NIO unveiled its fourth electric car model during its “NIO Day” event today. The brand new flagship sedan is based on NIO’s 2019 Preview concept and has been dubbed The NIO ET7.
The NIO ET7 is being offered with two battery options: 70 kWh for a NEDC range of more than 500 km (311 miles), and 100 kWh for a NEDC range of more than 700 km (435 miles). The Chinese automobile manufacturer revealed they would offer a 150 kWh battery option that will offer more than 1,000 km (620 miles) NEDC on a single charge. However, that option won’t be available until late 2022.
The flagship sedan comes equipped with a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain with a peak system output of 480 kW and 850 Nm of torque. The NIO ET7 has an impressive 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) time of just 3.9 seconds. Furthermore, NIO is using a permanent magnet in the front and an induction motor in the rear, as well as SiC power electronics in order to optimize efficiency.
The new flagship sedan is a sleek, polished looking EV with a spacious interior where you will be able to enjoy a laminated all-glass roof, while sitting in a heated seat and listening to a 23 speakers sound system. If you’re feeling a little tense, you can even pop on the massage feature which comes standard on all seats. NIO also noted its “invisible” smart air vents on both the front and rear row. The ET7 features and advanced dashboard with HUD as standard, 10.2″ instrument cluster and 12.8″ center display.
Furthermore, NIO has reportedly presented the world’s first UWB digital key, capable of localization at centimeter-level precision, frameless windows, and soft close as standard. Upon approaching the car, the door handle will pop out and doors will unlatch and slightly open. Doors are also able to close automatically.
During the ET7 presentation, a lot of the focus was on its advanced autonomous driving tech. The flagship sedan will feature state-of-the-art solutions, including 8MP cameras, LiDAR, and Adam. A perfect specimen for autonomous driving. All features can be obtained via monthly subscription for 680 yuan ($105) a month.
“The ET7 features NIO’s latest NAD (NIO Autonomous Driving) technology based on NIO Aquila Super Sensing and NIO Adam Super Computer. NAD brings safer and more relaxing autonomous driving from point A to point B, gradually covering cases such as on expressways, urban, parking, and battery swapping.
NIO has built up the NAD full stack autonomous driving capability including perception algorithms, localization, control strategy and platform software. NIO Aquila Super Sensing features 33 high-performance sensing units, including 11 8MP high-resolution cameras, 1 ultralong-range high-resolution LiDAR, 5 millimeter wave radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors, 2 high-precision positioning units, V2X and ADMS. Aquila can generate 8GB data per second. NIO Adam features 4 Nvidia Orin SoCs with a total computing power of 1,016 TOPS.”
Pre-orders for the NIO ET7 are open as of today. However customers likely will not see they new EV until Q1 of 2022. Prices (before subsidies) for the NIO ET7 are listed below, however, if you are an existing NIO customer, you may be eligible for a discount:
ET7 (70 kWh)
-448,000 yuan ($69,185)
-BaaS(Battery as a Service): 378,000 yuan ($58,375) plus 980 yuan ($151) per month
ET7 (100 kWh)
-506,000 yuan ($78,142)
-BaaS: 378,000 yuan ($58,375) plus 1,480 yuan ($229) per month
ET7 Premier edition (100 kWh)
-526,000 yuan ($81,230)
-BaaS: 398,000 yuan ($61,463) plus 1,480 yuan ($229) per month