What if, as an alternative of in search of out a charger and plugging in for half an hour, you possibly can swap out your depleted EV battery for a brand new one in simply 5 minutes? That’s the query requested by Nio, a 7-year-old Chinese electrical automobile firm with a community of greater than 1,300 battery-swap stations for doing precisely that.

However, the overwhelming majority of those stations are in China, with 100 in Shanghai alone, serving prospects who largely reside in flats and lack the area to put in a charger at dwelling. Customers purchase the automobile however lease the battery, with the month-to-month price granting them entry to the swap station community.

By distinction, there are at present solely 27 so-called Power Swap Stations in Europe, throughout Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, however extra are supposedly within the pipeline. Nio plans to develop into the UK by the top of 2024, however, identical to different Chinese auto brand BYD, the US will not be at present on Nio’s roadmap.

Guided by their navigation system, Nio drivers arrive on the battery-swap stations, park in a delegated bay, then let their automobile maneuver itself into place, the place it’s autonomously lifted into the air and its battery swapped for a totally charged one. The swap certainly takes 5 minutes and, whereas the stations are manned for now, Nio says all the course of may quickly be automated.

Like so many Chinese EV startups poised to dominate the European market, Nio could not but have crossed your radar, regardless of its intelligent reply to vary anxiousness. The model launched again in 2016 with the reveal of an electrical hypercar referred to as EP9 in London’s Saatchi Gallery. Only a handful have been constructed and all are retained by Nio itself, the place they now act as automotive objets d’artwork in “Nio Houses.” Another bid to be completely different, these homes kind a community of city-center retail areas and, apparently, members’ golf equipment for Nio prospects to socialize, seize a espresso, be a part of a yoga class (sure, yoga) or deal with their inbox in a shared workspace.

Two years after the splashy EP9 launch got here a wise electrical SUV referred to as the ES8. This was adopted by the smaller ES6, and, in 2021, Nio ventured past China, increasing into Norway first, with Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands following in 2022.

An Unhappy Design Department

That brings us to the current day and the launch of the all-new, second-generation ES6. Only it’s referred to as the EL6 in Europe as a result of a German court docket dominated the Chinese identify is simply too just like what Audi may theoretically name an electrical S6.

At 4,863 millimeters, the five-seat EL6 is nearly precisely the identical size as a Mercedes EQE SUV, however Nio’s battery-swapping structure makes its automobiles fairly extensive. In the EL6’s case meaning 2,212 millimeters, or barely wider than a Range Rover. That further width means loads of inside area, with the second row feeling particularly roomy, whereas the outside aesthetic is good-looking and properly proportioned. It’s a giant automobile, however not an ungainly one. Unless you order it in black, in fact, as a result of then the roof-mounted lidar sensor makes it appear to be a London taxi.

This isn’t the one automobile to have a lidar progress on its brow, and one suspects the motorcar is about to endure the identical awkward few years smartphones went by means of with the front-facing digicam notches that have been as soon as ridiculed and now largely ignored. Indeed, Volvo’s upcoming EX90 additionally has a taxi-light lidar, however the G9 by XPeng, yet one more Chinese EV maker, tidily integrates the all-seeing sensor into its headlight cluster.

When requested why Nio opted for the roof, lead car expertise supervisor Pep Pujol Mur tells me: “We had the option of the bumper integration, but we asked the [autonomous driving] department where the most effective position is on the car, where it can see as much as technically possible, and that is at the top and center.” But, even so, Mur is pressured to confess that his “colleagues at the design department were not so happy.”

In an try to regain floor, nonetheless, Mur asserts that Chinese consumers apparently now see the lidar bump as an indication of a automobile full of know-how, then nearly instantly undermines this gambit by suggesting the offending tech will ultimately be hidden from view.

Smarter Than Sony’s Car

Onlookers can be proper to imagine the EL6 is packed to its panoramic roof with know-how. The automobile is supplied with 33 sensing items, together with radar, 11 cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, and, in fact, that lidar lump Nio hilariously calls “the watchtower.” These all feed knowledge to the automobile’s mind, which consists of 4 Nvidia Drive Orin X chips with a mixed computing energy of 1,016 TOPS (trillions of operations per second). For context, the Afeela prototype revealed by Sony and Honda earlier this yr claims a most computing energy of 800 TOPS, and that isn’t due out till 2026.

Despite all that processing energy, Nio isn’t going all-in on autonomy simply but, and bafflingly the automobile provides solely Level 2 autonomous driving. This means it may possibly maintain in lane and a secure distance from the car forward as commonplace, whereas a beta model of Nio’s Navigate on Pilot Plus system handles freeway on and off ramps, lane merging, and overtaking—however the driver’s palms should stay on the wheel.

The all-wheel-drive EL6 has a 150-kW motor on the entrance and a 210-kW motor driving the rear axle, so a complete output of 360 kW (483 horsepower) and 700 Nm of torque. Standstill to 62 mph is a claimed 4.5 seconds—greater than sufficient for a family-size SUV, in fact—and max vary is supposedly 329 miles with a 100-kWh battery, or 253 miles from the smaller (however solely marginally lighter) 75-kWh pack.

Nio clearly likes to deal with battery swapping as an alternative of charging, however for the reason that European swap community continues to be so small, potential EL6 consumers should be conscious that the 75-kWh battery can solely cost at as much as 140 kW. The 100-kWh pack is healthier, however nonetheless maxes out at round 180 kW, properly wanting the 225 kW of a Kia EV6 or anticipated 270 kW of the upcoming Porsche Macan EV.

Now, maybe tellingly, WIRED didn’t get an opportunity to totally drain the battery throughout a manufacturer-hosted drive occasion, or use a swap station. But on our first 57-mile drive we noticed the 75-kWh pack fall from 82 % and an indicated 209 miles of vary, to 63 % and 158 miles remaining. The automobile averaged 4.1 miles per kWh, suggesting a real-world vary of simply over 300 miles would have been attainable. That’s some 70 miles past the EL6’s WLTP ranking.

A second 40-mile journey included lengthy stretches of derestricted German autobahn and noticed the battery fall from 63 % to 39 %, averaging 3.1 m/kWh and ending the day with 100 miles of vary remaining.

Meet Nomi, Nio’s $640 Animated Alexa

The EL6’s double-glazed cabin is serenely quiet, with barely a touch of motor whine from the drivetrain nor wind noise, even at excessive velocity. Nio has mercifully prevented the temptation so as to add an artificial soundtrack, however as an alternative equips the EL6 with a unbelievable sound system. Designed in-house and in any other case unbranded, it’s highly effective, exact, contains 11 audio system and a subwoofer, and is appropriate with Dolby music from Tidal, plus native help for Spotify.

There are a dizzying 9 driving modes to choose from. These embrace Eco, Comfort and Sport, plus a Sport+ mode that may be enabled with a one-second press of the steering wheel’s two outermost buttons. Do this, and the EL6 is severely speedy. It additionally handles remarkably properly for an EV of this measurement, with nice traction out of corners and a way that Nio’s chassis engineers sought to bake in some enjoyable alongside the consolation.

That mentioned, the steering is nearly solely devoid of really feel. It’s additionally reasonably gentle, however this may be mounted by utilizing Sport mode, or establishing a customized mode that mixes mediocre, energy-saving acceleration with firmer, extra reassuring steering. There are three ranges of regenerative braking power, starting from zero to a mode that replaces the bodily brakes more often than not, however isn’t configured to deliver the automobile to a cease.

An additional three drive modes for snow, mud, and sand make the most of the all-wheel-drive system, plus there’s a towing operate. These are all reachable from each the touchscreen and a bodily button subsequent to the gear selector. Or you may ask Nomi, the voice assistant baked into all of Nio’s automobiles.

As commonplace, the one clue as to Nomi’s existence within the cabin is a small brand and a standing gentle on the highest of the dashboard, like that of an Amazon Echo sensible speaker. But for an additional €600 ($637)—€600!—you can provide Nomi a bodily kind, with a round show that exhibits the assistant’s animated face and turns to greet whoever says its identify. If you could have extra money than sense, it’s a enjoyable technique to give Nomi some character, and the turning of the motorized display screen is a helpful technique to know if the system has heard you or not.

How Nomi dons a pair of headphones may make you smile, however be warned this digital butler is nothing particular. It usually failed to reply after we mentioned the “Hey, Nomi” wake phrase, which it’s important to say repeatedly, as Nomi doesn’t even pay attention out for follow-up questions in the way in which Alexa or Siri does.

Nomi can management music, assist with driving instructions, learn out climate forecasts, change drive modes, say how a lot battery cost stays, and inform jokes. It also can take a photograph of the cabin with a digicam close to the central mirror, which is bound to be hijacked by youthful passengers on each single journey. Controlling music and studying out the climate—there’s definitely nothing groundbreaking right here, however, if we’re being charitable, there’s at all times a slim probability over-the-air updates may create a rival Google Assistant.

No CarPlay, No Android Auto

Likewise, we’re eager to see what Nio has in retailer for its infotainment system, which shuns each Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The EL6 has a 12.8-inch touchscreen show within the middle of the dashboard, plus a ten.2-inch display screen forward of the motive force, each operating the corporate’s personal software program, referred to as Banyan. The fundamental UI is similar to Tesla’s, with a good navigation system voiced by Nomi and knowledgeable by Google’s Places API. Dig into the menu system and there’s lots to get your head round, from security techniques and a pet mode to a meditation app greatest not used whereas driving.

Give your self an hour, as you’ll when establishing a brand new smartphone, and also you’ll probably by no means want half the menus ever once more. Thankfully, there’s a helpful shortcut web page for gathering your most-used capabilities in a single place, accessible with a single swipe from the house display screen.

As with so a lot of as we speak’s automobiles, the EL6’s driver-assistance know-how generally feels hellbent on doing extra hurt than good. The very first intervention by the lane-keep help steered the automobile towards an oncoming coach as a result of we had strayed extensive round a nook to permit further area. Later, the EL6 briefly slammed on the brakes as a result of it had wrongly assumed a automobile approaching from a junction wasn’t going to cease. The lidar, in its “optimized position,” noticed this automobile (all autos it may possibly see seem within the driver show), and pictures mechanically saved by the Nio confirmed how its cameras had a transparent view of all lane markings, but it nonetheless braked exhausting at 60 km/h.