On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Nio’s founding, Nio Day 2024 was held on the 21st of December at Guangzhou, China, with the theme “Together & Further”. NIO showcases as a world premiere the first model of its third, absolutely new brand firefly as well as NIO’s Smart Electric Executive flagship ET9. Click here to rewatch the NIO Day 2024.
“Over the past ten years, Nio has grown together with our users and friends, walking hand in hand. Through continuous technological innovation, we have brought high-quality smart electric vehicle products to our users; through the ongoing deployment of charging and battery swapping infrastructure, we have provided users with more convenient and efficient charging services. In the next decade, we will serve global users through our three brands, further the popularization of smart electric vehicles and help promote the global transition to electric vehicles and continue the work toward our mission of Blue Sky Coming,” said William Li, founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO.
New Nio brand firefly makes its world premiere at Nio Day 2024
Nio officially launched its third brand, firefly, at Nio Day 2024, which will also come to Europe. The first product of firefly is sharing the name of the brand itself and was designed in the first Nio R&D center in Europe (Munich, Germany), firefly made its global debut and began pre-sales in China, with a pre-sale price of 148,000 RMB (19,500 Euro).
firefly leverages Nio’s decade-long expertise and aims to exceed expectations in design, safety, space, intelligence, and energy efficiency.
Its inspiration comes from fireflies: small, agile and buzzing with energy, symbolizing freedom to move and being different, whilst the brand logo represents a flying and glowing firefly illustrating the brand’s spirit: “freedom to glow”. The brand DNA of firefly is “vivid” to create positive emotions and lasting impressions, “thoughtful” with logic and purpose, and “solid” to convey trust and confidence.
firefly is designed and developed in accordance with the latest China and EU dual five-star safety standards, the only compact car that meets the five-star safety standards of each region. High strength steel accounts for up to 83.4% of body structure, on par with luxury car models. It features a torsional stiffness of 35,700 Nm per degree, the strongest in a small car and front door with double anti-collision beams, which are a rarity in the entire automotive industry.
firefly transfers Nio values and technologies to high-volume segments
Drawing from its brand DNA of “vivid, thoughtful and solid” and leveraging leading smart EV technology, firefly will usher in the era of small, smart, high-end electric cars with a key focus on design, safety, space, intelligence and energy efficiency for active urban lifestyle users. It will achieve this through original design that aligns with the aesthetics of this new era, an agile driving experience, thoughtful spatial design, and a safety benchmark that is reliable and trustworthy.
Another debut at Nio Day 2024: Nio flagship ET9 with unique comfort and luxury ambience
At Nio Day 2024, the Nio Smart Electric Executive flagship ET9 was officially launched with a price tag of 788,000 RMB (103,000 Euro), with a limited edition of 999 units of the First Edition available for sale firstly in China, priced at 818,000 RMB (107,000 Euro). The ET9, which Nio announced exactly one year ago and which will also be available in Europe at a later point of time, was also designed at the Design Center in Munich. Nio’s global design headquarter, led by Kris Tomasson (Senior Vice President of Nio Design), was established in 2015 and became NIO’s first R&D site in Europe.
The Nio ET9 integrates Nio’s 12 Full Stack self-developed technologies of NIO, a result of over 53 billion RMB (6.96 billion Euro) in continuous R&D investment over ten years, including several world-first innovative technologies and 1,083 patent applications. With this technical underpinning, it brings nine unprecedented flagship experiences to users, meeting their high expectations of technology leadership in executive flagships in the Smart EV era.
The ET9’s Lightful Welcome via the front and rear headlights will greet the user while the industry-leading 2 square meter light carpet welcomes him as he enters. The innovative combination of the “Sky Island” and “Executive Bridge” naturally divide the cabin into four exclusive spaces offering unparalleled comfort and privacy in both business travel and personal use scenarios. With a 582 mm ultra-wide seat cushion, nearly 2 square meters of full-area heating, and 16-point hot stone massage function, it provides every passenger with a generous and proper first-class air travel experience. The class-exclusive double-sided relaxation mode can with a single command provide occupants with the experience to stretch out in comfort. The Versatile Executive Table located inside the “Executive Bridge” can be continually adjusted 360°, making it easy to read, work, present, and organize your items. In addition, the integrated smart electric refrigerator in the “Executive Bridge,” the rear safe, and the rear control panel that can be flipped up and down, all combine to make the ET9 a mobile meeting room that defines new standards for the executive flagship.
Centralized computer system controls all functions with unprecedented computing power
The innovative flagship experience originates from Nio’s steadfast investment in core technology R&D over the past decade. In the era of smart electric vehicles, the digital architecture is the foundation of the smart system. The ET9 has China’s first comprehensively self-developed smart system architecture. Relying on its four core advantages of ultra-high computing power, high-performance data communication, energy management, and security redundancy, it has become a leading digital architecture in the industry.
The world’s first vehicle-centric full-domain operating system is a comprehensive and leading intelligent digital technology base. The operating system covers multiple fields such as vehicle control, intelligent driving, cockpit, and mobile internet, fully embracing AI technology, with seven major characteristics including high bandwidth, low latency, large computing power, heterogeneous hardware, cross-domain integration, flexible continuous evolution, high reliability, and information security, bringing a safe, smart, and enjoyable ultimate digital experience.
World’s first model with integration of three smart chassis technologies
The Nio ET9 is the world’s first model to integrate the three major technologies SkyRide Steer-by-Wire, SkyRide Rear-Wheel Steering, and SkyRide Full Active Suspension into a Smart EV chassis system, bringing smart chassis technology to a new level. ET9 adopts the world’s first integrated hydraulic fully active suspension. For the first time, this highly integrates the shock absorber with the active suspension electric drive unit. This allows to adapt to an ultra-large range of transient adjustment capabilities for stiffness, damping, and height. With these technologies, the Nio ET9 represents the current industry state-of-the-art in suspension technologies, creating a comfortable driving experience for users.
At the same time, the Nio ET9 also becomes the first model in China to obtain the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s steer-by-wire mass production certification. Steer-by-Wire is one of the essential foundational components for more advanced smart vehicles and a core component for the implementation of L3 and higher-level autonomous driving functions in the future.
“The ET9 is the result of Nio’s decade-long continuous investment in R&D, and proofs Nio’s journey alongside global automotive industry innovators,” said William Li, founder, chairman, and CEO of Nio, as a conclusion.
SOURCE: Nio
