Text: Original by Understand Chedi Cao Hao [Original product by Understand Chedi] On December 24, Beijing time, NIO Day 2022 was held in Hefei. At the event, Weilai’s new ES8 and its second coupe SUV model EC7 were officially released. At the same time, Weilai also announced the

article: Original by Understand Chedi Cao Hao

[Original product by Understand Chedi] On December 24, Beijing time, NIO Day 2022 was held in Hefei. At the event site, NIO’s new ES8 and its second Coupe SUV model EC7 were officially released. At the same time, Weilai also announced the prices of two new cars. The new ES8 is priced between 528,000 and 638,000 yuan, and the EC7 is priced at 488,000 and 578,000 yuan. The two new cars also support both vehicle purchase and battery rental options.

New NIO ES8

The new ES8 adopts NIO’s second-generation design language and is equipped with split headlights and two-stage daytime running lights. The car continues the design concept of "Design for AD". All cameras use an exposed design, and the roof is also equipped with a lookout-type lidar. The new ES8 will be available in 7 exterior colors, of which Dawn Gold is NIO’s color of the year in 2023, while Star Green is the exclusive color for the new ES8.

The price of the new Weilai ES8 was also announced at the same time. The new car has launched a total of 5 configuration models. The official guide price is 528,000 yuan (75 kilowatt hours) and 586,000 yuan (100 kilowatt hours) for the regular version. Both models are priced at 458,000 yuan with the battery rental plan. The monthly battery fees are 980 yuan/month and 1,680 yuan/month respectively; the administrative version of the vehicle is priced at 548,000 yuan (75 kilowatt hours) and 606,000 yuan (100 kilowatt hours). The price of the two models purchased with the battery rental plan is 478,000 yuan, and the monthly battery fee is the same as that of the regular version. The signature version is priced at 638,000 yuan (100 kWh) with a complete vehicle purchase plan, and 510,000 yuan with a battery rental plan. The monthly battery fee is 1,680 yuan/month. According to official announcements, the new car will be officially delivered in June 2023.

In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new ES8 are 5099/1989/1750 mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 3070 mm. Compared with the old ES8, the body length, width and wheelbase have all increased, while the height has been reduced by 6 mm. The design of the rear of the car is basically consistent with the ES7.

The new ES8 also adopts the design of hidden door handles, hidden front and rear wipers , and hidden roof racks, making this car more integrated. At the same time, the appearance also uses a chrome-free design, and even the SUN theme appearance package has been replaced by metallic spray paint.

The interior of the new ES8 still continues the concept of a second living room, and uses renewable rattan wood materials and bio-based synthetic leather in many places. It also uses soft gold decorative parts to replace chrome decoration. At the same time, the new ES8 car is only equipped with a suspended central control screen and a full LCD instrument, but it can natively support AR/VR video output, and also comes standard with an N-BOX entertainment host.

The new ES8 adopts a 2+2+2 6-seater layout. The first two rows of seats use NIO’s self-developed seat frame platform, while the third row of seats also adopts a sofa-style style and supports seat heating and electric adjustment. In order to improve the space utilization in the car, the new ES8 adopts a suspended design behind the front center armrest, and the armrest box design is also eliminated in the passenger seat.

In terms of other configurations, the new ES8 will be equipped with an enhanced version of the 7.1.4 immersive sound system with 23 speakers and an output power of 2230 watts. NOMI can support six-tone zone interaction, improving the accuracy of interaction in the third row. In addition, the new ES8 can also be equipped with an optional car refrigerator with a capacity of 5 liters.

In terms of power, the new ES8 will be equipped with a front and rear dual-motor four-wheel drive system with a combined power of 480 kW and a peak torque of 850 Nm. The official announcement is that the 0-100 km/h acceleration time is 4.1 seconds. At the same time, the new ES8 is also equipped with dual-chamber air suspension, CDC dynamic damping control system, Bosch IPB intelligent brake-by-wire system, etc. In terms of battery life, the new car will provide power battery with capacities of 75 kWh, 100 kWh and 150 kWh. The corresponding CLTC cruising ranges are 465 kilometers, 605 kilometers and 900 kilometers respectively.

NIO EC7

NIO EC7

NIO EC7 is the second Coupe SUV launched by NIO after the EC6, and is also the first Coupe SUV based on the NT2 platform. EC7 also adopts NIO’s second-generation design language and is also equipped with a lookout-type lidar and camera designed based on the “Design for AD” concept. At the same time, EC7 will be launched in 8 exterior colors, of which Dawn Gold is the color of the year in 2023.

The price of NIO EC7 has also been officially announced. If the whole vehicle purchase plan is adopted, the price range is 488,000-578,000 yuan. If you adopt the BaaS battery rental plan, it will cost 418,000-450,000 yuan, and the monthly battery fee is 980 yuan/1,680 yuan per month. Reservations are open on the Weilai App from now on. The reservation deposit is 5,000 yuan and can be deducted by 10,000 yuan. The new car will be delivered in May 2023.

The wheelbase of Weilai EC7 is 2960 mm

In terms of size, the length, width and height of EC7 are 4968/1974/1714 mm respectively, and the wheelbase is 2960 mm. Due to the fastback style design, the vehicle's wind resistance coefficient is only 0.23. The rear of the car should be the highlight of the EC7. It is not only equipped with an active lifting rear wing, but also equipped with a hidden high-mounted brake light with a length of 400 mm.

EC7 uses NIO’s second-generation digital cockpit, equipped with a 12.8-inch AMOLED central control screen and a 10.2-inch HDR digital instrument. At the same time, the car also provides 5 interior color combinations and renewable rattan wood decoration.

EC7 adopts a 5-seater layout, and in order to enhance the sporty feel, integrated sports seats are also used in the front row. The EC7's main driver's seat supports 16-way electric adjustment, the passenger's seat supports 18-way electric adjustment, the left rear seat supports 10-way electric adjustment, and the right rear seat supports 8-way electric adjustment. In addition, EC7 is also equipped with a newly upgraded queen co-pilot, which can achieve zero-gravity sitting position with one click.

In terms of power, the EC7 is also equipped with a front and rear dual-motor four-wheel drive system, with a combined output power of 480 kilowatts, a combined torque of 850 N·m, and an acceleration time of 0-100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. In addition, EC7 will also be equipped with front double-wishbone independent air suspension + rear H-Arm multi-link independent air suspension, and equipped with CDC dynamic damping control system.

In terms of battery life, Weilai EC7 also provides three battery packs of 75 kWh, 100 kWh and 150 kWh (not yet available), including a 75 kWh battery pack. The CLTC operating range of the battery pack is 490 kilometers, the CLTC operating range of the model equipped with a 100 kWh battery pack is 635 kilometers, and the CLTC operating range of the model equipped with a 150 kWh battery pack is 940 kilometers.

NIO 500 kW fast charging station

NIO 500 kW fast charging station was officially released, with a maximum charging power of 500 kW and a maximum charging current of 660 amps. Taking the 100-degree battery of Weilai ET7 as an example, using this charging pile to recharge the battery can increase the CLTC range by 400 kilometers at maximum charging power for 5 minutes. At the same time, the new charging pile also uses a liquid-cooled charging gun cable developed by NIO. The weight is also greatly reduced, enabling one-handed operation and a more convenient use experience.

NIO’s third-generation power swap station

In addition, on NIO Day 2022, NIO also officially released its third-generation power swap station. It is understood that NIO’s third-generation power swap station has increased the number of battery pack reserves to 21, is equipped with two lidar , and provides two power swap station layouts, so that the power swap station can be constructed according to the on-site environment, thereby improving space utilization.

NIO’s third-generation power swap station released

It will be deployed in March 2023.

But unfortunately, NIO’s third-generation power swap station still cannot support multiple vehicles’ power swaps at the same time, and users still need to wait in line. However, NIO’s third-generation battery swap station will continue to increase the speed of battery swaps and optimize users’ waiting time in line. It is reported that the first batch of NIO’s third-generation battery swap stations will begin deployment in March 2023.