Chinese automaker NIO electric sedan it’s finally here. The ET7, as it’s called, is here to take the fight to the likes of Tesla, and it looks like they might be able to pull it off.
In China, technically, pre-subsidy prices
for the ET7 sedan start from 378,000 yuan (US$ 58,380), but that’s without the batteries, which is one of the most expensive
components of the car. Much like cable providers, in this case, you’ll have to
lease the equipment (aka the batteries) from the automaker. Alternatively, you
can buy the ET7 with batteries for 448,000 yuan (US$ 69,200).
The sedan includes such standout features
as a “heartbeat taillight”, a laminated glass roof, heated, ventilated, and
massaging seats in both rows, a 23-speaker sound system, and a low drag
coefficient of just 0.23. The driving range for the standard 70-kWh battery
pack is over 500 km, 700 km for the 100-kWh battery
pack, and with the newly-introduced 150-kWh battery pack, that increases to
upwards of 1,000 km. The vehicle is rated at 644 hp and 850Nm of torque, and it accelerates from 0-100
km/h in 3.9 seconds.
Founder William Li says the ET7 sedan can
work with the company’s new autonomous driving system (available as a
subscription for around US$ 105 per month) that features a camera resolution of 8
megapixels—compared to Tesla’s 1.2 megapixels—and Nvidia processing chips that
allegedly offer 7 times greater processing power greater than that of Tesla’s
full self-driving computers. Li also noted the ET7 will be fitted with lidar
sensors to allow the car to better perceive its surroundings. This same technology
was previously dismissed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The lidar sensor features a 1550 nanometer
laser, a 120-degree field of view, and a range of up to 500 meters. The system
can dynamically focus on objects of interest, allowing for the accurate
detection of objects with millimetric precision. Finally, as part of the car’s
33 total sensing units, it also contains a 5mm wave radar, 12 ultrasonic
sensors, and 2 high-precision positioning units.
NIO is also working on systems to enable
the fastest battery swap service in the world, called Power Swap Station 2.0,
allowing for a fully-automated swap in less 3 minutes. During this process,
battery and system checks are also performed. The battery swap stations would
also only take up a footprint of around 3 parking spaces, so as not to be too
intrusive to the surrounding areas.
Each station can accommodate 13 batteries,
and would be able to perform up to 312 swaps per day. Additionally, NIO’s
vehicles will be able to automatically park themselves in the station, and the
company expects its total number of deployed 2.0 stations to reach 500 by the
end 2021.
Deliveries for the ET7 are set to begin in
China the first quarter of 2022, and pre-orders are currently open for a price
of around US$ 772. The car’s unveiling took place at the company’s annual Nio Day,
and it’s revealed around the 2 hour and 3 minute mark in the video above with
the specs mentioned right before.
