Image: Quni Qian via X
Nio, a leading Chinese EV brand that offers high-tech battery swap technology, helping drivers get a fully charged battery in under 6 minutes, has been working on a few projects for the brand’s expansion.
On an international expansion into Europe over the past few years, Nio has also been working a more affordable EV brand, and some of the details are starting to emerge.
The brand will be called Onvo and has just had it’s website launch. Its first SUV model, the L60 is coming soon. This model is set to compete with the popular Tesla Model Y in the market.
According to a reliable Chinese EV industry expert on X, Thinkercar, revealed that starting price will be the equivalent of less than $A39,000 for the battery swap version of the L60 SUV.
The entry-level model comes with a 60 kWh blade battery supplied by BYD. There is also an option of a larger 90 kWh battery which will be supplied by CATL.
Both of these batteries will be able to be swapped in under 6 minutes at thousands of battery swap stations in China where the car will be initially launched.
The EV architecture will be based on a 900 V platform and will have a high-end infotainment system chipset.
The information released so suggest that the efficiency of the L60 will be better than the Tesla Model Y at 130 Wh/km, but that’s yet to be confirmed in the real world.
Nio is planning to unveil the Onvo brand to the local market in May, with plans to take it next year to Europe, where it already has multiple flagship stores. Two are in Germany that are located in Frankfurt and Berlin, and there is another in Oslo.
In 2023, Nio announced that it would be debuting its ET5 electric sedan for the UK market at the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex, England. This was well received, highlighting the brand’s ambition to venture into right-hand-drive markets.
At this stage, it is unclear if the new, more affordable, Onvo brand will be heading to right-hand-drive markets. More details on the new L60 and the brand’s international plans for it are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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