2023 NIO ES8 and EC7 revealed

With an eye on Australia as an important export market, Chinese EV luxury brand NIO has demonstrated its global expansion plans with the unveiling of the 2023 NIO ES8 family SUV and the NIO EC7 coupe-style crossover.

NIO chose Christmas eve for the 2022 edition of its annual NIO Day product showcase, and while pundits expected to see a wagon version of the 2022 NIO ET5 mid-size passenger car, the car-maker focused on the ever-popular SUV market.

This is the second generation of the NIO ES8, with the large three-row luxury SUV racking up more than 65,000 sales over the past five years – quite an achievement for a start-up brand selling a model that starts above $100,000 in its home market.

NIO says the incoming ES8 is essentially new from the ground up, riding on the car-maker’s NT2.0 digital platform, incorporating its new design language and increasing the length to better accommodate passengers across the three rows.

Only available as a six-seater at launch, the first two rows give each occupant their own electrically adjustable seat. It’s the first application of NIO’s seat frame platform that incorporates features such as ‘one click’ adjustment, hot stone massage and adjustment at the shoulder.

In fact, the seats can be adjusted up to 22 ways.

Up front, the passenger’s seat – dubbed the Queen Seat – can recline to give a “zero-gravity posture” with a double 120-degree angle.

Some versions of the ES8 will also gain a centre console between the two second-row seats, providing storage and phone charging.

In-cabin entertainment is typically high-end, building on the already impressive Dolby Atmos sound system found in current NIO models with a 2230W sound system with Dirac Pro tuning.

Furthermore, the PanoCinema immersive entertainment system can now support up to four users with AR/VR glasses.

2023 NIO EC7 premieres

Whereas the ES8 is all about comfort, the 2023 NIO EC7 is more about performance and the sleek design is very much like a coupe-SUV version of the ET5 mid-size sedan.

The drag coefficient is slipperier than the Tesla Model X, prompting NIO to claim that it’s the world’s most aerodynamic SUV at 0.23Cd.

It is still quite a large vehicle at 4968mm in overall length, but the EC7 – which, like the ES8, uses dual-motor/all-wheel drive powertrain good for 480kW/850Nm (180kW front/300kW rear) – can devour 0-100km/h in just 3.8 seconds.

That’s the same powertrain found in the NIO ET7 large sedan – a rival for the Tesla Model S – that we drove in China earlier this year.

In a first for a NIO model, the EC7 has an electrically deployed active spoiler. Made of composite materials, the spoiler first deploys at 80km/h and above 170km/h it adjusts to give an additional 63kg of downforce.

Given the EC7’s 50:50 weight distribution, front double-wishbone suspension and low centre of gravity, the car promises high levels of dynamic performance.

Inside, the EC7 gains sports seats and a panoramic moonroof complete with greyed glass to help with heat insulation.

NIO claims better headroom both front and rear for the EC7 than many of its competitors.

Both the EC7 and ES8 introduce new interior colours including some darker options compared to models such as the ES7. Karuun, made from renewable rattan, plays a central part and there is also plenty of leather in both cars.

Both models come with Lidar and a comprehensive sensor suite allowing a high level of autonomous driving capability.

Currently under testing, NOP+ aims to deliver an autonomous ability similar to that of an experienced driver.

NIO has moved the cameras on the front wings to a higher position, rather than on the wheel-arches as with earlier models.

The two new SUVs are also among the latest NIO models to use die-casting, a technology first used by Tesla which involves casting one large subsection rather than individual pieces, aiding rigidity and reducing weight.

Australian under study

As carsales has reported, NIO senior management made it clear at last year’s NIO Day that Australia is among its targets with its global expansion plan.

It’s not yet clear whether an Aussie tilt would be made through a factory distribution channel or an independent importer.

However, BLK Auto – which is the company behind the JAC Motors relaunch Down Under – said recently that it “100 per cent would be there” if it had the opportunity to pick up NIO, which has a manufacturing joint-venture with JAC.

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