NIO has developed a deep presence in Germany, Zhang said.
The company set up a global design center in Munich in 2015 and an innovation center in Berlin in 2022 to explore smart cockpits, autonomous driving and energy technologies.
NIO currently employs more than 1,300 people in Europe, mostly in Germany, Zhang said, adding that the company is creating more jobs in Germany as its research and development business deepens.
Meanwhile, NIO has established good relationships with German companies, including ZF, Continental and Bosch, and is actively seeking opportunities for broader supply chain cooperation, he said.
NIO has now entered five European countries -- Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway -- and is delivering models locally including the ES8, ET7, EL7 and ET5.
The company has six NIO Houses, five NIO Spaces and 49 service centers overseas. It also has 16 battery swap stations, 8 charging stations, 26 charging piles overseas, and access to over 400,000 overseas third-party charging piles overseas.
In Germany, NIO has three NIO Houses, located in Berlin, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, Zhang noted.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang is visiting Europe, his first trip since the formation of the new Chinese government. Li was previously the party chief in Shanghai, where NIO is headquartered.
Premier Li and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz jointly attended the Sino-German entrepreneur roundtable on June 20, local time, and exchanged views with more than 30 business representatives, according to a report by Xinhua.
The governments of both sides should create a favorable environment and stable expectations for business operations so that enterprises can study and respond to risks in accordance with market and economic laws, and achieve mutual benefits and win-win situations in open cooperation, Li said.
China will continue to expand its opening to the outside world and continue to build a market-oriented, rule of law and international business environment, Li said, adding that he hopes Germany will continue to keep its market open and create a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies to invest in Germany.
There is a vast space for Sino-German cooperation in fields including the digital economy, artificial intelligence, and green development, and with the joint efforts of entrepreneurs from both countries, Sino-German cooperation will surely continue to achieve new results, he said.
This article is being updated, please refresh later for more content.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
NIO (NYSE: NIO) has received more than $1 billion in investment from an Abu Dhabi sovereign fund to strengthen its balance sheet and support business growth.
On June 20, NIO signed a share subscription agreement with Abu Dhabi investment house CYVN Holdings, which will invest a total of about $1.1 billion in the Chinese electric vehicle company through an additional new share issue and transfer of old shares, according to a statement.
CYVN Holdings is an Abu Dhabi government majority-owned investment vehicle focused on strategic investment in the advanced, smart mobility sector and is committed to partnering with global industry leaders in this area.
The investor will subscribe for a total of $738.5 million in cash for 84,695,543 shares of NIO's newly issued Class A ordinary shares at a purchase price of $8.72 per share.
The transaction price is the volume-weighted average price of NIO's Class A ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange over the seven consecutive trading days immediately preceding June 19.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in early July.
CYVN Holdings has agreed not to sell, transfer or dispose of any shares acquired in the investment transaction for six months after closing, according to a statement from NIO.
In addition, CYVN Holdings has entered into a share purchase agreement with an affiliate of Tencent, an existing shareholder of NIO, to purchase 40,137,614 shares of NIO's Class A ordinary shares.
Upon completion of the investment transaction and the secondary share transfer, CYVN Holdings will own about 7.0 percent of the total issued and outstanding shares of NIO.
Following the closing of the investment transaction, CYVN Holdings will have the right to nominate a director to the board of directors of NIO so long as it continues to beneficially own no less than 5 percent of the company's outstanding share capital.
Below is NIO's press release, as the CnEVPost article is being updated.
NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO; HKEX: 9866; SGX: NIO) (“NIO” or the “Company”), a pioneer and a leading company in the premium smart electric vehicle market, today announced that it has entered into a share subscription agreement with CYVN Holdings L.L.C., an investment vehicle majority owned by the Abu Dhabi Government strategically focused on advanced and smart mobility (the “Investor” or “CYVN Holdings”), pursuant to which the Investor will invest an aggregate of US$738.5 million in cash to subscribe 84,695,543 newly issued Class A ordinary shares of the Company at a per share purchase price of US$8.72, being the volume weighted average price of Class A ordinary shares (as adjusted for the American depository share-to-Class A ordinary share ratio) on the New York Stock Exchange over the seven consecutive trading days immediately preceding June 19, 2023 (the “Investment Transaction”).
The Investment Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and the closing is expected to take place in early July 2023.
The share issuance is conducted as a private placement in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “Securities Act”) to be exempt from registration. The Investor has agreed not to sell, transfer or dispose of any shares acquired in the Investment Transaction for six months after the closing.
Concurrently, the Company is aware that the Investor has entered into a share purchase agreement with an affiliate of Tencent (the “Existing Shareholder”) pursuant to which the Investor will purchase 40,137,614 Class A ordinary shares of the Company beneficially owned by the Existing Shareholder (the “Secondary Share Transfer”).
Upon the closing of the Investment Transaction and Secondary Share Transfer, the Investor will beneficially own approximately 7.0% of the Company's total issued and outstanding shares.
Upon or after closing of the Investment Transaction, the Investor will be entitled to nominate one director to the Company's board of directors so long as it continues to beneficially own no less than 5% of the Company's outstanding share capital. Such appointment will be subject to the requirements of applicable laws, regulations, listing rules and the Company's articles of association.
In addition, NIO and the Investor agreed to cooperate to jointly pursue opportunities in NIO's international business following the closing of the Investment Transaction.
“The strategic investments from CYVN Holdings demonstrate NIO's unique values in the smart electric vehicle industry. The Investment Transaction will further strengthen our balance sheet to power our continuous endeavors in accelerating business growth, driving technological innovations and building long-term competitiveness,” said William Bin Li, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of NIO.
“In addition, we are excited about the prospect of partnering with CYVN Holdings to expand our international business. With the vision of Blue Sky Coming, we will continue to strive for technological breakthroughs and user experiences beyond expectations, contributing to a more sustainable future for the globe.”
“Our strategic investments in NIO are driven by our appreciation of its leading brand, innovative and premium products, and proven technological capabilities in the smart electric vehicle market,” said Jassem Al Zaabi, Chairman and Managing Director of CYVN Holdings.
“We are excited to develop strategic partnerships with NIO, and are fully committed to providing strategic value that will support NIO's international business growth. We will join hands with NIO to drive the global energy transition and sustainable growth for the whole humanity.”
NIO was 2,000 units last week. Its sales from June 1 to June 18 were 4,800 units.
In the week of June 12 to June 18, Li Auto sold 7,800 units, continuing to lead among China's new car makers, the company said today on Weibo.
As of June 18, Li Auto had sold 19,800 units this month, and the company will aim to achieve a monthly sales target of more than 30,000 this month, it said.
Li Auto didn't explain what that weekly sales tally was based on, but apparently they were insurance registrations. The company had suspended sharing those numbers in May, but has since resumed sharing them.
Li Auto delivered 28,277 vehicles in May, up 145.97 percent year-on-year and up 10.11 percent from April, the third consecutive month to exceed the 20,000-unit mark.
Li Auto's current least expensive model, the five-seat Li L7, achieved its second consecutive month of more than 10,000 deliveries in May, the company said on June 1.
On Li Auto's Family Tech Day event on June 17, the Li L7 sold more than 1,000 units in a single day for the first time, the company's founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said on June 18.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 14,500 units in the week of June 12 to June 18, lower than the 16,400 units sold in the previous week, according to figures shared by Li Auto.
From June 1 to June 18, Tesla sold 40,600 units in China, the highest number of vehicles, including internal combustion engine vehicles, for premium brands.
NIO (NYSE: NIO) was 2,000 units last week, up from 1,500 units the week before.
Between June 1 and June 18, NIO sold 4,800 units.
NIO officially launched the new ES6 on May 24 and rolled out the ET5 Touring on June 15.
The company had produced some of the vehicles in the designer-recommended configuration combinations for quick delivery prior to the launch of both models.
Deliveries of the new ES6 began on the night of the May 24 launch, and deliveries of the ET5 Touring began on June 16.
XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) was at 1,600 units last week and 3,800 units from June 1 to June 18.
NIO's first phone model will be released and begin deliveries in the third quarter, William Li said in April.
NIO (NYSE: NIO)'s first mobile phone model completed radio clearance in China, paving the way for its launch later this year.
The electric vehicle (EV) maker's mobile device, model number N2301, received radio approval on June 19, according to a disclosure on the website of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The device will support 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G network standards, and will also support UWB (Ultra Wide Band), a key feature when using a phone as a car key.
The disclosure focuses on the radio specifications for the NIO mobile device, covering frequencies, transmit power, and obtaining the approval is a key process to enable it to be sold in China.
In late March 2022, William Li, NIO's founder, chairman and CEO, confirmed that the company would venture into phone making.
A key driver of NIO's decision was that, in the rise of smart cars in China, owners' experiences are increasingly dependent on a direct and seamless connection between their phones and vehicles.
In March last year, Li told a group of car owners that Apple was closed to the automotive industry, for example, NIO's second-generation platform models come standard with UWB, but Apple does not open up the interface.
NIO has to study smartphones and car-centric smart devices from the user's interest and experience, he said at the time.
On April 1, Li said during a Chinese EV industry forum that NIO's first phone model would be launched and start deliveries in the third quarter.
NIO unveiled the new ES8 at its NIO Day 2022 event on December 24, 2022, and an introductory image of the model shows two cell phones in the second-row center armrest.
The wireless charging pad can wirelessly fast charge two phones simultaneously at 40 W, according to the text on the image.
In an internal speech at NIO last November 15, Li said the launch of the phone was a decision based on 5-10 years of long-term strategic thinking, according to local media outlet LatePost at the time.
NIO's about-face highlights the plight now facing China's EV makers, as they try to navigate an unexpected turn in the road that analysts say could stretch on for some time to come.
This article by Trevor Mo was first published in The Bamboo Works, which provides news on Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong and the United States, with a strong focus on mid-cap and also pre-IPO companies.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Key Takeaways:
NIO cut its prices last week, reversing its previous position, in response to slowing sales growth over the past two months after many of its rivals made similar reductions.
Smaller firms could be the most vulnerable if the current EV price war drags on, due to their thinner margins compared to larger peers.
Used to being praised for its cutting-edge electric vehicles (EVs), NIO Inc. (NIO.US; 9866.HK) found itself in unfamiliar terrain last week when it became the target of online sarcasm after announcing it would slash prices for all of its electric vehicles (EVs) by 30,000 yuan ($4,209).
Just two months earlier, CEO William Li had proclaimed he would never join the price war now throttling his sector, saying such blind cuts would only lead to "unhealthy competition".
NIO's about-face highlights the plight now facing China's EV makers, as they try to navigate an unexpected turn in the road that analysts say could stretch on for some time to come. Smaller firms are in the most difficult bind since further cuts will further erode their already thin margins. But refusing to stay in the cutting game risks losing sales to industry heavyweights such as BYD (1211.HK; 002594.SZ) and Tesla (TSLA.US).
We'll look shortly at how the recent price war is affecting China's smaller homegrown EV makers, which also include Li Auto (LI.US; 2015.HK), Leapmotor (9863.HK) and XPeng (XPEV.US; 9868.HK), as well as non-listed peers like WM Motor. But first, we'll shift into reverse to see how the ongoing months-long price war has evolved.
Things began last October when Tesla cut prices for its Model 3 and Model Y by as much as 9 percent, then further slashed prices as much as another 13.5 percent in January.
Those cuts prompted others to follow suit, with XPeng announcing reductions in January for its G3i SUV and P5 and P7 sedans by as much as 13 percent. BYD joined the following month by cutting the price of its 2021 Han EV model by 20,000 yuan in Beijing, and the 2021 Qin EV by 15,000 yuan.
Other brands, from domestic heavyweights like GAIC, SAIC, and FAW, to foreign names like Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, and Toyota, also joined the bloodbath. The cuts followed Beijing's retirement of one of the main government incentive programs for EV purchases at the end of last year, which previously helped to double the sector's sales in 2022.
The price war later spilled into the fossil fuel vehicle sector as well, with automakers rushing to clear inventory before a new set of stringent emissions standards takes effect in July.
As of late March, more than 40 carmakers had gotten sucked into the Chinese price war by offering discounts on electric and gas-powered vehicles, according to local media outlet Yicai, which cited data from third-party consultancy Positioning Pioneers.
As the cutting gained traction, about 20 percent of passenger cars being sold in China came with discounts of 10,000 yuan or more, according to PingWest, another local news outlet, citing data compiled by research group China Auto Market.
Driving consolidation
The price war is already showing signs of driving consolidation in a crowded sector whose growth was fueled in no small part by strong government incentives that are now being rapidly phased out.
As the war drags on, bigger players are increasingly cementing their leading positions, while smaller ones face sluggish sales. In the first four months of this year, three companies – BYD, Tesla and GAC Aion – held a combined 50.1 percent share of the pure-battery EV market, up from 42.7 percent in the same period a year ago, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). BYD led the trio with 24.9 percent of the market, up 7.4 percentage points year-on-year.
As the big names gained share, many smaller brands moved in the opposite direction. XPeng reflected that group, symbolically dropping off the list of the top 10 EV makers in the first four months of this year.
NIO managed to increase its share by 0.3 percentage points, but its 27.1 percent growth rate in vehicle deliveries during the period was far behind BYD and Tesla, which each recorded more than 60 percent year-on-year growth.
Facing such slowing growth, it comes as little surprise that NIO has finally joined the price war. But it also remains to be seen whether the move will significantly boost its sales.
XPeng's experience suggests otherwise. Its massive price cuts in January failed to lift sales, and the company's total vehicle deliveries actually plunged by 47.3 percent in the first three months of this year.
Another smaller EV startup, Leapmotor, announced similarly dismal results after rolling out its own massive price cuts. The company's vehicle deliveries tumbled by 51.3 percent in the first quarter to 10,509, according to its latest quarterly report.
Not all smaller players have suffered. Li Auto – the last holdout in the intensifying price war – delivered 52,584 vehicles during the first quarter, up 65.8 percent year-on-year. The company also recorded a 933.8 million yuan net profit for the period, making it one of the few EV makers that has been able to operate profitably. Both BYD and Tesla recorded profits during the period, while NIO, XPeng, and Leapmotor all lost money.
The smaller companies' dismal bottom-line performance is reflected in their profit margins that sharply trail their larger peers. NIO, XPeng, and Leapmotor all recorded gross profit margins of less than 2 percent during the first quarter, well behind BYD's 17.9 percent and Tesla's even higher 19.3 percent for its EV business.
That brings us back to the dilemma now confronting smaller firms that will find it increasingly difficult to wage a prolonged price war that sucks up their dwindling cash hordes, with skeptical investors unlikely to provide fresh funds.
NIO's cash fell to 37.8 billion yuan by the end of March from 45.5 billion three months earlier, while XPeng's fell to 34 billion yuan from 38 billion yuan over the same period. Those declines are likely to continue, or even accelerate if the price war continues.
The war has already left a number of the smallest major EV makers teetering on the brink of insolvency. One of those is WM Motor, a former highflyer that is currently facing a financial crunch that saw it reportedly slash salaries and implement mass layoffs late last year and into 2023. Data from the CPCA showed that WM Motor sold just 457 vehicles in the first two months of 2023, down 92.4 percent from the year-ago period.
NIO (NYSE: NIO) will start a trial of a service next month that will allow its car owners in China the flexibility to rent the company's cars while traveling in Europe.
NIO's destination travel service in Europe will begin a trial run on July 1, and those interested can make reservations at that time, according to an article posted today on the NIO App.
The service will be available in Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark, covering 11 cities including Oslo, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, and Amsterdam.
NIO will offer two models, the ET7 and EL7, in the trial, but for now it is only available to NIO car owners.
The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker launched the ET7, ET5 and EL7 in Europe at the NIO Berlin 2022 event on October 7, 2022. The EL7 is known as the ES7 in China and is using that new name in Europe because of the lawsuit with Audi.
ET7 deliveries in Europe started in October 2022 and EL7 deliveries there started on January 31 of this year.
Owners wishing to use NIO's service must place an order 14 days in advance, with a minimum order length of seven days, at a price of 700 euros ($760) per week. Any use of the car beyond 7 days will be calculated at 100 euros per day.
The benefits provided by NIO for consumers of the service include battery swap service free of charge, free NIO House drinks, and 7*24 hours Chinese service.
NIO Houses are NIO's flagship showrooms, which function as a space to display and sell vehicles while providing a quality lifestyle for NIO owners. The company's showrooms also include the much smaller NIO Spaces.
NIO currently has six NIO Houses in Europe, located in Oslo and Kristiansand, Norway; Berlin, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, Germany; and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
NIO plans to start supporting the use of NIO Credits within its Chinese mobile app for NIO Houses overseas at the end of July, it said.
NIO Capital participated in a RMB hundreds of millions Series A round of funding for CIX Technology, after previously co-leading the company's Pre-A round.
(Image credit: NIO Capital)
CIX Technology, a Chinese startup that builds computer CPUs based on ARM architecture, recently closed new funding from several investors, including NIO Capital.
NIO Capital said today that it participated in CIX Technology's multi-hundred-million-yuan Series A funding round after co-leading the company's Pre-A round.
Following the completion of this round, CIX Technology will continue its efforts in the general-purpose CPU space to accelerate the design and development of next-generation CPU chips, according to NIO Capital.
Founded in 2021, CIX Technology is focused on developing general-purpose CPUs for scenarios including personal computing, in-vehicle computing, and metaverse infrastructure.
NIO Capital's press release today does not mention the amount or valuation of CIX Technology's Series A funding.
According to CIX Technology's press release, the financing was co-led by Tongge Venture Capital, 37Games, and followed by NIO Capital as an existing shareholder.
On July 18, 2022, LatePost reported that CIX Technology closed a new round of funding of about $50 million at that time, co-led by NIO Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.
It was also CIX Technology's fourth funding round in its nine months of existence, giving it a post-round valuation of about $300 million, according to the report.
While most startups want to enter the chip manufacturing market from server CPUs, CIX Technology's first product is a computer CPU, similar to Apple's M1 chip.
CIX Technology's founder, Sun Wenjian, was the former head of AMD's customer customization division in China. He saw the time as ripe to start a business in the field of CPUs based on the ARM architecture after Apple released the M1 chip in November 2020, according to LatePost.
CIX Technology will be responsible for native Arm development, native application support and localization to help build the global Windows on Arm ecosystem, NIO Capital said in a press release at the time.
The EC6 is the last remaining piece of the puzzle as NIO switches models from the NT 1.0 platform to the NT 2.0 platform.
(Image credit: Weibo @肉肉爸比ev)
The EC6 is the last remaining piece of the puzzle as NIO (NYSE: NIO) switches models from the NT 1.0 platform to the NT 2.0 platform. Now, the revamped version of the coupe SUV may not be far from being available.
Long-time NIO follower and car blogger @肉肉爸比ev shared several pictures of the new EC6 on Weibo yesterday, saying that the model is undergoing testing.
The daytime running lights on the front of the new EC6 are the biggest difference between it and other models, the blogger noted.
On February 13, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced a new batch of catalogs of models that will be allowed to be sold in China, and the new EC6 was included.
The page for the new EC6 shows that it uses the same LiDAR and camera setup on the roof as the rest of the NT 2.0-based platform, and the front and taillight designs are similar to the other latest models.
The model is 4,849 mm long, 1,995 mm wide, 1,697 mm high and has a wheelbase of 2,915 mm.
For comparison, the old EC6, based on the NT 1.0 platform, is 4,850 mm long, 1,965 mm wide and 1,731/1,714 mm high, with a wheelbase of 2,900 mm.
The old EC6 was previously offered in three versions, priced at RMB 396,000 ($55,566), 436,000 and 496,000 respectively.
The new EC6 is equipped with dual motors produced by NIO's electric drive systems division in Hefei, Anhui province, with a maximum power of 150 kW and 210 kW, respectively, and can support a top speed of 200 km/h, according to the regulatory filing in February.
The two lower-priced versions of the EC6 on the NT 1.0 platform carry dual motors both with a maximum power of 160 kW, while the highest-priced version carries a maximum power of 160 kW for the front motor and 240 kW for the rear motor.
The new EC6 will support the option of retractable electric tow hooks and will be equipped with an electric rear wing.
NIO is launching new models at a very tight pace this year. The company unveiled the EC7 and new ES8 on NIO Day 2022 on December 24, 2022, with deliveries of the former already starting on April 28 and the latter due to begin later this month.
The EC7 is also a coupe SUV and is currently offered in two versions with starting prices of RMB 458,000 and RMB 548,000 respectively.
The EC7 is not the NT 2.0 version of the EC6, which is expected to offer a lower price point to meet the needs of the group that prefers this type of vehicle.
On April 18, NIO launched the 2023 ET7 and unveiled the new ES6 on the NT 2.0 platform on the first day of the Shanghai auto show.
Deliveries of the 2023 ET7 began on May 20, and the new ES6 was officially launched on May 24 and deliveries began that night.
Overall, the ES6 is a very accomplished car. I cannot even pick an obvious problem apart from that lack of storage on the back of the front seat.
This is a guest post by Haoran Zhou, previously a member of NIO's PR team in China. The review was originally published as a video on the YouTube channel Telescope望远镜.
Hello and welcome to the Telescope. Every week we bring you fresh insight from the biggest car market in the world today.
We're on the launch of the NIO ES6. With over 127k units sold, the ES6 was, is, and by the looks of today, always will be NIO's biggest seller.
I know I said that with the ET5, but some people are not happy with some of the compromises NIO made on the ET5. Because of the battery swap system, for example, the seat height. They think the ride is a bit too harsh. They don't like there's not enough room in the back.
None of those problems exist on the ES6. This finally is the complete package.
The color we have here today is the stratospheric blue. This is the only standard color that's not black, white, and gray. So, this is going to be a very popular color.
We are on the optional twenty-inch wheels. I think this is only €600 extra. And this is on the low rolling resistance Goodyear tire.
In a moment you will see some of the performance footage we did on the airfield. This low rolling resistance tire when you are deliberately trying to extract performance figures out of it there is a difference between this and the Pirelli. But most of the time, I recommend people just buy this.
Several features on the exterior. First is this much bigger air curtain to send some airflow to seal off all of the turbulence and the wake of the front wheels. The second feature is only noticeable at certain angles, but once you notice that you cannot unseen it. This fully flush side window. The B-pillar, C-pillar and D-pillar no longer sticks out. It is fully flush with the side window.
This feature is pioneered by the Porsche Panamera. It's also present on the latest Range Rover. This is a design feature but it also has an aerodynamic benefit. Because once you hide all of these pillars away, the airflow from A-Pillar onwards will stay attached all the way to the rear of the car. That cuts drag.
All of these contribute to the 0.25 drag coefficient for this relatively boxy SUV. This is not a coupe SUV. You will find a coupe SUV that has a lower drag coefficient than this. But you will not find another traditional upright SUV that is as slippery as this.
The ES6 of course has all the cameras and a lidar that is standard on all of the NT 2.0 platform NIO models. This will have all the capabilities we showed you earlier in the ET7 NOP+ video. This of course being a NIO can battery swap.
We did a quick swap on the way here. So this car as big and as wide and as heavy as it is, is actually the most potent long-distance electric SUV on the market today. It's irrelevant about its range. It's so strong on long-distance driving purely because of that battery swap.
The new ES6 is about fifty millimeters lower in height compared to the previous generation, which is actually quite significant. You really see it on the rear of the car. They put more shape into this rear body.
This crease here is actually an aerodynamic feature called "the departure curve" being integrated as a design element. This basically sends the airflow away from the car. This deliberately separates the airflow from following the body all the way around, creating more drag.
This boot is competitive in its class in terms of capacity. This is about 580 liters. So it's right in between the coupe version of the Porsche Cayenne and the regular Porsche Cayenne. You also have over 100 liters of underfloor storage. So practicality wise this is competitive in its class.
I know we already did a static review of the ES6. But at that time that was before the press conference. We were not allowed to sit in the only ES6 available at the time. Now sitting in the car one thing i can tell this windscreen is much smaller in terms of opening area than the previous generation ES6.
I think this is where the lowered fifty-millimeter height comes in. To give an example the previous ES6 feels like it has a windscreen that is as big as a Range Rover Sport. This is more of a BMW X3 size windscreen. You probably don't know what I'm talking about. But
If you have sat in the previous generation ES6, now sitting here, this is the biggest difference in terms of overall visibility that you can tell. The rest of the cabin is 95 percent NIO ES7, which means I think is too good for the intended role of the ES6. The only area you can tell that this car is trying to cut some cost is the lower half of the door. It's using the same recycled plastic fiber seen on the ET5.
In the rear cabin, it's surprisingly spacious. The wheelbase has grown by 15mm. The headroom is actually better than the previous ES6 because they drop the floor by as much as, I think, 9-10cm. That is a huge amount in terms of packaging.
They expanded the panoramic glass, so you get a little bit more room by having the glass extended all the way to the top of your head.
Another important area is the seats. Because the slimmer the seat, especially the seatback, the more room you're going to get for the rear passenger. This seat looks significantly slimmer than the previous generation ES6. That has very bulky, sporty-looking seats. Looks cool but it takes up a lot of space.
This is an in-house developed seat system and it does look much slimmer. But one area I still don't understand is why there is still no storage space on the back of the front seats. I mean this may eat away 2cm of knee room. You have more than two centimeters of knee room available. I'm five foot eleven. This is easily doable if you want to add a storage compartment.
We are on an airstrip to demonstrate the performance, but I don't think there's going to be any doubt about this. All NIO models up until this point have an excessive amount of performance. This is no exception. 490ps, 4.5s to a hundred kph claimed. We're going to show you how does that feel like.
This is on the low-rolling-resistance tire. If we are on the Pirelli P-Zero, this should be even better, especially the braking.
The next part is where I was surprised. I actually drove this car briefly about two weeks ago on a damp track. On the solemn 21m apart, the standard setup, ES6 can regularly maintain close to 60 kph. I have recently driven the best-handling petrol-powered SUV on an F1 track.
That car can also only maintain close to 60 kph. So this car's solemn performance is unusually good. I need to sample more high-performance electric SUVs to see if this is an attribute specific to the ES6 or if it's just that all-electric SUVs are very good at this slalom test.
Now we are out of the airstrip and into the real world. This is a closed-off, very nice piece of mountain road that it is reserved for the ES6 test drive. I am happy to report that this is probably the NIO that most people wanted.
I still prefer the ET5 because it is firmer and sportier. This generation of ES6 is head and shoulders above the previous generation ES6. I criticized the dynamics of the first-generation NIO SUVs in the original ES8 review. I thought it was too comfort biased. The whole car is very floaty. This car is not floaty at all.
NIO achieved all of that improvement while making the spring rate on the suspension softer. Overall, you feel this car is a lot more stable. And it grips the road much better than the previous generation ES6 with none of the wobbly sensations.
Another highlight is the ESP system on this car. You probably saw earlier in a slalom test that it's achieving very good average speed. On a closed-off airstrip and also on these mountain roads, we've tested back-to-back to BMW X3.
It's surprising that, to me anyway, the X3 feels like the more conservative setup on the ESP system. I never thought that day would come for NIO to give the drivers more liberty on the body control of the car.
Another aspect that you know this generation has made a huge leap forward is just that sense of size this car feels on the road. This feels like a much smaller car because the body is and especially the rear and follows the direction so much better.
The previous generation ES6 on the road feels as big as the ES8 while being significantly shorter. This feels like a much smaller car although actually on the size they are virtually the same.
All the time I've been speaking to you on camera, I'm actually in the sport mode which is not a mode that I will use on a previous ES6. All NIO cars previously, they all have a lot of performance. But you never felt like they're set up for enthusiastic driving.
I think this car is set up for the sport mode. Even the sport plus mode is much more usable. For the previous generation cars, not just the ES6, the ES8, and EC6 in general, I will only use the sport plus mode when I was trying to demonstrate performance to new customers or new journalists.
This is actually in daily driving, even the sport plus mode is much more usable. That's just another area you know this car is so much more developed than the previous generation.
Overall, the ES6 is a very accomplished car. I cannot even pick an obvious problem apart from that lack of storage on the back of the front seat.
It's big enough. It's very well made. It's very luxurious inside. It can battery swap. It has very strong autonomous driving hardware. Currently, on software this is behind the Avatar we reviewed a week ago and XPeng on the urban assisted driving functions. But NIO will have that function ready before the end of this year.
But currently, the biggest talking point on the ES6 is not about the car itself, because we know how good the ES6 can be. And it really is as good as we expected. But it's about the price.
If I put my ex-NIO employee hat on, and look at the product lineup as a whole. I can very easily give you a very educated guess on the price of this ES6. Actually, I already did that in the static review of the ES6. I guess it will be priced around 358-368k RMB. By the time you're watching this video, you would have already known whether my guess is correct or not.
Because we are filming on May 16, about nine days before the actual launch. I think if you look at this car close enough, you would come to my conclusion that the ES6 is easily worthy of that price. However, whether the market has the patience to find that out, whether the customers have the patience to find that out, is a separate question that I cannot answer.
That is all from the Telescope today. If you enjoy this video, keep watching, keep subscribing, more videos coming along very soon.
