Nio is reportedly going to unveil a flagship luxury sedan at next month’s Nio Day event in Xi’an, China and it could serve as an electric rival to the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class.
The carmaker has allegedly been working on the new model since at least December last year and it’s said that it will launch in 2025. Nevertheless, it is bound to get fans of the brand excited and will help Nio broaden its reach. It is unclear if the firm has any plans of selling it outside of China.
Read: Nio Scraps Plans For U.S. Factory, Will Import Chinese-Made EVs Instead
Car News China, citing local sources, understands that the new model will be marketed as a Nio product rather than through one of the company’s sub-brands. It should be underpinned by the new NT3 platform and could have a massive wheelbase of 3.3 meters (10.8 feet). It will be so long, in fact, that only Nio’s third-generation battery swap stations will support it.
Chinese media outlets also report that the Maybach rival will be Nio’s first model with the autonomous chip that it developed in-house. Powertrain details remain unconfirmed but Nio did launch a next-generation electric motor with 300 kW (402 hp) in August and it is possible this new motor will be used by the sedan. Current Nio models like the ET7 and ES7 are offered with an outgoing 300 kW (402 hp) motor at the rear axle and a 180 kW (241 hp) motor at the front axle and it’s certainly possible the flagship sedan will have a similar setup. Perhaps even more compelling is the prospect of it having a pair of these new 300 kW (402 hp) motors.
Nio has not yet confirmed a date for Nio Day, other than confirming that it will take place next month. The electric sedan will reportedly start at around 1 million yuan or $141,000.
