SHANGHAI MOTOR SHOW: Seven seat NIO ES8 is Model X fighter

Chinese EV maker, NIO, has revealed what will become a direct rival for the Tesla Model X when it goes on sale late this year.

Called the ES8, the all-new seven-seat SUV measures in at almost 5.0m with a substantial wheelbase of 3.0m.

Featuring a lightweight all-aluminium body and chassis, the pure-electric SUV is driven by two motors one to drive each axle.

Focusing on ride comfort, engineers have developed an air suspension for the SUV that promises a better ride than rivals like the Tesla.

NIO hasn't announced how powerful the ES8 will be, but has declared when it launches towards the end of 2017 it will be considered a "high-performance electric SUV". What the fledging car maker did reveal is its SUV will make a radical departure from other pure-electric vehicles by coming with the option of swappable battery packs.

Instead of stopping to charge your vehicle at designated charging stations, owners will simply swap battery packs in an operation that should take a matter of minutes for a fully charged battery pack instead of the 30-40 minutes it takes for a fast charge.

Until charging infrastructure improves Down Under it is unlikely NIO will import cars here, which is ironic, considering a fleet of ES8s have already covered thousands of kilometres’ hot weather and durability testing in Melbourne and Mildura.

As well as unveiling its new SUV, NIO also used the Shanghai show to announce that it would make another batch of ten EP9 hypercars that would be priced from US$1.48 million (A$1.97 million).

The original six EP9s were given to investors in the car maker.

NIO has already proved the 1000kW EP9 hypercar is the fastest pure-electric car in the world when it set a new electric car lap record of 7:05.120 at Germany's Nurburgring back in November 2016.