NIO ES8: TESLA MODEL X COMPETITOR FOR HALF THE PRICE II ,All-electric Nio ES8 SUV could give Tesla a run for its money II , Nio considering IPO, stake sale

The Electric vehicles industry is on a roll! It’s great to see companies other than Tesla coming up with their offerings. And not everyone can afford a Tesla, and we have good news (especially if you live in China). NIO has launched their first mass-production electric vehicle, called the Nio ES8. What makes it so special? It’s an all Electric SUV with a 350+ mile range and a price tag of less than $70,000!

The Nio ES8 goes into production next year, with a bunch of smart features. It is a 7-seater (2-3-2 config) Dual-motor SUV, like the Tesla Model X. The body and chassis are all aluminum, with an active air suspension. There’s a heads-up display that projects on to the front windshield, and also wireless chargers. The base model will have a range of 355 miles and goes from 0 to 100 kmph in 4.4 seconds. The engine can put out 480kW of power or about 644 horsepower. The battery is rated at 70kWh, which apart from recharging, can be easily swapped out at dedicated stations. They plan on having over a thousand of such stations by 2020.

And all that power is also backed with smart software. They have a virtual assistant called NIO Pilot, powered by MobileEye’s EyeQ4 chip (they were a partner of Tesla, earlier) to help with adaptive cruise controls, auto emergency braking,  lane departure warning, blind spot detection and more via future OTA updates. All of this is done using the 5 cameras, 4 radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors.

The company was founded only in 2014, and is already backed by major Chinese companies, and just secured a $1 Billion funding and is also considering entering the US market. The base model starts at $68,000 or RMB4,48,00 (~INR 45 lacs). It will get an even lower price tag with subsidies from the Chinese authorities. Looks promising to me, and glad to see more companies try their hand at EVs.

Nio

One of the most prevalent complaints from those thinking of making the jump to battery-powered propulsion is cost, especially when looking toward premium offerings from the likes of Tesla.

However, Chinese newcomer Nio has recently revealed its ES8 electric SUV, which offers similar levels of performance, electric range and interior roominess as the Tesla Model X for half the price.

NIO ES8 ELECTRIC SUV

The current Formula E competitor has been teasing with lavish performance models, including the EP9 sports car, as well as futuristic Eve self-driving concept, but the ES8 is the marque's first real stab at a sensible family car.

It features front and rear-wheel motors for all-wheel-drive capabilities, active air suspension across the trim range and a lightweight aluminium chassis that helps achieve the official range of 220 miles in standard models (311 miles option available).

Inside, there's an innovative 2-3-2 seating arrangement that's set over and expansive five-metre overall car length, plus interactive touchscreen displays take care of the car's infotainment system.

Nio has developed its very own version of auto pilot self-driving capabilities, as well as an AI bot that apparently answers and assists drivers using clever voice control.

Although the Tesla Model X pips the Chinese contender in terms of range and performance figures, the ES8 still manages to dispatch of the 0-62mph sprint in 4.4 seconds.

Interestingly, the Nio ES8 also features a swappable 70kWh battery pack that can be removed and replaced with a charged unit in under three minutes at one of Nio's 1,100 planned battery-swapping stations.

Unfortunately, the ES8 is only available in China priced at 448,000 yuan (£50,700), which is almost half the price of the 836,000 yuan (£94,700) Tesla Model X.

But the firm has hinted that it i looking to expand into the USA and Europe in the coming years.