NIO Day 2024: Firefly and NIO ET9 Launch

Nio Day 2024 took place on December 21.12.2024, 12.00 at 10:9 noon German time in Guangzhou, China. The global car manufacturer NIO, which has been in existence for XNUMX years, presented the first Firefly model, the flagship Nio ETXNUMX and other innovations during the ceremony. All important information about the announcements can be found in this article.

Around 22.000 people followed the event offline in Haixinsha Park in Guangzhou. The event could also be followed online via YouTube livestream. Nio Day 2024 is not just an event for car lovers. There was also a so-called User Charity Market with over 170 stands, organized by Nio drivers and friends from all over the country.

NIO ET9: The flagship

price and exterior

William Li, co-founder and CEO of Nio, was the first to proudly present the ET9, the new flagship of Nio. The luxury sedan has already been officially presented at NIO Day 2023. Since December 21.12.2024, 9, customers in China can now also order the vehicle. Deliveries of the Nio ET2025 in China are scheduled to begin in early XNUMX. The starting price for the flagship is 788.000 yuan (approx. 103.500 euros) if you buy the battery. The Founder Series, limited to 999 vehicles, is available for 818.000 Yuan (approx. 107.500 euros). The price for the Nio ET9 without battery (but with BaaS subscription) is priced at 660.000 yuan (86.700 euros) slightly lower. The car has a warranty of 6 years or 150.000 kilometers, whereas the warranty for the battery pack is 10 years.

According to the managing director, the car follows a jet-like design. It is 5,32 meters long, 2,02 meters wide and 1,62 meters high. At the rear it has a 1,7 meter long LED taillight strip. The wheelbase is 3,25 meters. Within a range of 100 meters, the headlights of the ET9 can control the lighting with an accuracy of 25 centimeters and should cover a width of up to six lanes. Using a UWB key with precise positioning and sensor technology, the driver's door and the rear right door can be opened automatically. There are also three LiDAR sensors in the front fenders. The ET9 also has 23-inch wheels and Pirelli P-ZERO electric car-specific tires. In addition, the luxury sedan has a 105 liter electric frunk. 

drive and range

The Nio ET9 has two electric motors with a combined peak power of 520 kW (697 PS) and a torque of 700 Nm. It is therefore the most powerful model, ahead of the Nio EL8, Nio EL7 and No ET7 In addition, it should accelerate from 4,3 to 0 km/h in 100 seconds.

The Range of the ET9 with a 120 kWh battery is 650 km (according to CLTC cycle)The 120 kWh battery pack has an energy density of 292 Wh/kg. The energy consumption of the sedan is expected to be only 16,2 kWh / 100 km Thanks to the new NT 3.0 platform, it has the world's first 900-volt battery system in ChinaIt can be used with charging stations from 500 volts to 1000 volts with a peak charging power of up to 600 kW Nio claims that 255 km can be recharged in 5 minutes using fast charging. A fourth-generation battery exchange station is also expected to provide Battery change in 144 seconds (approx. 2 1/2 minutes) enable.

Suspension

The vehicle also features an intelligent chassis system called Skyride. This is a fully active suspension system that provides 1000 torque adjustments pro second and independent four-wheel steering to meet the requirements of different driving situations. In addition, the ET9 has rear-wheel steering and a steer-by-wire system. This means that there is no longer a mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the wheels. In an official video released by Nio, Herbert Diess, the former CEO of Volkswagen AG, tested the Nio ET9 and completed the champagne glass challenge together with William Li. Diess said after the test that the car was "really smooth to drive".

interior and sound system

The interior is equipped with a large panoramic roof and a 5K OLED screen for the front passenger. For the rear passengers there are two 14,5-inch screens with Dolby Vision. The seats of the Nio ET9 have a 14-layer structure with 3 selectable degrees of hardness. They also have a 16-point massage function, which are intended to reflect the “Far Eastern health philosophy”. The seats and steering wheel of the Nio ET9 are of course heated. In the rear, the ET9 also has a refrigerator with a volume of 10 liters and a working temperature range of minus 2 to plus 55 degrees Celsius. An 8-liter safe in the middle of the rear seat backrests also offers additional security, as it can only be accessed via passwords, temporary codes or the NIO app.

In addition, the luxury sedan features the Nio LYRA 8.2.4.8 Sound system with 35 speakers and an output of 2.800 watts. The system consists of 8 surround speakers, 2 subwoofers, 4 roof speakers and 8 headrest speakers. The car will also offer a 5D panoramic cinema experience in which the car moves in time with the films being played. It also has an active noise cancellation system for the interior.

Software and Autonomous Driving

The Nio ET9 is equipped with a software system called Cedar. This is a digital architecture that is designed to provide a better driving experience and more safety. The ET9 system shows the vehicle's blind spot when the doors are opened, for example. The flagship also has a digital interior mirror. In addition, the vehicle has a Augmented reality head-up display with real-time road recognition on board. Thanks to the new digital architecture, the range of the vehicle is said to have been increased by 18% compared to the initial presentation.

The ET9 is also said to be optimized for autonomous driving. The vehicle's Aquila Autonomous Driving (AD) system has 31 sensors with a detection range of up to 400.000 square meters (about 60 football fields). William Li says that the goal is for the ET9's AD system 20 times safer than a human driver. For this purpose, the ET9 uses two chips for autonomous driving developed by Nio itself, called NX9031 chips. Previously, the second-generation Nio models used the Adam supercomputer, which consists of four Nvidia Orin X chips. The computing power of an NX9031 5nm chipset is said to even exceed the 1016 TOPS of the Adam supercomputer.

Firefly EV: The new one in the group

price and market launch

Nio co-founder and CEO William Li also unveiled the new Firefly brand at NIO Day 2024. He said that the Firefly EV will officially be launched in China in April 2025, probably during the Shanghai Auto Show. The compact, electric hatchback, like the brand itself, bears the model name Firefly. Pre-orders for the Firefly at a price of 148.800 yuan (about 19.550 euros) have even already started in China. However, it has not been announced whether the pre-order price includes the battery or not. The Firefly will be sold through the Nio sales network, while the other Nio brand called Onvo has its own sales channels. Firefly's positioning is comparable to that of Mini and BMW. Firefly will especially compete with models such as the Mini Cooper E and the Volkswagen ID.3.

Originally, a market launch in Europe was planned. However, due to weak sales of the main brand Nio and additional tariffs, the company decided to launch in China first. The date of the market launch in Europe has not yet been officially announced, but Li emphasized during the presentation that Firefly is a global electric vehicle. Firefly executives had previously indicated that the brand to be launched in Europe in the first quarter of 2025. Further markets in Latin America and Southeast Asia are to follow.

battery replacement

Like all Nio vehicles, the Firefly EV is equipped with replaceable batteries. Specially designed for Firefly models, new battery exchange stations However, these new, more compact and simpler stations will not be compatible with the existing Nio and Onvo stations.

design and details

The main feature of the exterior design is a trio of circular headlights with a black crosshatched grille. The car also has a short hood and a wide C-pillar that flows seamlessly into the roof. Although it is a small electric vehicle, it has a Frunk with 92 liters of volumeThe maximum trunk volume is over 1.250 liters.

more details

The Firefly EV has a turning circle of 9,40 metres, which Nio says makes it well suited to narrow European roads. Parking is also easy in any situation with the Firefly. proIt also meets the China NCAP standards for 2024 and receives a five-star rating. The body is made of 83,4 percent high-strength steel. This achieves a torsional rigidity of 35.700 Nm/degree. Up to nine airbags provide additional protection. The vehicle is also equipped with a driver assistance system.

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