Deliveries of the new ES8, which starts at about $68,900 including the battery, will begin later today.

(Image credit: Nio)

Nio (NYSE: NIO) has begun allowing Chinese consumers to lock in orders for the new ES8, with first deliveries set to begin later today.

The new ES8 began accepting locked orders today, and show cars and vehicles for test drives are already arriving at the company's showrooms in various cities, according to a post on Nio's mobile app today.

The flagship SUV is Nio's transition to the NT 2.0 platform for its first production vehicle, with a length, width and height of 5,099 mm, 1,989 mm and 1,750 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 3,070 mm.

Nio is offering three options for the new ES8, including the regular, Executive and Signature editions, with starting prices of RMB 498,000 ($68,900), RMB 518,000 and RMB 598,000, respectively, including the battery.

If consumers choose to purchase the car using the BaaS (battery as a service) plan, the starting prices for the three versions are RMB 428,000, RMB 448,000 and RMB 470,000, respectively, and the monthly battery rental fee starts at RMB 980.

The first owners of the new ES8 will receive a 6-year or 150,000 km vehicle warranty and a 10-year unlimited mileage warranty on the battery, motor and electric control system. They will also receive free lifetime roadside assistance and up to 8 GB of traffic per month for 6 years of free car internet connectivity.

Consumers who purchase the new ES8 on or before July 31 will receive a home charging pile worth RMB 7,500, NOP+ two years free access worth RMB 9,120, Nio Air AR glasses and Nio Air smart ring worth RMB 2,597.

Nio launched the new ES8 on Nio Day 2022 on December 24, 2022, when the starting prices for the three versions including the battery were RMB 528,000, RMB 548,000 and RMB 638,000 respectively.

On June 12, Nio made the previously free battery swap benefit optional, thus reducing the price of all models by RMB 30,000.

Following this move, the starting prices of the three versions of the new ES8 were RMB 498,000, RMB 518,000 and RMB 608,000 respectively.

On June 24, Nio announced that the price of the Signature Edition of the new ES8 was adjusted to RMB 598,000, a further reduction of RMB 10,000. The prices of the regular and Executive editions remain unchanged.

Consumers can purchase the new ES8 with the optional benefit upgrade package in the vehicle configurator for RMB 30,000. The package includes four free battery swap services per month and a 10-year unlimited mileage warranty on the vehicle.

Consumers who purchase before July 31 can upgrade the 4 free battery swaps per month in the package to 6 per month if they forgo the free home charger.

Deliveries of the new ES8 will begin later today, Nio said.

Nio sold 3,200 units last week and 8,000 between June 1 and June 25, according to figures shared yesterday by .

The company guided for second-quarter deliveries of between 23,000 and 25,000 vehicles when it reported first-quarter earnings on June 9, meaning it expects to deliver 10,187-12,187 vehicles in June.

($1 = RMB 7.2274)

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