Chinese Electric Vehicle Company Nio Launches First Electric Sedan Model

Nio Inc., a Chinese electric vehicle maker rival of Tesla, has launched its first electric sedan model.

It was this past Saturday that the company launched its first sedan model as it looks to capturing more of the world’s largest car market.

The sedan, dubbed ET7, was launched at an event in the western city of Chengdu, China. The launch comes on the heel of rival Tesla starting to sell its China-made Model Y sport-utility vehicle in the country’s market.

Nio Chief Executive William Li said the company’s new battery technology will give the ET7 a drive range of over 1,000 km (621 miles) between charges.

Li also said the ET7 will be fitted with lidar sensors to help the car perceive its surroundings. This is a technology overlooked by Tesla’s Elon Musk.

The sedan has a starting price of 378,000 yuan ($58,378) for the car without the battery pack, one of the most expensive EV components, which can then be leased from the company. With the battery pack, the starting price is instead 448,000 yuan.

According to the CEO, the sedan’s target rivals were BMW’s 5-series, Audi’s A6 and Mercedes-Benz E-class sedans.

In an interview Li said that it was “reasonable” that Nio could sell similar amount of ET7 as BMW’s 5-series sedans in China in the future.

The starting price for the BMW 5-series is 426,900 yuan and BMW sells over 10,000 of them each month in China.

Nio delivered 7,007 vehicles in December 2020, setting a new monthly record representing a strong 121.0% year-over-year growth.

“2020 has been a challenging year for the whole world. Against this backdrop, NIO has achieved consecutive record-highs along the way, and closed the year on a high note with a remarkable December deliveries of over 7,000 vehicles,” said Li.

“These results are attributable to the growing recognition of our premium brand, the competitive and compelling products and services, the expanding sales network, and most importantly, the continuous support from our passionate and loyal user community. The innovative Battery as a Service (BaaS) model has shown popularity among our users since its launch. With the 100kWh battery pack offered as an option, the penetration of BaaS has reached over 40% among new orders in December, demonstrating its competitiveness and acceptance by our users. At the fourth NIO Day scheduled on January 9th, 2021, we will unveil our new sedan model and share the latest development of our autonomous driving and other core technologies. Aspired by the spirit of ‘Always Forward,’ the theme of the upcoming NIO Day, we will continue investing in the smart EV technologies, accelerating our new products development, broadening our sales and service network, and striving for the best holistic experiences for our growing user community in 2021 and beyond.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.