On December 28, 2019, NIO(Weilai) held “NIO DAY 2019” at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, NIO announced a brand new battery pack, which increased the battery capacity to 100kWh and released new 20kW household DC charging pile (requires 380V three-phase power support), of course, the focus is the debut of all new NIO EC6 and the release of the new ES8.
Introduction to all new NIO EC6: Fastback design combines sport and fashion
NIO EC6 is NIO’s third production model after the ES8 and ES6 models. The new car is positioned as a mid-size pure electric coupe SUV, EC6 inherits the NIO family design language, it has an elegant, dynamic and avant-garde coupe body design, it has a low drag coefficient of 0.27Cd. NIO EC6 will be available for pre-orders today, the price and configuration are expected to be announced in July 2020, delivery will begin in September.
NIO EC6 adds a “fastback” design on the basis of the ES6. The roof curve starts to sink from the B-pillar, the round roof curve is integrated into the tail contour, the outline of the entire line is very smooth. The rear half of the body is a typical coupe style, which further highlights the sportiness, but it is undeniable that the fastback design will have a certain negative impact on the rear passenger’s room, especially the head room.
At rear part of EC6, due to the fastback design, the visual center of gravity of the whole car looks to be lower than the ES6, creating a more sports, closer to the coupe visual effect. The tail lights on both sides also inherits the ES6 irregular design, which greatly increases the visibility when lit at night.
Another highlight of the EC6 is that it features a panoramic skylight. NIO calls it a “panoramic skylight glass sunroof”, the integrated dome-type glass roof has an area of 2.1 square meters, providing a sense of wide space. Models such as Jaguar I-PACE and Porsche Cayenne Coupé also use this type of sunroof, it is very fashionable, and to a certain extent, it can also enhance the wide vision of the passengers in the car.
In terms of power, NIO EC6 Performance Edition is powered by a high-efficiency permanent magnet motor of 160 kW in the front and a high-performance induction motor of 240 kW at the rear. The Sports Edition is powered by dual 160 kW permanent magnet motors, the acceleration of 0-100 kilometers is only 5.6 seconds. NIO EC6 is also available in a 100kWh battery pack, the Performance Edition has a NEDC battery life of 615 kilometers. For the chassis, the vehicle features a combination of front double wishbone and rear multiple links, with electronic shock absorbers, and an optional height-adjustable air suspension. In terms of SAE L2 level assisted driving system, all EC6 models are equipped with Mobileye EyeQ4 automatic driving chip as standard, users can use NIO Pilot through subscription + remote upgrade.
Background of NIO EC6:
In December 2019, a photo of Weilai EC6 spy photo was circulated on the Internet. Although the exterior of the car was covered with a layer of solid black cloth, we can guess that the car uses a fastback design through the outline, combined with the body size, it is not difficult to guess that this is the fastback version of NIO ES6. As the third mass production model of NIO, the launch of NIO EC6 is to attract young consumers and provide more choices for the intended consumer of ES6.
Competitors
2018 Jaguar I-PACE EV400 Limited Edition
Tesla (Import) Model Y 2019 Performance Edition
With the official launch of the EC6, it will compete with models such as Jaguar I-PACE and Tesla Model Y, which are also mid-sized pure electric SUVs with the same fastback design. Among them, Jaguar I-PACE is an earlier batch of pure electric luxury cars launched in the old car company camp, it highlights the value and performance beyond high technology, and mixes the genes of electric and fuel cars, while maintaining its own recognition, helpless pricing is too high, usually visibility on the road is not high. The Tesla Model Y is expected to go on sale next year, NIO EC6 is unveiled at the end of 2019, it is destined to seize some of the opportunities.
