Rumors suggest that the ET5 could be the perfect Nio model, with dimensions that will be close to the Xpeng P7 and significantly larger than the Tesla Model 3.
Just after Nio confirmed that it will hold Nio Day 2021 in two months, some camouflage images of what is suspected to be the new sedan ET5 to be unveiled at that time have been revealed.
The images circulating on Weibo show the model wrapped in camouflage, but the shape of the front and rear of the car is clearly smaller than Nio's flagship sedan ET7, which will be delivered in the first quarter of next year.
Nio announced on October 18 that the company's annual event, Nio Day 2021, will be held on December 18 at the Olympic Sports Center in Suzhou, a city located about 100 kilometers west of Shanghai.
Nio usually holds its most important event of the year, Nio Day, at the end of each year or at the beginning of the following year, with the launch of new models. The last Nio Day was held on January 9 of this year, when Nio launched its first sedan, the ET7.
At this year's Nio Day event, it is expected to release a model including one called ET5 and another unknown model.
Nio said on August 12 that it aims to deliver three products based on Nio Technology Platform 2.0 in 2022, including the ET7.
According to information circulating on Weibo, the ET5 is as different from the ET7 as the ES6 is from the ES8, with the sedan likely to be between 4,800mm-4,900mm long and the wheelbase likely to be between 2,800-2,900mm.
In comparison, the ET7 is 5,098mm long with a wheelbase of 3,060mm. Nio's local counterpart Xpeng Motor's flagship sedan, the P7, is 4,880mm long with a wheelbase of 2,998mm, and the Tesla Model 3 is 4,694mm long with a wheelbase of 2,875mm.
If the rumors are true, it means the Nio ET5 will be close in size to the Xpeng P7 and larger than the Tesla Model 3.
The rumor also claims that the ET5 could be the perfect Nio model, with its overall design continuing the design language of the ET7, while possibly being younger and sportier.
On the ET5's interior, there are rumors that Nio's supplier once proposed a horizontal layout of the center screen similar to Tesla Model 3, different from the vertical layout of the existing Nio models, but the proposal was not adopted.
For the positioning of the ET5, it seems that Nio is going to use it to compete for the larger market where the Model 3 is located.
On April 7, Nio's 100,000th vehicle rolled off the production line at its Hefei manufacturing base, and William Li, the company's founder, chairman and CEO, said at a ceremony that Nio's second sedan would be more competitive than the Tesla Model 3.
Early last month, auto industry website autohome.com.cn cited people familiar with the matter as saying that the ET5 is expected to be a midsize sedan and could drop in price to around 300,000 yuan ($46,600).
For reference, the Nio ET7 is priced at RMB 448,000-526,000 before subsidies. 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 a research note sent to investors on August 12, Deutsche Bank's Edison Yu said he believes the Nio ET5 will compete with the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4, with pricing likely to be under RMB 300,000.
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