NIO Day 2024 recap: Firefly’s first EV will compete with MINI and Smart, ET9 launches on a 925V platform

As promised, we are back with a full recap of the debuts during NIO Day 2024, which took place over the weekend. As anticipated, NIO officially launched its new Firefly sub-brand, unveiling its flagship BEV model that looks to take on super compacts like MINI and Smart. Additionally, NIO launched its ultra-luxe ET9 sedan, whose initial trim has already sold out in China.

Last week, we published a little primer ahead of Chinese EV automaker NIO’s annual event. We get plenty of exciting news from NIO throughout the year, but no event is more likely to include landmark announcements than its annual NIO Day event, held every December.

We expected two big debuts at this year’s NIO Day, which took place in Guangzhou, in the Guangdong province of China, on December 21. First was the official launch of NIO’s third EV brand, Firefly, and the first public look at its flagship model.

Additionally, NIO Day 2024 was expected to bring the official launch of the automaker’s latest flagship (and most expensive) model, the ET9, which debuted at last year’s NIO Day. Following the annual event, we can confirm both BEVs have been launched and have much better insight into their pricing, specs, and availability in global markets.

BMW’s MINI brand and Mercedes-Benz’s Smart appear to be clear competitors to the new Firefly brand. NIO founder William Li explained that the new BEV is smaller than a Smart car and smarter than a MINI. Like all NIO models, the Firefly BEV supports battery swaps, hinting that a battery-as-a-service (BaaS) rental purchase program may be offered when the model officially launches.

From its initial announcement, NIO promised that Firefly would deliver affordable EVs to global markets, including Europe. The launch of the model above will begin in China in April 2025, followed by Europe shortly after. Per Li, Firefly will rely on local partner outlets for European sales, starting sometime in the first half of 2025.

In addition to the debut of the Firefly BEV, NIO Day 2024 also marked the official launch of the new ET9 sedan, which appears to be a hit right out of the gate.

NIO ET9 starts at $108k, deliveries to begin in March

While it’s welcomed news, it should be no surprise that the new ET9 sedan launched during NIO Day 2024. The launch presentation included our first look at the ET9 inside and out. Check out that image of the back seat above. Clearly, NIO is targeting the executive market worldwide and taking some cues from Maybach.

German automakers should be sweating a little as NIO appears to be looking to compete against them high and low with Firefly and now the ET9. We’ve confirmed that the ET9 starts at an MSRP of RMB 788,000 ($108,000), including the battery. That’s slightly lower than the RMB 800,000 presale price announced during the model’s unveiling at NIO Day 2023.

That $108k price tag applies to the NIO ET9’s standard trim, but the automaker will also sell a BaaS version that starts at RMB 660,000 ($90,420). Owners pay a monthly battery rental fee of RMB 1,128 ($155).

During the launch at NIO Day 2024, the automaker debuted a limited launch edition trim of the ET9 with a starting price of RMB 818,000 ($112,065), which includes the battery. At the time, NIO said it would only build 999 units of the limited edition ET9, and according to media outlet CnEVPost, all of them had been spoken for in China in less than 24 hours, exceeding sales expectations.

Customers will now have to settle for the super plush Standard trim. How sad. Here are some of the ET9’s specs from NIO Day 2024 at a glance:

• Four-seat sedan with dimensions of 5,325 mm in length, 2,017 mm in width, and 1,621 mm in height. Its wheelbase is 3,250 mm.
• It’s the first model to feature NIO’s in-house designed 5 nm process-based Shenji NX9031 autonomous driving chip.
  • Shenji is equivalent to four mainstream smart driving chips, and the ET9 is equipped with two.
• Includes a SkyRide intelligent chassis system, described as the “world’s first integrated hydraulic fully active suspension.” We saw it in action last summer.
• Steer-by-wire (SBW) technology enables the steering wheel and wheels to be completely decoupled, offering higher levels of intelligent driving.
• 925V platform (better than the 900V architecture initially announced) enables better performance and faster charge rates.
• 100 kWh battery pack that delivers a (CLTC) range of 650 km (404 miles).
• Dual electric motors with a peak power of 180 kW at the front and 340 kW at the rear.
  • The powertrain combines for a maximum power output of 520 kW and a peak torque of 700 Nm.
• Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4.3 seconds.
• 105-liter frunk cargo capacity.

Deutsche Bank anticipates NIO’s sales of both the Firely EV and the ET9 sedan to reach 1,500 units per month, setting the stage for another big year of growth in 2025. The automaker concluded NIO Day 2024 by stating that initial deliveries of the ET9 are expected to begin in China in March 2025, starting with the sold-out limited edition mentioned above.

While this will be a new BEV for the global market, NIO has yet to offer a timeline as to when sales and deliveries of the ET9 will begin in Europe. We anticipate sometime in 2025 after deliveries begin in China. Another NIO Day is in the books in 2024 as we look ahead to a big year in 2025!