NIO EV hypercar revealed

It has four electric motors and a megaWatt of power, which will be enough to hurl NextEV’s NIO EP9 hypercar to 100km/h in 2.7 seconds.

Sadly, only six of them will ever be built.

The rapid hypercar will be a technology leader for its NIO brand, which plans to launch a more accessible, volume battery-electric car in China next year, before rolling it out globally in 2018.

Developed on the back of the Formula E program of parent company NextEV, the NIO EP9 has already smashed the electric-car lap record at the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit, hacking it down from Toyota’s Radical-based TMH EV P001 time of 7 minutes, 22 seconds to just 7:05.120 during at October assault. And that’s while avoiding the bumpy (but fast) route through the banking of the Karussell.

That puts it just eight seconds off Porsche’s hybrid 918 Spyder’s time and for good measure, it smashed the EV lap record at the French Paul Ricard HTTC circuit, cutting it from 2:40 to 1:52.78.

The EP9, which has a gearbox for each wheel, will punch from zero to 200km/h in 7.1 seconds and will stretch on to a 313km/h top speed thanks to a power output that measures around 1400 horsepower.

It claims a range of 427km on a single charge of its battery, which can be either recharged in just 45 minutes or swapped out for a charged up replacement unit.

The 1735kg hypercar has two lithium-ion battery packs that are indirectly cooled by water.

With a body design heavily influenced by motorsport aerodynamics, the EP9 is claimed to pull 2.53G of cornering force at high speed and more than 3.3G in braking force.

It generates so much downforce from the rear wing that NextEV claims it has more than double a current F1 car and 24,000 Newtons of downforce at 240km/h. While it’s unlikely to ever go racing, it’s been designed around the same LMP1 safety regulations as current Le Mans and World Endurance Championship racing cars.

The carbon-fibre monocoque is pre-engineered with all the sensors it needs for autonomous driving technology and the company has already been given a license to test autonomous cars on California’s roads and streets.

With development offices in Shanghai, China, San Jose, California, Donington Park, England and Munich, Germany, the car rides on active suspension that keeps the body flat by assessing wheel, damper and body movement and speeds 200 times a second.

“The automotive industry is on the cusp of profound change,” NextEV founder and Chairman William Li said. “In the next decade the car will be the smartest device that people own and we want to bring the mobile internet experience to the vehicle.

“NIO is a brand that will exhilarate and delight. It will revolutionize the experience of car ownership for its users, redefining what it means to offer a premium service and product.

“The NIO EP9 was born to push limits and is the first stage of automotive production for NIO.

“It is a statement of our vision and technical and manufacturing capabilities. It is a best-in-class product that showcases what is possible with electric vehicles.

“We believe that when the car ownership experience exceeds expectations, electric vehicles will become the natural choice for everyone, leading to a more sustainable tomorrow. And with that, our vision of a blue sky will come true.”

The company already has more than 2000 employees and is backed by a group of internet entrepreneurs, along with Lenovo, Sequoia Capital, Temasek, Tencent and TPG. It won the inaugural Formula E driver’s title in 2015.