Just weeks after announcing plans to introduce a pair of affordable electric vehicle brands, Nio at its annual Nio Day gathering held over the weekend in Xi’an, China, revealed a large fastback sedan that takes its main Nio brand further upmarket.
The new ET9 is scheduled to start deliveries in China in early 2025 and promises performance the EV world hasn’t seen before.
The vehicle is a full-size sedan measuring 209.6 inches long, or an inch less than a Chevrolet Tahoe. It seats only four, though, with the center console stretching the length of the cabin, and separating two plush individual rear seats. Nio said it filed 24 patents for the seats which feature 18-way adjustment including up to 45 degrees of recline.
Nio claims the ET9 features an electric architecture running at 900 volts, which means the vehicle can handle charging rates of up to 600 kw—a rate Nio will deliver from its own charging stations which are being upgraded to deliver as much as 640 kw of charging. At such a rate, Nio estimates that more than 100 miles of range could be added in less than five minutes of charging.
A range estimate for the ET9 hasn’t been provided. The standard battery is a 120-kwh unit but Nio last week announced a 150-kwh semi-solid battery the company said is designed to fit all of its vehicles. The battery was demonstrated to deliver 648 miles in a test drive of Nio’s ET7 midsize sedan, in mostly highway driving.
Other technologies in the ET9 include by-wire steering, rear-wheel steering, active suspension, and Nio’s own operating system dubbed Sky OS.
The ET9 will be offered in China with a starting price of about 800,000 renminbi (approximately $112,000).
