Nio will launch the ET9 at Nio Day 2023 on December 23, trying to enter a market dominated by models including Mercedes-Benz Maybach.
Nio’s (NYSE: NIO) new flagship model to be unveiled a week later will be the ET9 in an attempt to enter a market dominated by models including Mercedes-Benz Maybach.
“On Nio Day, December 23, we’re going to unveil an executive flagship sedan, the ET9,” Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li said today during a live stream of his range test of the 150-kWh semi-solid-state battery.
“When it comes to executive flagships, you know there’s Mercedes-Benz’s Maybach, the S-Class, the BMW 7-Series, the (Audi) A8. And then there are some sporty ones like Porsche’s Panamera,” Li added.
This is a market that has been largely inaccessible to Chinese brands, but in the age of smart electric vehicles (EVs), an executive flagship has to be a tech flagship, he said.
“So I think there’s an opportunity for Chinese companies to get involved,” Li said.
Nio Day 2023 will be held on December 23 in Xi’an, Shaanxi province in northwest China, and is an annual event for the company.
Nio will unveil a new flagship model at Nio Day 2023 that will become the global technology benchmark for smart EVs and lead the trend of smart EV technology, Li said in a December 5 earnings call.
Previously, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu’s team speculated in a December 5 research note to investors that the model could be an ultra-high-end sedan, the “ET9,” comparable to a Maybach.
It would be a low-volume car, but could be a halo vehicle that brings excitement to the brand, Yu’s team said.
Nio currently sells the ES8, ES7, ES6, EC7, EC6, ET7, ET5, ET5 Touring, the first five of which are SUVs and the last three sedans, with the ES lineup being Nio’s regular SUVs, the EC being the coupe SUVs, and the ET being the sedan lineup.
Li is testing the range performance of the 150-kWh semi-solid battery pack, and he left around 6:30 am this morning, with the journey not yet complete.
As of this writing, Li and his team have driven the ET7 sedan 815 kilometers with 25 percent power remaining, according to Nio’s live video feed.
The total combined energy consumption for the journey till now was 13.4 kWh per 100 kilometers, with the last 10 kilometers consuming 11.4 kWh per 100 kilometers.
The ET7 is currently in an environment with a temperature of 9 degrees Celsius, an interior temperature of 19 degrees Celsius and a real-time speed of 95 kilometers per hour.
New model to be unveiled on Nio Day 2023 could be ultra high-end sedan ‘ET9’, says Deutsche Bank
