Double the Specs, Half the Price

Nio Onvo L80?? I know, it sounds like the name of a delivery van. But still, you can glean quite a bit from it. Nio we all know. They are, not very successfully, rolling out in Europa as well. Trying to force their way into the lucrative premium segment of the market with battery-swapping as the killer USP. Onvo is the VW of Nio. Most manufacturers create a more premium brand to capture the higher margin space of the market. Plenty of examples from Toyota/Lexus all those years ago to BYD/Denza more recently. Nio goes in the other direction. They created a sub-brand to bring their high tech solutions to a more mainstream audience without hurting the shiny image of the mother brand. The "L80" gives you the relative position of where the car will sit in the line-up, big number so a big car. What sits above it? Simple, the three row L90.

Why is this car, and dozens of others, such a body shot to Western manufacturers? Just dive into the specs with me if you would. This is a big fully electric 5,1m SUV with two rows of seats. So a massive family oriented car that can hold 4-5 passengers and an enormous amount of cargo. Want an indication of the space you get? The wheelbase, space between the two axles, is 3.1 m. Anything close to or over 3 meters is executive. A Mercedes S-Class comes in around this measure. How much cargo can it take? The trunk is a whopping 1.200 liters while the frunk can hold another 240 l! To give you a feel of just how massive that is: a renowned travel car like the Skoda Kodiaq 5 seater holds "only" 910 liters in the back.

So we have established it is big. What about the rest of the specifications? Well, the list is a bit mind-numbing. Let's start with comfort first: comfort seats with heating/massage/cooling, premium audio, three zone aircon, quiet suction doors, 8.8 l cooling/heating box, bespoke camping set, bespoke three segment bed, bespoke three-segment kitchen with power connections, etc.... There is even a 30 liter fridge/freezer that fits perfectly into the well under the cover in the trunk and can cool to -18°C. Don't worry about driving your Onvo either. The car can be fitted out with the latest in-house developed chipsets that support 60 intelligent safety functions in Nio's World Model. With this new model, Nio uses AI to predict how the world around the car will evolve on the fly. Instead of the traditional rule based systems, this autonomous driving model allows for much smoother driving. That smooth driving is also supported by the "Wandering cloud" intelligent chassis that pre-adjusts the air suspension and shock absorbers based on the navigation system.

The powertrain to drive this tech forward is almost dull in comparison. There are single motor and dual motor setups that reach 590 horses in the top version. Energy is provided by a rather disappointing 85 kwh battery but don't worry, you can swap and the 900v system allows for 600 kw (!) fast charging. The stops might be a bit more frequent but they won't be long. Real world range could also be relatively good as this full size SUV comes in with a weight of only 2.250 kg which is easily 300 kg lighter than similar competitors.

Not flabbergasted yet? I understand, you don't have the biggest piece of information yet. The entry level price for all these goodies, in China, is 30.500 €.... I'll let that sink in. Everything you read above, often not even available on 100.000+ € European premium SUV's, can be had for less than 40K. What does Europe have to offer? We are excited that VW has launched the new ID Polo for 25.000 €! As if that will save the day. Don't expect the pressure from the east to go away anytime soon.