Electric vehicle maker NIO has revealed its new six-seat SUV, EL8. NIO says the EL8 will be available in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden for the first time, as well as Norway, where the previous generation paved the way for the brand’s entry into Europe.
NIO says the EL8 is ‘packed with class-leading innovations such as the most powerful mass-produced mobile computing platform to date, ‘light bending’ LED lights and dual chamber air suspension.’
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NIO also says the car includes sustainable design and materials, including the ‘world’s first plant-based woven suede, soybean foam and rattan’.
At 5,099 mm long, 1,750 mm tall, 2,199 mm wide and with an expansive 3,070 mm wheelbase, EL8
The Executive Console model benefits from a ‘smart refrigerator and console housed between the second row 12-way Ottoman reclining seats’. Continuing the theme of ultimate luxury, the Executive model also offers a ‘Hot Stone Massage’ experience in the first and second seat rows as standard.
EL8’s all-wheel-drive system employs 180 kW SiC permanent magnet and 300 kW induction motors with a claimed world first ‘dual three-phase topology inverter’ to improve peak performance and reliability. Delivering 850 Nm of torque, 0-100 km/h is achieved in 4.1 seconds. Its Long Range (100 kWh) swappable battery can achieve a range of 510 km WLTP, NIO claims. A Standard Range 75 kWh battery is also available.
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By GlobalDataUK (Oxford) engineering facility
NIO says its global engineering team prioritised active and passive safety from the outset of EL8’s conception with much of this development undertaken in NIO’s engineering facility in Oxford, UK. Comprising of 90 per cent aluminium alloy, EL8’s body features front and rear crumple zones that cover 72 per cent of the vehicle’s width for effective dissipation of energy, it says.
In addition to regular safety features, there is a ‘Smart Safety System’. Depending on the user position and the severity of the crash, the Smart Safety System adjusts the ignition airbag timing and seat belt force limit to better protect the occupants. It is complemented by an array of seven airbags including a 2,800 mm long side air curtain that extends protection to the rear occupants. EL8 also features a front centre airbag: NIO is the only brand to offer this as standard across its entire European range, it says.
NIO also says the EL8’s battery is tested to withstand temperatures of up to 590°C for up to 130 seconds, a one-metre drop test and zero ingress during saltwater immersion.
