NIO ES7 2022 Review

Chinese car-maker NIO, which has big plans in Australia, took us by surprise with the new 2022 NIO ES7 electric SUV.

We expected the Tesla Model 3-rivalling 2022 NIO ET5 sedan, unveiled last December, to be the next model it released after the Model S-baiting NIO ET7 emerged earlier this year based on the electric vehicle brand’s new second-generation platform.

But bringing an electric SUV – rather than another sedan – to market makes perfect sense, given the demand for such vehicles globally and because NIO is better known for its SUVs.

Our test drive provided the first time for most people to see the car in the metal and in design terms it is similar to the brand’s existing SUVs but takes an evolutionary approach that incorporates styling cues from the ET7, such as its signature front-end design.

First customer deliveries of the NIO ES7 should begin in late August in China, where prices start at RMB468,000 (around $A100,000), and the only other version is the fully-loaded Premier Edition tested here, topping the range at RMB548,000 ($A117,500).

NIO is expected to announce its 2023 entrance to the UK, its first right-hand drive export market, in October and has previously promised to enter the Australian market – where the ES7 should be a key model for the brand – by 2025.

Most of the option boxes get ticked in the Premier Edition, meaning it gains a larger 100kWh battery, Nappa leather interior and a swivelling Nomi AI in-car assistant.

As is frustratingly common with media tests of new Chinese models, most of the features were yet to be operational for our first drive of the 2022 NIO ES7.

And the operating system in the pre-production ES7 we drove was Chinese-only, but we’re told it also gain English from the commencement of deliveries – and presumably be English-only in markets like the UK and Australia.

Surrounding the car are 33 sensors including most noticeably the watchtower housing at the top of the windscreen, which includes an ultra-long-range high-precision LIDAR and two eight-megapixel autonomous driving cameras.

These should allow the ES7 a high degree of autonomous driving functionality and assistance in both city and highway driving scenarios. Even NIO’s first generation of vehicles were able to automatically deal with battery swaps once driven into a starting box, using NIO’s swap station parking assist function.

In addition to that, the ES7 brings a plethora of active safety systems such as lane keeping, intelligent active cruise control and road sign recognition, plus widespread devices including blind spot monitoring.

Controlling everything is the NIO Adam computing platform built around four NVIDIA Drive Orin X chips, with 48 CPU cores. The total computing power is 1016 TOPS, which NIO claims is seven times greater than Tesla’s FSD system.

Perhaps more impressive for car users are features such as the in-car WiFi and 5G connections. Nomi, NIO’s AI assistant, allows most functions to be controlled by voice and there is also a Dolby Atmos sound system with 23 speakers.

In many ways the 2022 NIO ES7 is an SUV version of the ET7, the first car NIO produced on its NT 2.0 platform. As such, the ES7 inherits the sedan’s front-wheel drive layout and also gets the same electric motor set-up.

There’s an 180kW electric motor up front and a much more powerful 300kW unit at the rear, providing a hefty 850Nm of torque in total. Remarkably, the resulting performance almost matches that of its ES7 sedan sibling.

The claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 3.9 seconds in Sport Plus mode is only 0.1sec off that of the ET7. The more powerful motors of the ES7 certainly help make it the brand’s quickest SUV to date.

Perhaps helping the ES7’s performance is the fact it’s a considerably smaller car at 4912mm long overall. As such, the ES7 can be seen as a slightly larger replacement for NIO’s first-generation ES6 SUV, which is also only a five-seater.

Also though aiding that acceleration figure are aerodynamics. NIO claims a drag coefficient of just 0.263Cd – admirably slippery for a vehicle that’s 1.72 metres high.

More importantly from a safety point of view, the ES7 can come to a standstill from 100km/h in just 33.9m of road.

As Chinese EVs go, NIO has some of the strongest brake energy recuperation systems around. But the highest brake regeneration setting in the ES7 is called Standard and it really doesn’t have the urgency or ability to wash off speed like a Tesla.

And since the car never comes to a complete halt without braking but continues to coast, true one-pedal driving is not possible.

Claimed driving range from the big 100kWh battery, according to China’s very generous CLTC measurement standard, is 575km with the 21-inch wheels that are standard on the Premier Edition, or 620km with the smaller 20-inch tyres on the base car, which makes do with a smaller 75kWh battery pack as standard.

Later this year NIO is expected to release semi-solid-state 150kWh battery pack option claiming a range of no less than 930km (CLTC).

At the moment the 2022 NIO ES7 carries over the same driving modes from the ET7: Sport Plus, Sport, Comfort, Eco and a customisable Individual stting. These are selected by a screen menu that appears after pressing a button located near the drive selector on the centre console. By the time deliveries begin more dedicated SUV modes such as Sand and Snow should be available.

With 0-100km/h acceleration pared down to a still-respectable 5.9sec, Sport mode proved more than adequate for a winding mountain pass.

Individual mode allows you to dial the standing-start acceleration right down to 12.9sec, which might actually be useful in heavy stop/start city traffic; the initial build-up in speed is slow when this is selected, but mid-range acceleration seems faster.

Most of the drive modes are geared towards comfort, with suspension erring on the soft side and the steering light. But in its sportiest mode the ES7 has quite good steering feel and can certainly be thrown around mountain roads with aplomb.

Aiding the driving experience is a head-up display showing information such as speed and navigation prompts. There is also a full 10.2-inch digital instrument panel, together with a 12.8-inch AMOLED central infotainment unit. The user interface seemed reasonably intuitive and responsive.

Both the driver and front passenger get electrically adjustable seats with heating, cooling and massage functions.

Where NIO really differs though is with the use of space. The traditional glovebox is gone and replaced with what NIO somewhat chauvinistically refers to as the queen seat. This allows the passenger seat to recline to an almost flat position and there is even a footrest that comes down from the dahboard.

NIO takes a similarly novel approach with the cubby hole in the centre console. This gets a lid which opens away from either the driver or passenger. Inside is a 12V outlet along with a USB-C port and the only type A port in the whole car. The cubby hole can also be used as a lockable safe and, thanks to the height of the SUV, has considerable depth.

The back seats are electrically adjustable for rake and get heating and air cushions. Mounted on the back of the centre console, together with a USB-C socket, is a 6.6-inch control screen for rear climate control. Buried in the fold-down armrest is an additional USB port and pop-out drink holders.

A hidden storage compartment in the boot ups cargo capacity by 88 litres – on top of an already respectable 570 litres. Currently there is no parcel shelf, but one is under development and will be available as an option.

Being an SUV, the 2022 NIO ES7 is more flexible inside than its sedan sibling and its front-drive bias is not so much of a performance issue.

I drove the same mountain route in a China-only long-wheelbase BMW X5 recently, and the NIO compared well to its premium German competitor.

The NIO’s interior quality was also directly comparable with the Bavarian luxury SUV from Shenyang. Inside, the ES7 is swathed in microfiber and what seems set to be a NIO trademark, Karuun. Produced from rattan, it’s a sustainable wood veneer for cockpit surfaces.

And while the base ES7 variant comes with Haptex vegan leather seat trim, our test car was lined with Nappa leather tanned using leftover coffee bean shells in a more environmentally friendly process that eliminates the use of heavy metals.

Furthering the NIO’s SUV credentials, the ES7 is the first EV in China legally certified to tow trailers or caravans, and there’s the option of a hidden electrically deployable tow bar rated for two tonnes.

Factor in NIO’s unique battery-swapping functionality (which is yet to be confirmed for Australia) and the ES7 goes a long way to dispel the doubts of even the most committed oil-burning fans that a premium electric SUV can be a viable alternative for many.

There is still no official word on when we can expect the 2022 NIO ES7 to become available in Australia, but right-hand drive production now seems likely to be sooner than originally expected.

How much does the 2022 NIO ES7 cost?
Price: From RMB468,000 (about $A100,000)
Available: August 2022 in China
Powertrain: Permanent magnet motor (front), asynchronous induction motor (rear)
Output: 480kW/850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 100KWh lithium-ion
Range: 620km (CLTC)
Energy consumption: 16.1kWh/100km (CLTC)
Safety rating: Not yet tested

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