Market launch of NIO: Does Germany go for removable batteries and electric summer festivals?

• The Chinese electric car manufacturer NIO is expanding and is now also offering its models in Germany.
• At the start there will be, among other things, the ET7 sedan, which will only be offered as a subscription model.
• NIO involves users in future developments and wants to build an active community in this country.
• Netzwelt was there live at the launch event in Berlin.

The big stage in Berlin’s Tempodrom on Friday evening belonged to the still young car manufacturer NIO. So far, the brand’s electric cars have not been available for purchase in this country. Nevertheless, the brand founded in 2014 should know some. After all, NIO keeps making a name for itself through innovations. The best known is the fully automatic battery exchange station.

Innovative power-swap stations are coming to Germany

Here, NIO owners drive their cars like they’re going to a car wash. Robots then take care of replacing the battery. Depending on the model, the autopilot also takes over this task. Switching from an empty to a full battery takes just five minutes. These power-swap stations (PPS) – there are already several hundred of them in the home country of China – are gradually to be increasingly built in Germany and the surrounding European region.

There is currently a PPS on the A8 between Munich and Stuttgart. Another PPS in Berlin is about to be completed. 20 more stations are to be built in Europe before the end of 2022, and 120 more stations are to be added in the coming year. By 2025, more than 1,000 PPS are expected to be built outside of China.

In addition to the PPS, the manufacturer says it has access to 380,000 charging points in Europe that customers can control with the NIO NFC card.

E-cars in a subscription model: Two sedans and an SUV for monthly installments

NIO’s current flagship is the ET7, a purely electric sedan. Like the more compact sister model ET5 – roughly comparable to a Tesla Model 3 – and the medium-sized SUV EL7, it is only available in Germany as part of a subscription model. The manufacturer is apparently initially targeting business customers and fleet operators. But the financing model is also open to private users.

Interested parties can now order the NIO ET7. According to NIO, the cars are expected to be delivered in October. NIO is taking pre-orders for the smaller NIO ET5 and SUV EL7. Deliveries are scheduled to begin here in January or March 2023.

NOK ET7: Price in Germany

The manufacturer distinguishes between a flexible and fixed subscription. In the basic version of the NIO ET7 (with 75 kWh battery) and a term of 36 months, at least 1,199 euros are due per month.

With a one-year, more flexible term, the monthly basic price is 1,199 euros. The latter subscription model can be taken out on a monthly basis and canceled within two weeks. Whether the electric cars can also be bought at a one-time price? There was no information about this at the event in Berlin. This is also not possible on the NIO website. If it stays that way, it would be rather unusual for an automobile manufacturer.

According to its own statements, NIO owes its success in its home market China to its community, which the manufacturer ensnares and which provides feedback on the previous products. For German customers, the concept may seem a bit strange at first.

Anyone who buys an electric car from NIO on a subscription plan automatically becomes part of the NIO community. This invites you to events. There is about a summer festival and free access to NIO Houses. These houses are intended for exchange, and customers can also equip themselves with fan articles and more. Such a NIO House is about to open in Berlin, and others are being planned in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf as well as in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Gothenburg.

Among those present at the NIO premiere in Berlin were numerous NIO community members invited by the manufacturer, who celebrated the appearance of the young at heart company boss William Li like that of a pop star. This is only known in this form from Elon Musk and Tesla. The User Advisory Board (UAB) is part of the NIO concept. “The UABs support the company in continuously improving the user experience by sharing ideas on the service quality, charging or their use of a NIO Smart EV,” NIO shares.

That sticks

“‘Blue Sky Coming’ describes our leading philosophy for a better, positive and more sustainable future. This principle drives us every day – worldwide,” says NIO about itself. Indeed, in ET7 and the other models shown, many sustainable ones can be found or recycled materials and environmental aspects and sustainability were always major topics at the event in various panels.

The fact that visitors to the event in Berlin were handed a small “goodie bag” at the end gave food for thought. The shoulder bag, which was made from old car materials such as worn-out seat belts, contained small gifts from the “Blue Sky Labs”, NIO’s own merchandise. But in order to get to these sustainable goodies, it was first necessary to remove several layers of plastic foil and other packaging material. This is reminiscent of an organic banana wrapped in aluminum foil and does not fit the self-imposed NIO image.

It will be interesting to see over the next few months whether the NIO enthusiasm fireworks will spill over to the Germans. Above all, it seems to be the exchangeable battery concept that catches the eye. “It’s surprising that no other manufacturer has come up with it,” was the message from several participants at the event.

Note: We accepted an invitation from the manufacturer to this event. NIO covered the costs for the Hamburg-Berlin train journey and for an overnight stay in a hotel in Berlin. This has no influence on the way we report.