Chinese carmaker Nio plans to deliver the first ES8s in Norway in September 2021. The country will also be the first overseas market to offer Nio’s complete charging infrastructure, including battery swapping stations.
The timetable for the launch in the first overseas market is tight. Nio wants to go live with its app in Norway in July, test drives with the ES8 electric SUV should be possible from August, and the first binding orders and deliveries will then take place in September. Indeed, the first transport ship is already scheduled to leave China in June. Reservations, for those who want to secure one of the first of these electric vehicles, will be possible as early as July.
According to Marius Hayler, Nio’s General Manager for Norway, only the ES8 will be offered initially. An adapted – European – version of the large electric SUV, it will be offered with the 100 kWh battery, which provides a range of more than 300 miles, according to the WLTP cycle.
Before Nio brings further SUV models to Norway (such as the smaller ES6 or its SUV coupé offshoot EC6), the flagship sedan ET7 is to be sold in Norway in 2022. This will enable the next level of autonomous driving thanks to 33 sensors (including Lidar), according to Nio.
Only last month, Nio announced the production of its 100,000th electric vehicle, only nine months after producing its 50,000th EV in July 2020.
“A new chapter in electric mobility is beginning in Norway,” said Hayler, who previously worked for Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover. “Today, EV drivers use their cars very much like internal combustion vehicles. I’m convinced that Nio’s Smart EVs can change that, that we use our vehicles more intelligently.”
Nio announced the production of its 100,000th EV in April.
Nio has not given any details so far about the charging performance of the European ES8. However, the charge points already announced should provide some clue. A 7-kW charger is to be offered as a wallbox for the garage at home, but there has been no mention of a three-phase 11-kW charger for other markets so far. The public DC stations that Nio plans to build in Norway will allow charging with up to 180 kW. Halyer did not specify how many of the ‘Supercharger’ charging stations will be built in Norway.
However, four battery swapping stations are to be set up in the Oslo area this year, with further stations planned for Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Kristiansand in 2022. Currently the battery exchange stations are still being adapted for the European market, according to Hayler. But Nio has stated that 312 battery swaps will be possible per day.
