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An ET5 mid-size sedan, NIO’s latest model, is displayed at a showroom in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. Photo: Daniel Ren

China EV battle: NIO launches mid-size car with eye on Tesla’s market-leading Model 3

  • The ET5, priced from US$51,448 before subsidy, is expected to roll off the production line next September
  • The car will be equipped with PanoCinema, a panoramic and immersive digital cockpit boasting AR and VR technologies, NIO CEO William Li said
Nio
Chinese smart electric vehicle maker NIO has launched a new mid-size car featuring a “digital cockpit” that is squarely aimed at Tesla’s popular Model 3.

The Shanghai-based carmaker also said it aims to have a presence in 25 countries and regions by 2025. After beginning sales in Norway earlier this year, it plans to expand in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark in 2022.

The ET5, priced from 328,000 yuan (US$51,448) before subsidy, is expected to roll off the production line in September 2022. The car comes with PanoCinema, a panoramic and immersive digital cockpit boasting augmented reality and virtual reality technologies, said William Li, co-founder and chief executive of NIO.

“With PanoCinema, a huge screen is not necessarily needed [in a smart EV],” he told a crowd of nearly 10,000 people who attended the annual NIO Day event in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Saturday evening.

This year’s NIO Day annual event was held at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Saturday. Photo: Daniel Ren

The ET5’s PanoCinema system is powered by 256-colour curtain ambient lighting and Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 surround sound system, Li said.

NIO is not the first carmaker to meld AR and VR technologies into an intelligent car, but its move to create an immersive indoor experience with PanoCinema is likely to be a game-changer at a time when a huge screen is seen as the hallmark of a premium intelligent battery-powered vehicle, analysts said.

“Obviously, Chinese electric carmakers have made improvements in technological development and car designs,” said Phate Zhang, founder of Shanghai-based EV tech portal CnEVpost. “The ET5 model is worth the attention since it may directly compete with Tesla’s Model 3.”

NIO, which is considered one of the three Chinese challengers to Tesla, delivered 10,878 units to customers in November, after sales fell to a 15-month low the previous month to 3,667 units. The sales pale in comparison to Tesla’s deliveries of 31,732 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles on the mainland last month.

NIO also announced the launch of VR glasses with technology start-up Nolo, which have ultra-thin pancake lens and can achieve binocular 4K display effect. NIO claims that the glasses are the world’s first automotive-specific high-performance VR device. Pancake lens gets its name from its shape, which resembles a short stack of pancakes.

NIO also announced the launch of its virtual reality glasses at NIO Day. Photo: Daniel Ren

The ET5 meanwhile is NIO’s fifth production model since it was established in 2014.

The model due to launch next year is fitted with a 75 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery that can go as far as 550km on a single charge.

The long range version powered by a 100kWh battery has a driving range of 700km, while the ultralong range model carrying a 150kWh battery can go 1,000km. NIO has not unveiled the prices of the higher range versions.

Tesla’s Model 3, assembled at its Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai, is priced from 255,652 yuan to 339,900 yuan. Its basic model has a driving range of 556km.

NIO’s Li said that the deliveries of the luxury saloon ET7 will start from the end of March. The model, launched at the start of this year, is priced from 448,000 yuan onwards.

The car’s extended edition, fitted with a 150 kWh battery, can go as far as 1,000km on a single charge.

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