NIO officially announced their third production model – EC6 on the NIO Day of 2019.

There are two distinguishing features of this car model: its sleek coupe shape and its price. Li Bin kept the price a mystery until July 2020 when it was finally revealed to be between CNY 368,000 and CNY 526,000, which is similar to the prices of the ES6 model.

Generally, the price of a coupe SUV is usually higher than that of its sister models in the same platform and same category. For example, the price of BMW X6, the originator of coupe SUV, ranges from CNY 780,000 to CNY 960,000, while the X5 model, even in its extended version, has an official price ranging from CNY 600,000 to CNY 770,000. BMW even used import to widen the price gap between the two sister models.

NIO’s strategy of breaking the tradition of “pricing privilege” directly reflects on their sales. At the peak point, they sold over 3,000 EC6 cars per month, accounting for 60% of the total ES6 car sales.

NIO continues to exert efforts on their coupe SUV, and now, the elder brother of EC6, EC7, is finally here.

How to make a Coupe SUV?

Coupe originally means “sporty car,” dating back to 18th-century “berline coupé” (carriage), which was a lightweight carriage with rear seats removed to reduce weight.

After the rise of the automobile industry, it gradually evolved into a fixed-roof sports car with two doors. Nowadays, it does not only refer to a certain type of car or SUV shape, but mainly to the “sleek back” shape.

In the field of SUV, the release and hot sale of BMW X6 years ago aroused the imitation of various car companies in the market. Mercedes-Benz launched the GLE, Audi also released the Q8, and even Honda came to join in the fun and launched the Crosstour.

After the groundwork laid by EC6, NIO decided to create the “best-looking Coupe SUV in the world” on the larger EC7, which is a necessary global goal for NIO, which is going global.

The essence of the Coupe SUV lies in the body proportion, and the curvature of the roofline is the most obvious manifestation of this proportion.

NIO has made great efforts for this curvature on the EC7. The first effort is to advance the point.

In the era of fuel, traditional automakers had to increase horsepower by increasing the number of cylinders to improve vehicle performance, which forced the engine compartment, which is the front of the car, to become longer.

As an electric vehicle, the EC7 is naturally not constrained by the engine, but with the advanced point, the length of the front compartment is shortened. It does not look sharp enough when viewed from the front and side or at a 45-degree angle.

In order to make the front of the car look more fierce, NIO increased the curvature of the front and cut the front sharply downward.

At the same time, the design of the Shark Nose is used to increase the dive feeling of the front of the car. Of course, the design of the Shark Nose will also enhance the EC7’s ability to break through the wind and optimize the overall aerodynamics.

By tilting backwards, the space in the passenger compartment is now released, but this is limited to the front row. As the design of the rear windshield indicates, the top line behind the B-pillar will bend downwards like a line that goes through the top of a curved line.

So the question is, how to maintain the downward curvature of the top line while still ensuring the space for the second row?

There are two methods, one is to extend the vertex of the top line as far back as possible while ensuring the curvature. However, this method is not as direct as increasing the height for absolute space, but increasing the height will destroy the curvature.

The other method is to extend the length of the car. Therefore, the size of the EC7 is longer than that of the ES7, and the height is also slightly lower.

Through the above operations, the curvature of this top line finally meets NIO’s requirements for aesthetics. How the practical performance of the second-row space will be, whether it will be head-topped, we need to wait for a chance to try it out.

Details Determine Success or Failure

The paint color of the car we shot this time is Arctic Green, which looks like a desaturated color and gives a more low-key feeling. Another car uses Sunlight Gold color, which, like the new ES8 we shot, is an annual color for 2023. This color looks more elegant on the new ES8, but personally, I feel it does not match well with the EC7.

The grille of the EC7 is the same as the ES7, and the smaller mouth looks more dynamic visually.

EC7 is equipped with the same ABD intelligent multi-beam headlights as the new ES8, with a pixel density of 100, which can intelligently switch between high and low beam and the illumination range.

What makes this headlight special is that it does not match the headlight with the camera like traditional car manufacturers do, but matches the headlight directly with the LiDAR. The advantage of doing so is that since the LiDAR has a higher detection accuracy, the precision of the light application will also improve.

Previously, we criticized that the camera was placed too close to the tire on the wheel arch plastic, which could create dirt or water-related risks for the camera in certain muddy or rainy conditions. At the same time, due to its protruding design, it also increases the risk of damage when wiped or scratched.

Similarly, the side-view camera of EC7 has also been moved to the upper part of the fender, like the new ES8, to avoid these problems. Of course, the charging port is still placed on the right front side, which is still inconvenient for charging.

We used a 21-inch carbon fiber wheel hub with a 6-piston orange caliper. The tire used is the P Zero series of Pirelli, with a specifications of 265/45 R21.

Of course, in the top configuration, you can have a 22-inch forged high-gloss wheel hub and tires from Continental with specifications of 265 / 40 R22.

To highlight the sportiness of EC7, NIO has directly reduced the braking distance to 33.9 meters! This parameter alone is already comparable to that of a BMW X6 (38.4 meters).

In terms of power system, EC7 is consistent with the new ES8 and ES7, with a maximum output total power of 480 kW (front 180 kW + rear 300 kW) and a maximum output total torque of 850 N·m.

The entire suspension system of the Cuope SUV now matches that of the new ES8, featuring front double-wishbone independent air suspension and rear H-Arm multi-link independent air suspension, as well as a CDC dynamic damping control system. It also adopts NIO’s self-developed and China’s first intelligent domain controller ICC for the chassis. Additionally, it has a 50:50 axle load ratio. Therefore, I am really looking forward to driving this new Cuope SUV.

I personally think the most beautiful part of the EC7 is not the curvature of its roofline, but the waistline that swells out at the rear wheel arch when viewed from the side or the rear. It looks very rounded and sexy.

The tail lights that run through the middle have a narrowed design and, like the new ES8, they use light-guiding crystal for the thinnest part that is only 3 mm thick.

At the rear of the car, NIO has equipped the EC7 with an active wing. This wing has two settings:

• P1 is the streamlined mode, activated at 80 km/h, which can reduce drag force by 4% (10 counts);
• P2 is the control mode, activated at 170 km/h, which can offset the uplift caused by the difference in air flow above and below the car at high speed. In a state of emergency at 200 km/h, it can provide 63 kg of overall downforce pressure.

And after opening the spoiler, we can see an Easter egg: BLUE SKY COMING.

Interior continues to polish details

Our shooting car features Sand interior, which is a warm-toned beige, consistent with the ES7 overall. However, upon closer inspection, the EC7 has still made improvements in detail.

For example, the turn signal lever uses the same material as the steering wheel buttons to match, which feels and looks much better than the entire plastic part on the ES7.

The center armrest is also not made of rattan, but covered with a plate of the same color as the Sand, while the cup holder and mobile phone charging port are placed together.

Of course, the seats also use NIO’s self-developed seat frame platform. They provide the driver’s seat with 6-way 16-direction adjustment, the passenger’s seat with 7-way 18-direction adjustment, the left rear seat with 4-way 10-direction adjustment, and the right rear seat with 3-way 8-direction adjustment.

We also measured the seat size of the EC7. The length of the first row of the EC7 seats is longer than that of the new ES8 and ES7, which makes me look forward to the actual riding experience.

The audio system of EC7 enhances the vertical expressive force on the basis of the traditional flat sound field of speakers, and is equipped with 23 speakers as standard, including 7 tweeters, 7 mid-range units, 4 woofers, 1 subwoofer, and 4 sky channel speakers, with a total power of 1,000 watts.

The panoramic sunroof used in EC7 is mainly to obtain headroom through thinner glass. At the same time, NIO uses third-generation flexible electrochromic (EC) technology on this 1.94-square-meter glass, which can turn black and gray instead of the previous gray-white or blue-brown colors. Of course, this sunroof not only supports manual adjustment, but also works with light sensors to actively change the brightness of the sunroof.

Overall, the rear of EC7 has been upgraded in many details, but the overall layout is not much different from ES7. What I am most curious about is how the actual riding experience of the self-developed seats of NIO is.

Conclusion

The relationship between ES7 and EC7 is similar to the higher-priced strategy of ES6 and EC6. However, the price of EC7 allows it to show more differences from ES7, such as the upgraded seats, the details of the interior, and even the emphasis on the sportiness of EC7’s positioning, including its tail wing.

As for whether it is the most good-looking coupe SUV in the world, I believe you will have your own answer after seeing the actual car.

Related Readings

In-depth Analysis of the New ES8: How to Polish a Flagship (with Real Shot Pictures)

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.