Chances are you’ve never heard of Nio, which is a Chinese automaker that specializes in designing and producing electric vehicles. In fact, as surprising as it may sound, Nio is one of the global leaders in the EV segment with nearly 1,000 battery swap stations in China and a thriving business in Europe. One of the brand’s newest models is the ES7, which will go on sale in the Old Continent next year marketed as the EL7.
This electric sports utility vehicle was recently filmed by our friends and colleagues at Wheeled boy, who was also kind enough to share an exclusive model gallery with us. You can watch their eight minute review at the top of this page and above it, you can find nine photos of the examples tested. But let’s talk more about this electric SUV from China.
9 Photo
The EL7 is a five-seater family vehicle with a conservative exterior design that still stands out in a sea of SUV models. The vehicle uses Nio’s new platform for electric vehicles, although on a more general level, it does share some core components with its predecessor. You can easily find design similarities to other Nio models, including the slim headlights up front and the coast-to-coast LED strip at the rear.
The similarities are even more pronounced inside the cabin where the interior layout basically mirrors that of the ET5 sedan. There’s a pair of screens – one for the instrument cluster and one for the infotainment system on the center screen – plus the standard heated, cooled and massaged leather seats. A 23-speaker premium audio system is also available at no additional cost.
Powering the EL7 is a system with two electric motors that produce a peak output of 644 horsepower (480 kilowatts) and 627 pound-feet (850 Newton-meters) of torque. There’s an optional 100 kilowatt-hour battery pack that’s good for going around 385 miles (620 kilometers) on a single charge as measured by Chinese CLTC cycles. Prices in the People’s Republic vary between $64,000 and $72,000 and in Germany, the electric SUV will go on sale at a starting price of €73,900 or around $78,500 at current exchange rates.
