“ES6 is bigger and cheaper, what’s good about EC6?” This was the opinion of a potential NIO car owner next to me a month ago, and at the time, my thoughts were similar to his. Therefore, before this static experience, I didn’t have high expectations. But when I learned that Colin Phipps, the designer of EC6, would be giving a design explanation to everyone on site, my expectations came back a little. I think the designer’s interpretation might help me better understand the design of EC6, and during this process, some ignored details of EC6 may also be discovered.
Philosophy and Design
Before talking about EC6, I would like to briefly introduce Colin Pihpps:
Colin Phipps was previously the Director of Future Design at General Motors China, and joined NIO in 2019. He is currently the Senior Director of NIO Shanghai Design Center, and EC6 is his designed work.
At the beginning of the design interpretation, he mentioned many of NIO’s design visions, “Pure, Human, Progressive, Sophisticated.” These four elements are the “NIO DNA” that Colin mentioned when introducing EC6 design. However, since the translation of these words varies, I will keep the original text here.
It must be said that these philosophies and adjectives sound very “designer-like”. As an outsider in the design field, I didn’t have much resonance when he talked about them. However, Colin further talked about how these philosophies were reflected in the design of EC6. In order to convey these four philosophies, EC6’s design has considered many aspects from large to small such as color matching, interior materials, overall vehicle profile, and practicality.
For example, the new interior color scheme “Himalayan Brown” introduced this time. The reason why it was chosen as the advertising color for this EC6 interior is because this color gives people a warm and gentle feeling, which is also mentioned in the design philosophy as “Human” or NIO’s official translation, “with temperature”.Pure, in my understanding, means purity and clarity. To create this feeling on the EC6, the key lies in its panoramic sunroof, which provides better lighting and enhances the sense of space in this coupe SUV.
The Progressive concept is expressed in the appearance of the car. The iconic X-shaped front face and coupe styling make the first impression of the EC6 very futuristic. The visual technology elements, such as the headlights and wheels, also reflect a sense of technology and futurism.
On the other hand, Sophisticated, in other words, means precision and attentiveness. I believe this is already a label for the NIO brand’s design. The quality of the vehicle and attention to detail are essential for NIO, so I won’t go into too much detail about it for the EC6.
After the design discussions, it’s time to move on to the actual car experience.
Real Car Experience
Looks
Some cars look better in photos, while others look better in person. The EC6 falls into the latter category.
Perhaps the exhibition car was equipped with my favorite 21-inch carbon fiber wheels, or maybe the star gray paint looks exceptionally clean and clear under the warm lighting in the showroom. During the first few minutes of seeing the EC6 in person, I felt that this car was much more “sexy” than the ES6.
The same-color roof that matches the body, coupled with the coupe’s curves, makes the EC6 visually smooth and more cohesive than the ES6.
What I really like about the EC6 is how the side window fills up the area above the waistline of the car. The ending curve is not excessively designed, which makes the D-pillar gradually and harmoniously extend from the top to the rear of the car.
Apart from the sleek lines, the panoramic sunroof and the integrated color-treated rear windshield of the EC6 enhance the visual unity of the car.
The sporty style and lower visual center of gravity brought by the sleek design make the EC6 look cooler than the ES6. It is easy to lose control over aesthetics, but beauty often comes at a cost. The industry consensus is that the sleek SUV model sacrifices headroom and trunk space in comparison to the regular version.
Surprisingly, this is the part where the EC6 impressed me the most.
Unexpectedly Thoughtful
With the expectation that the EC6 is a sleek version of the ES6, I got into the car, only to be pleasantly surprised by the following two aspects.
First of all, the headroom in the EC6 is not as cramped as I thought it would be. I am 180 cm tall and when I test rode the X4 and the GLC Coupe, both the same level sleek car models, I could clearly feel some pressure on top of my head. To ensure adequate headroom in the rear, the X4 even has a cut-out design for the roof of the car.
Due to the panoramic sunroof, the thickness of the roof of EC6 is naturally very thin, and besides increasing the head space, Colin specifically mentioned that EC6 had fully considered the space of the rear seats from the perspective of the sloping design at the initial stage of the design process. As a result, in combination with the transparency brought by the panoramic sunroof, the head space of the rear seats of EC6 is very “unsloping” based on my personal experience.
Another unexpected thing is the feeling of the rear seats. Compared with ES6, the filling of the backrest and seat cushion of the rear seats in EC6 is obviously more and softer. It’s not an exaggeration to say that sitting there feels like sitting on a large sofa similar to the current Teana’s feeling.
In addition to this, another thing that I feel particularly obvious is that the seat cushion height of the rear seats in EC6 is significantly higher than that of ES6, and the support for the arm near the knee of the thigh especially for me has been greatly improved compared with ES6. This feeling was so unexpected that I was a little skeptical whether it was due to the fact that I hadn’t ridden ES6 for too long. Fortunately, there was still an ES6 at the showroom, and the visible difference in the picture also proved that my feeling was not an illusion.
After discussing the rear seats, let’s talk about the trunk of EC6. The conclusion is: the common space of the trunk of EC6 is almost the same as that of ES6, and it is even more convenient to take things from it.
Here, to explain “common space,” let’s borrow Colin’s words: the space below the rear windshield. Generally, large items such as suitcases are placed below this height, and the higher part is just “piled up,” and the frequency of use is not particularly high.On top of the EC6, the space is the same as ES6, and in order to facilitate the carrying and placing of luggage, the hinge position of the EC6 tailgate is intentionally made high and positioned closer to the front, resulting in a larger trunk opening and less likelihood of hitting the head when retrieving items closer to the second row.
Therefore, the result is that the EC6’s sloping design makes it more beautiful than the ES6, but surprisingly, the seating experience in the second row of the EC6 is more comfortable than the ES6, as the sloping design has not caused much head space issue, and the seats are softer and higher. Regarding the trunk, although the absolute space is smaller than the ES6, the commonly used space is the same, and it is more convenient to retrieve items.
The fact that the EC6 is able to achieve this result exceeds my expectations, and it is also evident that the EC6’s design is very thorough, which shows that they have put a lot of effort into it.
However, I still have some regrets about the design of the EC6. In my opinion, the practical design of the rear and top of the EC6 has compromised the low-profile feeling of the entire car and appears slightly thicker visually. Although it looks more beautiful than the ES6, it could have been done better. This design also makes the EC6 appear somewhat shorter, which detracts from the long-tailed temperament of a coupe SUV. But in design, there are always trade-offs, and the direction of the EC6 leans towards a balance between practicality and beauty.
As for the interior, let’s just take a look at the pictures.
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Questions
During the test drive, I asked Colin a few questions.
Question 1: I noticed there is no rear wiper on the EC6’s rear windshield, while the ES6 has one. Why is that?
Answer: The sloping design of the EC6 makes it more like a sedan, and rainwater will not accumulate on the windshield in this streamline shape, so the EC6 does not need a rear wiper, but the more vertical angle of the ES6 requires one.
Question 2: The EC6 uses a lot of black decorations on the lower part of its body. What’s the purpose, and what are the advantages of this design over a monochromatic treatment?
Answer: The black decoration on the lower part of the body can better create the contrast of the car body level. As a sporty model, the EC6 is very suitable for this style. The bright paint colors will have more impact on the EC6.
Question 3: It seems that NIO’s brake calipers are only available in black. Is it the same for the EC6? Will there be more color options in the future?
Answer: We are a user-centered company, and we always respect users’ wishes on product demands. Few users have demanded caliper color options, so we have not provided them. If there are such demands in the future, we will consider adding them.
When answering the third question, Colin said something that left a deep impression on me: “For the user by the user.” Well, it’s quite NIO.
Conclusion
In summary, although they are sister models, the EC6 has made progress over the ES6; it looks good and has almost not sacrificed practicality. Moreover, the price of the EC6 is very sincere.
During my communication with NIO staff during the static experience, I also learned that EC6 orders exceeded their expectations, which indicates two points: first, these changes in the EC6 have met consumers’ appetites; second, although the EC6 cannot be regarded as a completely new model, there are still so many people willing to buy it, which shows that the NIO brand has indeed become more influential.
Considering the recent increase in EC6 orders, I also asked about the current factory production capacity before leaving. The answer I got was that it is close to 5,000 units per month. Oh, by the way, there is a sedan coming up, and I can tell you that the interior design is completely different from the current models, and it’s worth looking forward to.
“`After work in the evening, unexpectedly but not surprisingly, the prospective car owner who questioned “What’s good about EC6 compared to the bigger and cheaper ES6?” at the beginning of the article told me that he has placed an order for EC6.
Well, I guess it’s really worth it?
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.