“ET9 offers executive space beyond first class, truly becoming a mobile office and lounge,” boasts William Lin, CEO of automaker NIO, at a press conference this Saturday, December 21. The latter has not chosen this day at random to announce its new model: it is both the tenth anniversary of the brand but also Dongzhi, a traditional Chinese festival intended to celebrate the winter solstice.
The Chinese manufacturer, which already has 650,000 customers around the world, brought together more than 22,000 participants at its NIO Day 2024 fair in Guangzhou.
Cutting-edge aerodynamics and handling
With a design directly inspired by that of jets, this new vehicle benefits from a 7.5% reduction in aerodynamic drag and measures 5,325 m long and 1,621 m high. As the vehicle approaches, the body will automatically lower 50 millimeters per second to facilitate entry and exit from the passenger compartment. In addition, the 4 doors open by themselves.
Its facade inspires “confidence and determination,” says William Lin, while listing a whole series of technologies. In particular, we can find the Aquila system, which has 31 sensors, including a very long-range LiDAR, two lateral LiDARs with a large field of view and 4D imaging radars, for good vision even in bad weather.
As for the wheels, the suspensions are reputed to be the most stable on the market and a vehicle reaction time of 0.3 seconds guarantees better management of tire bursts at 170 km/h. Another innovation in terms of safety: the chassis can be raised in just 0.7 seconds up to 50 mm to minimize damage in the event of a possible collision.
A multimedia “business suite”
It is upon entering the flagship that one can realize the high-end promise. The design looks exactly like the interior of a private jet cabin, with a full panel of panoramic windows. As in business class, the front seats can even fold automatically, allowing the rear seats to be deployed for added comfort.
A tablet can also be deployed to transform the space into a first-class cabin for reading, working or chatting. Added to this is a 10-litre mini fridge and an 8-litre rear safe.
But that’s not all: the office can also become a cinema or a concert hall. The NIO Lyra audio system is equipped with 35 speakers, some of them located inside the headrests, with a total power of 2,800 watts in Dolby Atmos.
Obviously, a Dolby Vision screen is integrated in the front to assist navigation, while two others are located at the back of the front seats. A small robot called Nomi and located above the central screen provides vocal information about the route followed. And finally, the dashboard extends the length of the vehicle within a strip of Amoled display.
To promote immersion, the vehicle’s lights adapt to the content seen or heard, but also to the time of day and the seasons. When stationary, the vehicle can even reproduce shakes based on the images on the screen for a 4D on-board experience.
650 km of autonomy
To support these new features that consume a lot of electricity, NIO claims to have implemented a system capable of reducing consumption by 18% compared to previous models.
Under the hood, the engine is equipped with a 1,200V silicon carbide power module, combined with “the world’s first 925V permanent magnet synchronous rear electric drive.” This allows a consumption of 16.2 kWh/100km with a range of 650 km and reaching 100 km/h after 4.3m travelled.
The brand seems very interested in reducing the limitations linked to the autonomy of electric cars. It thus accelerates the deployment of charging stations in China, but also of battery exchange stations, promised in just 5 minutes. It is even possible to use the service of drivers who will carry out this exchange for you during the night.
The announced price for this new model is 660,000 yuan (or approximately 86,700 euros) or 788,000 euros with battery (103,500 euros). No details have been given about its deployment in Europe and the price in the Old Continent should necessarily depend on the evolution of trade tensions with China.
Source: BFM TV
