Chinese language EV logo Nio just lately held its Nio Day 2023 tournament, the place it introduced new charging applied sciences, gave corporate updates, and held performances to a crowd of greater than 10,000 other folks in an Olympic stadium. The largest information used to be the debut of the ET9 sedan, which Nio describes as a “sensible govt flagship.”

Stretching 209.6 inches lengthy and using on a 127.9-inch wheelbase, the ET9 is reasonably longer than a Mercedes-Benz S-Elegance. Whilst the ET9’s “landjet” design has no frame cladding or different parts that may make it crossover-like, it does have a taller experience peak and extra flooring clearance than maximum sedans, sitting 4.5 inches upper than the S-Elegance. The wheels are 23 inches, too — this can be a large automotive.

It has a fastback design with a rounded, sloping greenhouse similar to a first-gen Porsche Panamera, regardless that the ET9 appears to be like great and graceful total. Its slightly bluff nostril has skinny working lighting above separate micro-LED headlight pods, which Nio says use high-def imaging lenses like film cameras for higher illumination. An energetic spoiler on the rear sits atop a skinny mild bar on the rear, and it looks as if the ET9 has a conventional sedan trunk as a substitute of a liftback hatch.

The ET9 is simplest to be had as a four-seater with a hard and fast heart console working from the entrance of the cabin all of the technique to the again, and the ones rear seats appear to be a serene position to take a seat. Nio says the ET9’s rear seats function 24 authentic patents; they are able to recline at as much as 45 levels, have built-in footrests and 11 other changes that may be made directly. There are simply sufficient design prospers inside of for the ET9 to be attention-grabbing with out being overdone or spinoff; I in particular like the way in which the rear bulkhead subtly wraps across the seats, and the two-tone cream and blue colour scheme of the pictured automotive.

On the rear the middle console has a couple of garage cubbies and wi-fi charging pads, and the higher segment is floating so there’s house for baggage or different issues beneath — plus a champagne refrigerator slides out from the again. A deployable tray desk will also be adjusted 360 levels, and it even has an built-in reflect. The entrance seatbacks each and every have a display for rear passengers, and the middle console has its personal touchscreen that pops out as smartly.

No just right photographs of the dashboard or entrance passenger house have been launched, however in that regard the ET9 appears to be like very similar to different Nio fashions, with a squircle steerage wheel and a big central touchscreen. A seam runs down the middle of the roof, splitting the panoramic sunroof into two separate panels, with the bar housing ambient lighting fixtures and contact controls. There are seven blackout sunshades for the cabin — the roof, the facet home windows and the rear home windows — and they are able to all be activated on the press of a button.

The ET9’s 120-kWh battery pack makes use of a 900-volt structure that permits for top charging speeds of 600 kW, either one of which can be global firsts. That’s tough sufficient to realize 158 miles of fluctuate in simply 5 mins, or homeowners can talk over with a Nio battery swapping station and be again at the street in 3 mins. There’s an electrical motor at each and every axle, providing a complete energy output of 697 horsepower, regardless that Nio additionally hasn’t launched any efficiency numbers or a complete fluctuate determine.

As a part of its SkyRide Clever Chassis Gadget, the ET9 is Nio’s first automotive to have a hydraulic energetic suspension, rear-wheel steerage and a steer-by-wire setup, making it the primary automotive on the earth with a completely driven-by-wire chassis. The corporate says even on unhealthy roads the ET9 can have a experience that’s “as easy as cruising within the setting,” and the cabin has energetic noise cancellation. In general Nio says the ET9 has 17 world-first applied sciences and 525 patents filed.

There are as much as 3 lidar sensors — a front-facing long-range unit on the roof and a wide-angle unit at each and every entrance fender — with a complete of 31 other protection sensors all through the auto together with a 4D millimeter-wave imaging radar this is unaffected through unhealthy climate. Nio says the ET9 additionally has seven other protection redundancy programs, together with braking, communique, computing, riding and gear distribution.

The ET9 is now to be had to reserve in China, regardless that deliveries gained’t get started till the start of 2025. It begins on the identical of round $120,000, a lot less expensive than the Maybach model of the S-Elegance. Whilst you shouldn’t get your hopes up for the ET9 to be bought within the U.S., Nio needs its next-generation fashions to succeed in our shores.