At its annual Nio Day gathering, more than 10,000 users at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Xi’an, China, saw the reveal of the Chinese “smart electric” OEM’s ET9 executive flagship.

The new model integrates the company’s latest technological research and development achievements, showcasing a package of flagship-style exterior, spacious interior, immersive experience, efficient recharging, and smart technologies. With the ET9, the company says it is bringing together over 17 world-first technologies, 52 leading technologies, and 525 patents filed to “set a new technological benchmark” for electric vehicles (EVs).

The “Nio ET9, the smart electric executive flagship, comprehensively showcases Nio’s R&D strengths and achievements,” said William Li, Nio’s Founder, Chairman, and CEO. “Integrated with over 100 Nio full-stack technologies, Nio ET9 reaches a new height of innovation and technological development, representing Nio’s determination, confidence, and ambition in leading the premium smart EV market and providing high-quality products and services to our users.”

The vehicle is available for pre-order in China, with the first deliveries scheduled in the first quarter of 2025.

 

Landjet design and 900-V architecture

Designed for the “new generation of high-end business users,” the ET9 adopts a “Landjet” design silhouette with rising contour lines and a rear active spoiler. The vehicle stretches over a 5325-mm (209.6-in) length and 3250-mm (127.9-in) wheelbase, with a 2016-mm (79.4-in) width and 1620-mm (63.7-in) height. The large wheel arches and 23-in wheels are designed to create a tall and straight posture.

The ET9’s multi-material body structure uses a mix of high-strength steel, aluminum, magnesium, and composite materials that contribute to a high torsional stiffness of 52,600 N·m (38,800 lb·ft) per degree. Major structural elements include front torque rings and the “integral” die casting parts and hot-formed door frames.

Precise illumination is enabled by high-definition imaging lenses similar to those used in the film industry using state-of-the-art wide-angle micro-LEDs. As users walk up to the ET9, a light curtain rises, and a light carpet unfolds to welcome them on board.

The vehicle’s SkyRide intelligent chassis system is said to integrate three core hardware systems—steer-by-wire, rear-wheel steering, and fully active suspension—for the first time, making it the world’s only driven-by-wire intelligent chassis.

The ET9 is equipped with China’s first full-domain 900-V electrical architecture that boasts a peak voltage of 925 V, a peak charging power of 600 kW, and a peak charging current of 765 A. The ultra-fast charging and swapping platform allows for a 3-min battery swap or a fast recharge extending the range by 255 km (158 mi) in 5 min.

 

Home-grown compute

The ET9 features Nio’s self-developed super-computing platform called Adam 2.0 that supports intelligent driving, digital cockpit, intelligent chassis, body, e-powertrain, and cloud functionality.

It is backed by the NX9031, said to be the world’s first 5-nm automotive-grade chip for autonomous driving, with the innovative application of 32-core central-processing-unit architecture. The chip also features Nio’s in-house developed high-performance image-signal processor and heterogeneous multi-core neural-processing unit.

It shares computing resources between autonomous driving and cockpit domains. The vehicle’s Nio SkyOS vehicle operating system covers vehicle control, intelligent driving, cockpit, and mobile connectivity.

On the ET9, Nio says it re-rendered its Aquila 2.0 Super Sensing system, with two wide-angle side lidars providing the car with more sensing range. The vehicle’s advanced sensing units and computing capabilities were designed following “aviation-grade” safety standards for redundancy in seven key systems including driving, braking, sensing, computing, communication, and power distribution.

For the Nio Assisted & Intelligent Driving (NAD), the full stack of assisted and intelligent driving capabilities with map and localization, perception and algorithms, control and planning, and platform software were all developed in-house. It has been made available for battery swapping, parking, and driving on expressways and city roads.

The upgraded Navigate on Pilot Plus (NOP+) can drive on highways, expressways, and city streets, automatically making lane changes, overtaking, adjusting speed, and navigating interchanges.

 

“First-class” interior

Inside, the Sky Island and the Executive Bridge break up the cabin into four independent executive spaces, each of which has a dedicated view and experience. Stowed in the center armrest, the Executive Bridge fold-out tray table for rear-seat passengers supports six-degree-of-freedom adjustments for reading, video calls, and business conversations.

The tranquil interior is enabled by 360° active road noise cancellation technology and all-around sunshades. The glass roof features two independently controlled sunshades to cater to the different occupant needs. In total, the passengers get seven electric sunshades that can be activated with one click.

For the “first-class” rear seats, Nio filed for 24 self-developed patented technologies. They feature a maximum backrest adjustment angle of 45 degrees, a seat cushion width of 582 mm (22.9 in), and 11 adjustments with one click.

 

Over 1000 km on an ET7 charge

In the lead-up to Nio Day 2023, Nio execs marked a milestone for the company by driving a Nio ET7 over 1000 km (621 mi) on a single battery charge, the 14-h journey beginning in Shanghai and ending near the Nio Day venue in Xiamen, a city on the southeast coast of China.

Shining a spotlight on the capabilities of the company’s latest ultra-long-range 150-kW·h battery pack were CEO Li and Dr. Fei Shen, Senior Vice President of Nio Power, and Chenxia Huang, General Manager of Tencent News. After a short stopover and driver swap, the ET7 reached Xiamen having used 97% of its battery energy during the 1044-km (649-mi) trip in “particularly cold” temperatures.

“The completion of this range test marks the range of smart EVs going beyond 1000 kilometers, which will further promote the transformation of the automotive industry from the consumption of gasoline to electricity,” said Li.

The 150-kW·h battery pack is said to be the world’s first pouch-format CTP (cell-to-pack) type, with a “no-thermal-propagation” design and a cell energy density of up to 360 W·h/kg. The company claims it has the highest capacity and energy density for mass-produced production-car battery packs in China.

It is compatible with all Nio EVs and is currently available for users of Nio Power’s chargeable, upgradable, and swappable BaaS (battery as a service) subscription model, which allows drivers to select battery capacity during each stop to suit their needs.

Currently, Nio has 2322 power swap stations worldwide, with 2289 in China and 33 in Europe. On December 16th, Nio performed its 34 millionth battery-swap operation, which equates to one swap every 1.4 s.

 

New power swap station and liquid-cooled chargers

Also at the event, Nio launched PSS 4.0, its fourth-generation battery power swap station, and a liquid-cooled power charger.

Compatible with multiple brands, the PSS 4.0 reduces overall swapping time by 22%. Equipped with rooftop photovoltaic systems, it can save nearly 18,000 kW·h of electricity annually.

The new power charger features peak performance numbers of 765 A, 1000 V, and 640 kW, with charging power automatically allocated within the station.

In 2024, Nio plans to build another 1000 power swap stations and 20,000 chargers.