Nio Day 2021: New ET5 Midsize Sedan Equipped, AR/VR Integration, ET7 Updates, Ambitious International Expansion Plans And More

Nio's annual gala event – the "Nio Day 2021" was held in the Suzhou city on Saturday with trimmed down attendance in the wake of the resurgence of the COVID threat. Much against heightened expectations, the event was light in terms of announcements.

ET5 Unveiled: After teasing the vehicle earlier this week, Nio unveiled the ET5 mid-size smart EV sedan, which was announced with the tagline "Ignite The Senses." It is a perfect blend of Nio's supercar DNA and design for autonomous driving, CEO William Li said.

Here are the ET5 features and specs the Nio CEO announced at the event:

The ET5 Specs:

• 4,790 mm long, 1,499 mm high, 2,999 mm wheelbase, and 1,960mm wide
• Sleeker double-dash daytime running light
• LED headlights, integrated with air curtains, muscular features on the hood, shark nose, progressive front spoiler and sporty calipers in airglow orange
• High-resolution AD cameras, ultralong-range, high-resolution lidar, watchtower sensor layout, poised shoulder line, ducktail real spoiler, illumiBlade taillight and blade-shaped rear diffuser
• comes with nine exterior color options, with first-light kiss and sunbathe yellow exclusive to ET5
• 19 ADAS features
• soft-close doors with frameless windows and flush door handles, and the UWB digital key and smart key.

The ET5 Performance Metrics:

• dual-motor system - a 150 kW induction motor on the front and a 210 kW PM motor at the rear
• 360 kW maximum power output, 480 horsepower and 700 N-m peak torque
• acceleration to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds
• drag coefficient of 0.24
• CLTC range exceeding 550 k with a 75-kilowatt-hour battery, over 700 km with a 100-kWh battery and over 1,000 km with a 150-kWh battery
• Braking distance from 100 km/h in only 33.9 minutes

Pricing: The ET5 with a 75-kWh battery is priced at 328,000 yuan ($51,448) and under a Battery-as-a-Service scheme, the vehicle costs 258,000 yuan and a 980-yuan monthly subscription fee.

For a 100-kWh battery model, the price is 386,000, and with BaaS the price goes down to 258,000 yuan and a 1,480-yuan monthly subscription fee. Full features of Nio Autonomous Driving will be available for a monthly subscription fee of 680 yuan.

The company is also doling out service rights to ET5 owners, including 10-year unlimited warranty, lifetime power swap, lifetime connectivity, free power home and lifetime free roadside rescue.

The ET5 is available for preorders immediately by paying a deposit of 2,000 yuan and delivery will begin in September 2020. All preorders come with an 8,000-yuan exterior design kit.

All existing Nio owners will receive 30,000 Nio points when ordering the ET5.

Nio Takes to AR With ET5: Li noted that ET5 boasts AR and VR-native design, the first in the industry. The company announced PanoCinema, a panoramic and immersive digital cockpit on the ET5, featuring AR and VR technologies. NIO has partnered with NREAL, an AR device company, to jointly develop AR glasses exclusive to Nio, which can project an effective screen size of 201-inch at 6 meters. Nio is also collaborating with Nolo to jointly develop the Nio VR Glasses, with ultra-thin Pancake lenses.

ET7 Updates: Nio's Li also shed more light on ET7, the mid- to large smart EV sedan it unveiled on Jan. 9 at the Nio Day 2020. Li noted that the ET7 comes standard with 100 comfort, safety and smart features. During production, over 20 new features have been added or improved, he added.

It has an optimized drag coefficient of 0.208, the best for the metric in the industry, and is equipped with low rolling resistance tires, and a CLTC range of 550 km with a 75-kWh battery, 705 km with a 100 kWh battery and 1,000+ km with a 150 kWh battery.

The high-efficiency electric drive platform features dual motor AWD and SiC and enables a peak power of 480 kW. It achieves a 0 to 100 km/hour acceleration in only 3.8 seconds.

Li confirmed that the mass production of E7 is going smoothly and that deliveries will begin on March 28.

Related Link: Why Nio's 2022 Outlook Remains Solid, According To Mizuho

Nio House: Nio's Li noted that 11 brand-new Nio Houses have been unveiled in 2021, including the one in Norway, situated in downtown Oslo.

International Foray: The ES8 has been well received among users in Norway, Li said. The Nio House in Norway has already become an offline community for local gatherings, he added.

Armed with the confidence infused by the positive reception in Norway, the company said it will make its products and complete service system available in four more European countries – Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark – in 2022.

By 2025, the company expects to offer services to users in over 25 countries.

Nio Power Updates: Nio Power, which comprises the company's charging and swapping network, provides users with chargeable, swappable and upgradable batteries, Li said.

The company noted that it has installed home chargers for over 94,000 users. It hopes to add 7 kW and 11 kW DC chargers in 2022, alongside current 7 kW and 20 kW AC chargers. This will provide a complete home charging portfolio, it added.

Moving to a public charging network, Li noted that the company has deployed 3,348 destination chargers in China alone and 3,136 super-chargers nationwide. Li reiterated that these charging networks are available for users of other EV brands as well.

The Nio chief also delved into the Nio Power North and Power Up plans, which were rolled out to improve power service experience in the eight northern provinces.

Li noted that the company was focused on speeding up Power Swap station construction in 2021. To-date, the company has built 733 swap stations. In 2021, Nio cooperated with Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited (NYSE:SHI), PetroChina Company Limited (NYSE:PTR) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE RDS-A) in building a battery charging and swapping infrastructure, he added.

This allows users to get a fully charged battery at gas stations. Thus far, Nio users have enjoyed over 5.5 million battery swaps, Li said.

Clean Parks: Nio announced an initiative called "Clean Parks" at the event. The company plans to invest 100 million yuan over the next three years to support nature reserves with smart EVs, build energy infrastructure and establish a clean low-carbon energy cycle system.

Clean Parks, Li said, is an open platform the company has started to discuss global collaborations. More details will be shared soon, he added.

Nio User Trust: In 2021, the Nio User Trust has further made efforts in public good, user care and industry communities, Li said. The Nio User Fund was formally established in November, he added.

Li also spoke of "user partners" and said about 232 users have now become user partners. Nio said it will invest resources to support the user partner plan, with about 80 million Nio points to be invested into the plan in 2021.

"The year of 2021 is full of challenges. With a positive and optimistic attitude and outlook, NIO has grown together with its users. In 2022, we will continue to double down on product and technology development, accelerate the deployment of our service network, and enter more markets globally. We are confident about the road ahead," Li announced.

Nio closed Friday's session at $30, way below the $66.99 all-time high reached on Jan. 11.

Related Link: Nio Analyst Sees This One Catalyst Driving Growth, Ups Price Target