NIO is an extremely controversial brand and many netizens are even more concerned about NIO’s high service costs and fears that the high price of NIO vehicles will prevent them from entering the mass market. They also predict that NIO will be “hammered” to the ground by Tesla’s Model Y, and so on.
Since people are creatures that are influenced by their environment, every time I read these comments online, I feel like criticizing NIO.
NIO Life sells a red wine glass for 1544 yuan and a ham for 9999 yuan. Can’t they offer something that I can afford?
NIO House’s offline events are becoming more and more tense. Can’t they allow everyone to participate rather than relying on their own “speed”? Aren’t they afraid that users would crack their phone screens while trying to secure a spot?
Can’t they stock up more of the NOMI MATE, priced at 5280 yuan each? Limiting it to just 300 units is nothing more than “hunger marketing”, right? Aren’t they just trying to emulate Xiaomi’s Lei Jun’s “selling point”?
Taking all of this into account, online discussions about NIO suggest that this car company is not focused on making good cars, but rather on creating “stuff”. That’s why we have to wait until “at least next year.”
However, I have noticed that there are almost no or very few criticisms focused on the safety of NIO’s vehicles.
On March 10, I visited NIO’s second experimental center and saw three EC6s that underwent testing with China Insurance Research Institute’s Vehicle Safety Assessment Program, and I have some thoughts to share with everyone.
Four Scenarios
On January 21, 2021, CI-VPRA announced that NIO EC6 obtained full marks (“full G”) in the in-vehicle occupant safety index, pedestrian safety index, and vehicle assistance safety index, with the front 25% offset collision and side collision both scoring “zero defects.”
To be honest, I should be surprised by such a result. But, in fact, it’s not surprising at all.
Because NIO has been known for “layering” materials, and I’m not talking about the leather seats here, but rather, the body made of 4, 5, and 6-series aluminum, and the front longitudinal beam made of 7-series aluminum.
Actually, before buying a car, I was like many people who had concerns about an all-aluminum body.
Because it means a higher cost of the vehicle and higher maintenance costs. Here is a quote from some online comments, “An all-aluminum body, used only for high-end or weight reduction purposes, is actually useless.”
The price increase is understandable because aluminum is more expensive than steel.
The high maintenance cost is mainly due to the fact that aluminum has less elasticity and a lower melting point, making it difficult to shape using traditional panel beating techniques. Moreover, aluminum plates generally increase in thickness to ensure rigidity and strength, which can cause them to fracture if forcefully repaired.
But, everything has two sides, and an all-aluminum body also has many advantages. For example, its importance for improving vehicle safety cannot be underestimated. In addition to reducing weight for better handling, acceleration, and shorter braking distance, it also provides “electric dads” with longer battery life.And more importantly, in a collision, aluminum alloy provides better structural strength, protecting passengers in the car.
Surprisingly, the EC6 received an A score in the “Crash Resistance and Repair Economy Index,” which was unexpected. This result can be attributed to the “low-speed collision scene.”
In this test, the EC6 needed to withstand “small kisses” from the front and back traveling at a speed of 16 km/h. It is worth mentioning that as long as the car is not made of paper in this speed collision test, there is no danger to life. In other words, safety is not a concern. The main focus is on considering the user’s wallet.
Therefore, the result was that the EC6 airbags and curtains did not deploy, and neither the body nor the tailgate deformed. Actually, I was surprised when I first saw this result, but it makes sense upon closer inspection.
If the repair cost is too high in low-speed collisions, NIO may lose money even with NIO’s current “Service Without Worry” pricing, which could not afford to include the expensive coffee machines priced over ten thousand yuan in the NIO Houses.
To improve collision resistance and reduce maintenance costs, NIO has two methods:
First, install two aluminum alloy crossbeams, referred to as “Energy-absorbing Box,” in the front and rear, which can absorb collision energy and transfer it backward, effectively preventing the deformation of the body.
Second, also arrange expensive parts in a less deformable area of the body to prevent them from being impacted during low-speed collisions, thereby reducing the after-sales maintenance cost of the entire vehicle for minor accidents.
Here, regarding “no airbag deployment in low-speed collisions,” I want to say a few more words. In addition to factors such as repair economy and not affecting the user’s normal use of the vehicle after a minor accident, the most important thing is not to deploy the airbag when it is not necessary, because the airbag is a disposable item. In actual accident scenarios, a secondary accident is not uncommon, meaning two collisions from one accident, and the death rate is even higher in secondary accidents.
Let me give you the simplest example—the “three-car rear-end” collision. When you’re driving car A and rear-end car B, because car A is under your control, as long as you’re not drunk, you will take deceleration action. The force of the impact is relatively controllable, but the force of the impact from car C from behind on car B is not controllable.
But I’m not saying that airbags should not be deployed in all first-accident scenarios. For car manufacturers, the most thoughtful topic is to control the timing of airbag deployment in the most suitable time during one accident.
In the 25% collision test, the car needs to avoid the collision beam in front of the car and hit the obstacle directly at a speed of 64 kilometers per hour. Because of the relatively “tricky” collision angle in this scenario, the occurrence rate is not high, but the fatality rate is higher than other head-on collisions.So, in this scenario, the top priority is to consider whether the collided vehicles can provide survival space for the occupants. Due to the greater difficulty of this challenge, it is also known as the “spell” of the car industry.
Since the collision area of this scenario does not contact the “front anti-collision beam”, the main consideration is “vehicle structure safety”.
Three points are mainly decisive here, namely, the upper collision force, lower collision force, and qualitative vehicle structure.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these points. Firstly, the above collision force on the EC6 is transferred to the upper beam, and then scattered through the A-pillar and the door to collide.
The lower collision force is transmitted to the Torque Box protective hub and the threshold beam through the wheel hub, and then distributed to the A-pillar and the sled plate, dispersing the force to the rear of the vehicle and the non-collision side.
Let’s talk a little more about Torque Box. The torque box uses a high-pressure cast aluminum component, which is shaped like a three-dimensional grid and has a multi-dimensional support effect.
Due to the structure of the electric vehicle chassis with an added power battery pack, in a frontal collision, the collision force cannot be smoothly transmitted to the longitudinal beam and to the body frame after passing through the front engine compartment, as in a fuel car.
Therefore, the frame structure of the electric vehicle cabin becomes an important force-bearing structure, and the function of the torque box is to transmit the collision force hub.
It is somewhat similar to the traffic hubs on a highway, which can distribute collision forces to other connected structural components, such as threshold beams, A-pillars, and sled plates.
In summary, the purpose of doing this is not only to protect the safety of passengers, but also to protect the safety of the battery pack.
Therefore, the result is that after the EC6 collision, the doors can be opened normally, the internal passenger compartment has small deformation, and there is no visible intrusion into the feet and legs.
With the cooperation of seat belts and dual airbags, even if the impact force is too great and the dummy’s head, chest, neck, and legs may shift, the head may not hit the front airbag, and the side air curtain can also protect the dummy’s head.
In this collision test, the EC6 scored a perfect score in the evaluation of 43 subdivided items, including body structure deformation, head, neck, chest, and lower limb injuries to passengers, restraint systems and dummy movements, and high-voltage safety.
Equally important, NIO has placed some collision sensors inside the car. If a collision occurs, the entire vehicle will cut off the high-voltage circuit within 0.01 seconds and discharge it completely within 2.4 seconds.
Looking at it this way, they have done quite a bit of “car-making” work, rather than just some arbitrary things.
Side Impact
In this collision test, a 1.5-ton collision barrier vehicle collided with the EC6 at a speed of 50 km/h, mainly testing whether the occupants of the car could be protected when the vehicle was hit on the side by an SUV or pickup truck.
The danger of side impact is definitely greater than that of frontal impact, because there is no energy-absorbing effect in the front engine compartment, and seat belts do not provide protection in this direction.The most direct force point in this scenario is the threshold beam, car door, and B-pillar. At this point, the impact force is transmitted outward through multiple reinforced crossbeams.
To improve safety, it means that the structure must be strengthened, and this is where the role of “piling” comes in.
The threshold beam and B-pillar of the EC6 are made of 6-series aluminum materials manufactured by extrusion and stamping processes, which ensures strong structural strength.
As a result of the collision, the side air curtain of the EC6 can pop out normally, protecting the dummy’s head, while the vehicle intrusion is small, which does not affect the safety of the battery pack.
In addition, because the EC6 has also benefited from the “bonus” of electric vehicles, as the bottom chassis has a battery pack, the vehicle center of gravity is low, and it is less prone to rollovers in side impacts, thus avoiding secondary accidents.
Furthermore, as side impacts may also involve broken car window glass, if the glass splinters, it can cause secondary accidents. Most automakers use double-layer laminated glass to mitigate this risk, and EC6 is no exception.
Overall, in the scenario of side collision, the EC6 achieved a full score in the body deformation, dummy’s head, chest, neck, legs, and high-voltage safety among the 19 sub-items.
Roof Crush Test
The roof crush test is mainly aimed at simulating the scenario of a vehicle rolling over to test the roof’s strength and the stability of the vehicle’s structure after the collision occurs.
As mentioned above, although electric vehicles are generally difficult to overturn due to the layout of the battery pack, it also indicates that once an electric vehicle overturns, the force applied to the roof will be greater than that of a comparable gasoline vehicle.
According to research by the IIHS in the United States, about one-fifth of all traffic fatalities are caused by vehicle rollover accidents.
Therefore, the roof strength of electric vehicles should also be taken seriously.
The collision test result of EC6 shows that the 2.1-square-meter glass roof can withstand a force of 103 kN within a safety deformation distance of 127 mm, which is about 10 tons of force, equivalent to less than 4 Klay Thompsons, 8 golf carts, 13 Smart cars, or one adult African elephant.
This is because the B-pillar, upper A-pillar and front roof crossbeam of the EC6 are made of aluminum alloy material and have been strengthened, combined with SPR, FDS, laser welding, structural adhesive and other connection technologies, making the structure strength of the EC6 roof reach the above effect.
Similar to the side collision, the EC6’s panoramic sunroof also uses double-layer laminated glass to ensure that the glass sunroof can remain intact even in the event of a rollover, thus not producing excessive glass debris that can cause secondary injuries.
It turns out that the design of double-layer glass is not only for NVH.
Final Thoughts
In fact, during this visit, I also witnessed NIO’s other research units, such as the nine-degree-of-freedom driving experience simulation platform, all-aluminum body material laboratory, optical laboratory, and so on, which are all worth discussing to improve research and development efficiency.But the reason why we’re emphasizing vehicle engineering safety is that what impressed me the most during my visit to NIO’s Second Experimental Center was NIO’s Vice President of Vehicle Assembly, Danilo Teobaldi.
A brief introduction to this guy’s background: he’s from Turin, Italy, a city that is not only home to Juventus Stadium, but also the birthplace of Fiat.
Danilo used to work at Giugiaro, a car design company that reportedly holds over 90% of Lamborghini’s shares. He has also been involved in designing supercars such as Namir, VW12, Maserati Kubang, and Lamborghini Aventador.
From his on-site speech, we can hear that “he ‘hates exams’ and believes that vehicle engineering safety should not only be done to ‘pass the exam.'”
For example, when they conduct internal testing, they use a barrier car that can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h to run head-on collision tests with other cars at relative speeds of 100 km/h. Moreover, they constantly discover and solve problems during this process, accumulating over 100 car collision tests.
Another example is NIO’s unique “Queen’s Side Airbag.” Unlike traditional cars where the airbag is located on the center console, NIO’s airbag is located on the roof to ensure that it can cover passengers of different sizes. To achieve this, they conducted over 750 collision simulations.
Finally, I want to say that the word “material stacking” is commonly used in NIO. In the field of consumer electronics, this term has a dual meaning. On the one hand, it shows that the manufacturer is willing to spend money, and on the other hand, it shows that the manufacturer’s innovation ability is not enough and can only rely on “stacking” to win, so it is both a commendatory and derogatory term.
However, when it comes to the automotive industry, I believe that its commendatory meaning outweighs its derogatory meaning.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.