- Nio priced the ES9 starting at 498,000 yuan ($73,400) including the battery pack, down nearly 6% from the pre-sales price announced last month.
- The full-size SUV is priced significantly lower than the Nio ET9, showing Nio's ambition to replicate the success of the ES8.
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) officially launched its highly anticipated flagship sport utility vehicle (SUV) ES9 on Wednesday, a model designed to grab market share in China's fiercely competitive premium electric vehicle (EV) market through advanced technological configurations.
At a launch event held in Beijing, the Chinese EV maker announced that the starting price of the ES9 for a full vehicle purchase, including the battery pack, is 498,000 yuan ($73,470).
This final pricing is significantly lower by 30,000 yuan, or 5.68%, compared to the pre-sales price of 528,000 yuan announced on April 9.
If consumers opt for the battery as a service (BaaS) rental program, the model's starting price will be further reduced to 390,000 yuan.
The ES9 is equipped with much of the technology used in the ET9 sedan, which currently starts at 768,000 yuan in China.
This pricing strategy shows Nio's attempt to replicate the successful experience of its other lower-priced large SUV, the ES8, in the premium market.
The ES9 is launched in three variants. In addition to the base Executive Luxury edition, the Executive Signature edition starts at 558,000 yuan, while the top-trim Horizon special edition starts at 628,000 yuan. The final pricing for both higher-end versions is also 30,000 yuan lower than their pre-sales prices.
The ES9 is touted by Nio as the largest pure electric SUV in China. Its body length reaches 5,365 mm, with a width of 2,029 mm, a height of 1,870 mm, and a wheelbase stretching to 3,250 mm.
The massive body not only provides a spacious six-seat interior but also directly benchmarks against premium multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) models.
Nio's founder, chairman, and CEO William Li reiterated at today's launch event that the ES9 can make people forget about MPVs. General Motors' Buick brand pushed back after he made similar remarks at the pre-sales launch event in April.
The entire ES9 lineup comes standard with the latest generation of the 900-volt high-voltage architecture. It adopts a dual-motor combination of a 180-kilowatt front motor and a 340-kilowatt rear motor.
The powertrain's combined maximum output reaches 520 kW (697 hp) with a peak torque of 700 Nm, allowing this large SUV to accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in just 4.3 seconds.
The ES9 is equipped as standard with a 102-kWh battery pack from CATL (HKEX: 3750). Depending on the configuration and weight, the ES9's CLTC comprehensive pure electric range is 580 kilometers, 600 kilometers, and 620 kilometers, respectively.
Like Nio's other models, the ES9 supports three-minute fast battery swapping as well as supercharging.
Notably, Nio has made clear differentiated configurations in the vehicle's intelligent hardware. The lowest-priced Executive Luxury edition is equipped with only one in-house developed 5-nanometer Shenji NX9031 autonomous driving chip. Meanwhile, the Executive Signature and Horizon editions are equipped with two such chips to support more complex computing demands.
In addition, the SkyRide fully active suspension system is only offered as standard on the Executive Signature and Horizon editions; the base model does not feature this advanced chassis technology.
However, the entire lineup comes standard with a rear-wheel steering system, giving the large vehicle a turning radius of just 5.4 meters.
To further enhance the appeal of this executive-level ride, Nio equipped the ES9's interior with three Tandem dual-layer AMOLED screens, including a 15.6-inch central control screen and two 16-inch exclusive executive screens with a resolution of up to 3.3K.
The new car also highlights extreme acoustic effects, equipped with an industry-leading 47 speakers throughout the vehicle, with a rated power of up to 3,020 watts.
On the eve of the launch event, Nio also announced that basketball legend Yao Ming has become the ES9's chief experience officer. The company hopes to leverage the global influence of the NBA Hall of Famer to build momentum for the launch of this technological executive flagship SUV.
At today's launch event, Yao took the stage to share his initial experience with the ES9, mentioning the model's large space, battery swap feature, and smart driving capabilities.
Nio said that the ES9 featuring a center console layout in the second row will begin deliveries on May 28, while the model with an aisle seat layout is scheduled to start deliveries in mid-July.
The launch of this flagship SUV comes just hours after the Huawei-backed Aito brand launched its updated M9 SUV.
The updated Aito M9 starts at 479,800 yuan, which is 20,000 yuan lower than its pre-sales price.
($1 = 6.7820 yuan)
