New Nio ET5 electric car from China to be produced in wagon form; right-hand drive expected.
UpdatE: The Nio ET5 Orion wagon has now been revealed.
The Nio ET5 electric sedan, soon to go into right-hand drive production, has been revealed in a new wagon format according to the latest round of Chinese government registry filings.
Set to make its public debut at next month’s Shanghai motor show, the new model is thought to be the one teased by Nio CEO William Li when he said the Tesla Model 3-rivalling ET5 “and another” car would arrive by the end of 2023.
Like the ET5, which will be Nio’s debut entry into the RHD market of the UK (Australia has not been confirmed yet), the wagon will be exclusively leased via a subscription model, rather than being sold.
The subscription model has proven successful for Chinese brand Lynk&Co (owned by Geely) in establishing itself in select major European markets.
A big-selling point of Nio cars will be rhe firm’s battery-swapping technology. This allows owners to swap a depleted battery for a fully charged one in around five minutes at special stations (that we’ve tested out).
The wagon, which will go on sale in China in June, is also planned to be offered in a number of other European markets – including Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway – by the end of the year.
The stretched ET5 builds on the standard sedan with a new-look rear aimed at providing it with added space and versatility.
It shares the same front-end look as the sedan through to the B-pillars. The rear then adopts a longer roofline and a heavily angled tailgate housing a full-width tail-light bar.
At 4790mm long, 1960mm wide and 1499mm tall, the new Nio is 77mm longer, 113mm wider and 59mm taller than the BMW 3 Series Touring. It also rides on a wheelbase 37mm longer than that of its German rival, at 2888mm.
Power for the wagon is expected to mirror that of the ET5 sedan, with a dual-motor set-up giving all-wheel drive.
In the sedan, the front asynchronous motor delivers 201bhp and the rear synchronous motor 210kW for an overall system output of 358kW, together with up to 705Nm of torque.
Three battery capacities are planned for the wagon, including 75kWh, 100kWh and 150kW units, the last of those using semi-solid-state cell technology. Claimed WLTP ranges are put at 446km, 579km and 999km respectively.