Deliveries of the NIO EC6, the Chinese luxury EV maker NIO's third model, have started in Beijing with the first batch of 10 units.
NIO co-founder and president Qin Lihong and NIO CFO Feng Wei were on the scene to deliver the keys to owners.
On July 24, the NIO EC6 was officially launched and open for options, with a pre-subsidy price range of RMB 368,000 - RMB 468,000 for models equipped with a 70kWh battery pack.
The new car is available in three versions - Sport, Performance and Signature - and comes with an optional 100-degree battery pack with a maximum range of 615km.
The NIO EC6, which was unveiled and opened for booking at NIO Day back on December 28 last year, is positioned as a smart electric coupe SUV and is the third model by NIO, which will compete directly with the Tesla Model Y in the future.
NIO starts shipping EC6 from factory, first owners to get deliveries soon
Apart from having a range of over 600 km, it also has a pretty impressive exterior design.
Its roof is built with a 2.1 square meter area of dome-shaped glass that has thermal and UV protection features.
The rear of the car has a sliding back design for a more elegant and sporty look, with a low drag coefficient of 0.26Cd, which makes the EC6 more stable and energy efficient when driving at high speeds.
The NIO EC6 interior adopts the NIO family design style, which is basically the same as the ES6.
Nio announces price of EC6 starts at 368,000 yuan before subsidies
The NIO EC6 uses the NOMI Mate 2.0 system for the center screen and LCD instruments, with two screens measuring 11.3 inches and 9.8 inches respectively.
The vehicle also supports the NIO App Intelligent Remote Vehicle Control system and allows for remote vehicle software updates (FOTA).
The NIO EC6 Performance variant is powered by a permanent magnet + induction motor combination of 160kW front + 240kW rear, with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 4.5s.
The Sport version is equipped with 160kW front and 160kW rear dual PM motors, and the 0-100km/h acceleration time is 5.4s.
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With the delivery of the NIO EC6, NIO now has three production models. In 2021, NIO will probably launch its first sedan.
NIO has a more extensive product line than new powerhouse brands such as Xpeng and LI Auto.
In addition, NIO's product pricing is higher than other new carmakers, allowing NIO to differentiate itself from other Chinese EV startups.
Recently, NIO founder and CEO William Li Bin also said that NIO's average price in China is 100,000 RMB more than Tesla's, and never discounted.
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Since its founding, NIO has sold more than 50,000 vehicles, and Li Bin said that NIO's initial targeting of the high-end market seems to have been the right one.
On September 3, NIO announced its August deliveries this year. NIO delivered a total of 3,965 vehicles in August, a 104.1% increase compared to the same period last year, and set another monthly delivery record. 21,667 vehicles were sold from January to August, a 109.9% increase compared to the same period last year.
The ES6 continued to be the mainstay of NIO's sales. A total of 2,840 units were delivered in a single month, up for the second month in a row and also up 58% compared to the same period last year.
The once-unpopular ES8 also saw explosive sales growth this month, with deliveries reaching 1,125 units in a single month, an increase of more than 20% from the previous month and a huge 670.5% year-on-year increase.
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