More information about Nio's flagship sedan ET7, which will begin delivery in the first quarter of next year, is gradually coming out.
A Weibo blogger with more than 3 million followers posted two camouflage images of the ET7 on Wednesday, saying they were taken during a road test of the car.
"So far, the ET7 does look like a good product, but it's slightly overpriced and probably not a mass-shipping model," the blogger, @汽车洋葱圈, wrote.
"It's probably only if it launches a lower class of EV in the future that it can really expand sales significantly," the blogger said.
Nio unveiled the ET7 at Nio Day 2020 on Jan. 9, and it continues the high-performance character of the company's models.
The ET7 is powered by a 180 kW permanent magnet motor, and a 300 kW induction motor with a maximum power of 480 kW.
It has a peak torque of 850 Nm and accelerates from 0-100 100 km in just 3.9 seconds.
The pre-subsidy price of Nio ET7 is RMB 448,000 ($70,100) - 526,000. If users choose Nio's battery rental solution BaaS, the pre-subsidy price drops to RMB 378,000-398,000 with a monthly battery rental of RMB 980-1,480.
In June, a meeting note posted on the Nio board of the Chinese electric vehicle forum ddxq.tech, purportedly from Nio motor component supplier Zhejiang Founder Motor, showed the Nio ET7 has a sales target of 50,000 units in 2022.
"The Nio ET7 will enter the market in the first quarter of next year and we will start supplying it 2 months earlier. The ET7 is targeting 50,000 units next year and motor demand is expected to be 100,000 units," the minutes, dated June 4, showed.
CICC, China's largest investment bank, said in a research report released in early July that the ET7 is expected to contribute 70,000 units to Nio's sales next year, bringing the company's total sales to 170,000 units.
If that forecast comes true, it means Nio will deliver an average of 5,830 ET7 units per month next year, which is expected to make the model Nio's mainstay.
For comparison, Nio delivered 7,931 vehicles in July, including 1,702 ES8s, 3,669 ES6s and 2,560 EC6s.
(The Nio ET7 shown during the Shanghai auto show on April 19. Source: CnEVPost)
