- This marks Nio's second major update to its NWM driver assist software since May 2025.
- The latest update also introduces pilot-assisted driving between urban battery swap stations, supporting over 2,000 stations.
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO, HKG: 9866) began rolling out the latest version of its Nio World Model (NWM) driver assistance software to vehicles in China on Wednesday, stating it will deliver a more human-like driving experience.
The update will first become available to over 460,000 vehicles equipped with the Banyan system. Models featuring the Cedar and Cedar S systems will also receive the update shortly.
The Banyan system powers Nio vehicles built on the NT 2.0 platform, utilizing four Nvidia Orin X autonomous driving chips.
The Cedar system powers the Nio ET9 sedan and the third-generation Nio ES8 SUV (sport utility vehicle). The Cedar S system is used in the 2025 model year ES6, EC6, ET5, and ET5 Touring. These models are equipped with Nio's in-house developed Shenji NX9031 autonomous driving chip.
This marks Nio's second major update to its NWM driver assistance software since late May 2025. The company said this is China's first application of full closed-loop reinforcement learning in smart driving development.
The updated system achieves comprehensive modeling of urban and highway piloted driving, delivering human-like reassurance and efficiency upgrades in driving experience, according to Nio.
It also delivers enhanced technical capabilities and user experience in intelligent parking assistance and active safety, the company added.
The latest NWM version introduces pilot-driving among battery swap stations in urban areas, marking the industry's first smart driving feature covering urban energy replenishment scenarios, Nio said.
This feature supports over 2,000 second-generation and above urban battery swap stations, seamlessly integrating with urban piloted driving, Nio said.
Ren Shaoqing, head of smart driving at Nio, unveiled NWM at the Nio IN 2024 Tech Day event on July 27, 2024, calling it the world's first smart driving world model.
The model can simulate 216 potential scenarios within 100 milliseconds to identify optimal decisions.
In the latest update, model training no longer relies on costly expert data but efficiently utilizes massive human driving data. Through feedback mechanisms, it simultaneously achieves human-like reassurance and human-like efficiency, Nio said.
This update signifies a new phase in Nio's smart driving development, the company noted.
In 2026, Nio will increase investment in cloud training computing power and accelerate feature iteration based on a new technical architecture and R&D paradigm, it said.
