Author: Zhu Yulong

This year, I came to Hefei with Yan Yan to attend the NIO Day. Every year, NIO presents something at this summary point, so we come to experience it when we have the chance.

Currently, NIO’s development logic is different from several other companies. The core route is different: XPeng pursues technology and ideal pursuit of ultimate product power, while NIO pursues a product ecology. NIO’s car owners are not just for the car, but also for the entire lifecycle service, lifestyle, and digital experience built around it.

Here is a long-term judgment on the market: for a pure electric vehicle brand, technology can be easily narrowed, and product configuration cutting will also be learned and replicated by competitors. How do you maintain your development and make consumers buy your car?

NIO’s solution is to build and create a brand around luxury and interaction through long-term investment. Currently, among domestic brands, if you want to buy a SUV electric car priced above 400,000 yuan, NIO provides three different styles of products: ES8, ES7, and EC7, which basically satisfy various needs.

These few cars, the three batteries (75kWh, 100kWh) are based on platform technology, intelligent driving doesn’t need to be selected, and the cabin design is also the same. Through adjustments in the front face to diversify and the design changes in the entire exterior to meet different customer needs, it is somewhat similar to the logic of “suits all my needs come to my bowl!”

This long-term strategy focuses more on (in Figure 1’s compass, other car companies tend to focus on 1/4 parts directly related to the car) and seems to be less efficient and more expensive. Compared with XPeng squeezed by BYD and Tesla, and Huawei AITO with a bunch of car companies to copy the ideal, what NIO can say is that the current delivery data of their cars appears to be this small, no matter how many cars they have. But now, with the downward pressure on consumption and the competition in the category in the red sea stage, NIO has also come over with three outdated 866s, waiting for the release of new products.## NIO’s Power Replenishment System Technology

In terms of power replenishment, NIO is taking two paths:

Battery Swap Station

On NIO Day, the third-generation battery swap station was launched with improved efficiency and capacity. The swapping time is now 20% shorter, and the battery compartment has been increased to 21, with up to 408 services per day, a 30% increase from the second generation station. The new generation battery swap station from NIO is equipped with two LiDARs and two NVIDIA Orin chips, and its computing power reaches 508TOPS.

I thought about it yesterday, and the logic can be understood as: in the future, the battery swapping personnel in charging stations will no longer just help you park your car, but will supervise your car remotely when allowed by regulations, from your residential parking spot to the battery swap station, taking on the role of swapping the battery and leaving.

Supercharging Station

The 500kW NIO Supercharging Station is also a highlight of this NIO Day: with a peak power output of 500kW and a maximum charging current of 660A. Taking the ES7 as an example, after charging for 20 minutes with a 100 kWh battery pack, the ES7’s CLTC mileage can be increased by 400 kilometers. Of course, there is still room for further improvement in charging speed after NIO vehicles develop the next generation of 800V systems. The new generation charging station is also equipped with NIO’s self-developed liquid-cooled charging gun wire, reducing the weight of the entire charging gun by more than half, making it possible to perform charging operations with one hand.

Note: In the short term, NIO’s charging network is a network for all automotive enterprise users, which is no easy feat and is beneficial to Xpeng G9.

Highlights of Automotive Technology

Two new models were released at NIO Day: EC7 and a new ES8.

The EC7’s panoramic moonroof uses electrically adjustable colors – 99.9% anti-ultraviolet, black and gray base color, while maintaining the natural colors of the environment. Besides that, there weren’t many new technologies. The majority of components are comprised of various small electric motors, with more than 20 in the seats alone, implementing various features, including the tail wing.- Motors on EC7:

The dual-mode active lift tail wing can provide two modes: drag reduction and extreme speed. According to NIO, it can reduce 4% drag or provide 650N additional downforce, further enhancing the vehicle’s performance.

• Motors on ES8:

The second-row middle position creatively designed an executive island, where a small laptop can be placed on the armrest position, and a phone wireless charging pad and a car refrigerator are also provided below. This executive island can be electrically extended and retracted.

◎ Seats:
High-end seat platform. The driver’s seat can achieve 20 adjustments, while the second row can achieve 12 adjustments and an electric leg rest. There are so many motors here!

• Driver’s seat: 20-way power adjustment, 6-degree shoulder adjustment, and electric headrest.

• Co-driver’s seat: 22-way power adjustment, dual 120-degree zero gravity.

• Second row: 550mm width, electric leg rest, 12-way adjustment.

• Third row: zone heating.

Conclusion:
In 2022, various new technologies are applied to car models, and people’s excitement seems not as high as in previous years. The explosion of technology has entered a relatively low period at this point. Therefore, how to deliver cars smoothly and reserve a new order pool is still a big challenge.

This NIO Day is not as exciting as last year when we saw ET5. The scene of resisting deposits on the spot is still vivid. Perhaps automotive technology is like the World Cup, with a peak every three or four years. Some drops and drips are interspersed in between, just like a small year. However, the great progress of technology needs to be accumulated in these details.

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.