CarBrandLogos archive · NIO · 2021

NIOET7

A flagship saloon aimed at the Germans, with a lidar bar across the roof.

Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in NIO history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the NIO ET7, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

NIO showed this car at its NIO Day event in January 2021 and made customers wait more than a year for it, with deliveries beginning in March 2022. It was the company's first saloon and its first genuine attempt at the executive class, dual-motor and all-wheel drive, with a single-speed reduction gear at each end.

NIO ET Preview Concept 005 · Jengtingchen · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

The distinguishing feature sits on the roof. A raised housing carries a long-range lidar as part of a sensor suite backed by a computing stack built around multiple Nvidia Orin processors, hardware fitted to every car from launch on the assumption that the software would catch up later. NIO also promised a very large semi-solid-state battery pack for the car, which became one of the most closely watched deadlines in the industry.

NIO ET Preview Concept 001 · Jengtingchen · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

Inside, the emphasis was on materials rather than screens for their own sake, with renewable fabrics and open-pore wood in place of the piano black then standard in the segment. Jeasoo Kim led the design.

NIO ET Preview Concept 003 · Jengtingchen · CC BY-SA 4.0