The fully electric ET9 executive sedan, which the company expects to begin delivering in March, will spearhead a move among Chinese EV makers to break the dominance of conventional petroleum-powered luxury vehicles built by foreign rivals, said William Li, CEO of the Shanghai-based company.
“I feel safe to say that foreign car brands will continue to lose their market share [in China],” he said at a briefing on Thursday. “They will be further marginalised in this market, where indigenous carmakers are showing an upper hand in developing and manufacturing electric cars.”
The ET9, priced at 800,000 yuan (US$110,080) in presale, is fitted with high-performance computing power and what Nio said is the world’s first fully active integrated hydraulic suspension system, which promises to offer a smooth and comfortable ride even on bumpy roads.
The car will be powered by a 120 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack with an energy density of 292kWh per kilogram, compared with the average EV battery’s 200kWh per kilogram. Higher energy density means greater driving range for an equivalent weight of battery.
BMW’s internal combustion engine-based 7 series cars start from 919,900 yuan in the mainland market, while the basic edition of Audi’s A8, also petrol-powered, sells for 789,800 yuan.
