Chinese premium EV maker Nio on Saturday revealed the newest addition to its range, the ET5 compact luxury sedan that joins the larger ET7, setting its sights on Tesla’s popular Model 3 as well as other similarly sized electric sedans like the BMW i4. The ET5 draws heavily on the ET7 with a very familiar interior and interior design in a more compact form. In fact, most would be hard pressed to separate the two without taking out a tape measure. Nevertheless, Nio’s new entry-level EV is a sleek and modern looking car with clean lines and a drag coefficient as low as 0.24, depending on the model.
Speaking of dimensions, the ET5 measures 4,790 mm long, 1,960 mm wide and 1,499 mm tall, while
riding on a 2,888 mm wheelbase. That means it has a slightly bigger
footprint than Tesla’s Model 3 that’s 184.8 in. long, 72.8 in. wide and 56.4
in. tall with a 113.2 in. wheelbase. Nio’s new electric sedan is powered by
twin electric motors rated at 150kW at the front and 210kW at the rear
producing a combined 360kW or 483-hp and 700 Nm of torque.
According to the carmaker, the ET5 can accelerate to 100km/h in 4.3
seconds, while the in house-developed 4-piston fixed calipers with aluminum
casting will allow it to come to a complete stop in 33.9 meters from
the same speed.
In regards to driving range, per China’s
light-duty vehicle test cycle (CLTC), the ET5 can reach over 550 km with the 75 kWh Standard Range Battery, over 700 km with
the 100 kWh Long Range Battery, and in excess of 1,000 km with the
150 kWh Ultralong Range Battery. Other highlights include the brand’s NIO
Autonomous Driving (NAD), NIO Aquila Super Sensing and NIO Adam Super Computing
systems, which the Chinese company ubiquitously says will allow the ET5 to
“gradually achieve a safe and reassuring autonomous driving experience in
scenarios such as highways, urban areas, parking and battery swapping“. The
NAD’s full suite of features will be gradually rolled after “development
validation” and become available to Chinese owners via a RMB 680 (US$ 105)
monthly subscription under ADaaS (AD as a Service) .
The minimal but sophisticated interior of
the ET5 includes a 10.2-inch HDR instrument cluster and a large, tablet-style
screen on the center console. It also comes with Nio’s PanoCinema, a panoramic
digital cockpit featuring Augmented and Virtual reality tech. Nio says it
collaborated with NREAL and Nolo to jointly develop the ET5’s AR and VR glasses
respectively, with the former being able to project an effective screen size of
201-inches at 6 meters, and the latter, offering a binocular 4K display
effect. Other features include a 256-color curtain of ambient lighting, a Dolby
Atmos 7.1.4 surround sound system, and a UWB digital and smart key.
The new Nio ET5 will arrive in Chinese
dealerships in September of 2022 priced from RMB 328,000 (around
US$ 51,500 at current rates) before subsidies, and RMB 258,000 (US$ 40,500) with
the so-called BaaS (Battery-as-a-Service). While Nio did not say when the ET5
will go on sale in markets outside China, it did confirm that it has been
engineered to meet the five-star C-NCAP and Euro NCAP
During the NIO Day 2021 event, the Chinese
automaker said it will begin confirming orders for its ET7 large electric
luxury sedan on January 02, 2022, and start deliveries on March 28, 2022. In
addition, it revealed plans to expand the availability of the ET7 beyond the
initial markets of China, Germany and Norway, to The Netherlands, Sweden and
Denmark in 2022, with 22 additional countries and regions worldwide to be added
by 2025.
