Thu. Mar 28th, 2024
Nio unveils ES6

Nio Unveils Es6 Electric Suv, Its Third Model

Nio, the Chinese electric car company that has previously launched its EP9 supercar and ES8 luxury SUV, has added a third model to its lineup. At an event in Shanghai over the weekend, Nio unveiled the smaller, less expensive ES6 electric SUV.

Nio is touting the ES6 with phrases such as “high-performance,” “long-range” and “intelligent,” and the few facts and figures available so far seem to bear that out. The Performance version’s electric all-wheel-drive powertrain uses a 160-kW permanent magnet motor up front, and a 240-kW rear induction motor (the Standard version uses another 160-kW unit in the rear). Together, they offer 544 horsepower and 535 pound-feet of torque. That will propel the car to 62 miles per hour in a brisk 4.7 seconds. Its brakes can stop it from that speed in a respectable 111 feet.

Equipped with the optional 84-kWh battery pack, the ES6 Performance provides 317 miles of driving range, based on the generous NEDC driving cycle. The base ES6 — a Standard version with a 70-kWh battery — offers 255 miles. The ES6 uses high-strength aluminum & carbon fiber reinforced plastics to help keep weight down, and a drag coefficient of 0.28 to help cut through the wind.

In terms of technology, the ES6 features more than a potent electric powertrain. It is equipped with Nio Pilot hardware, which includes an EyeQ4 chip from autonomous/semiautonomous driving tech company Mobileye, as well as a suite of 23 sensors. The system can receive over-the-air updates. The car’s speech-based interactive system uses artificial intelligence. Additionally, the ES6 can be had with an “intelligent fragrancing system” that offers four different fragrances in different scenarios, which sounds similar to the Energizing Comfort system offered by Mercedes-Benz.

As for the price, the Nio ES6 will start at 358,000 Chinese yuan (about $51,905) for the Standard version with a 70-kWh battery. ES6 Standard with the 84-kWh pack starts at about $59,155. The 70-kWh ES6 Performance will fetch $57,705, while the range topping 84-kWh ES6 Performance will cost $64,955. Nio is currently taking orders for the ES6 in China, with deliveries slated to begin in June 2019.

Nio became a publicly traded company in September, launching an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange with a tumultuous first couple of days of trading. As of this writing, Nio’s share price is $7.14, giving it a market capitalization of $7.33 billion. The company says it has delivered 9,726 ES8 SUVs as of December 15, 2018.