NIO ET7 - Can It Conquer The World?

a new e-car that is throwing down the gauntlet to the likes of tesla and porsche on a quest to conquer the world the neo et7 is a sports sedan of the superlative variety it comes with a 1 000 kilometer range from one single charge regardless of the weather it's also accompanied by a world first battery swapping system packed with 648 horsepower it makes the dash to 100 kilometers per hour in 3.9 seconds neo's visionary ceo has grand plans for the et7 it's a second living room with cutting edge technology and a big factor in those plans is a combination of digital tech artificial intelligence and a committed community i like the futuristic aspect and the design it's a leading global brand in electric vehicles we hope to launch in europe as well soon and it was with global reach in mind that william lee unveiled his latest model in chengdu in early 2021 the et7 isn't she a beauty this car is the purest example yet of futuristic design like tesla neo is targeting young tech-savvy urbanites and building an entire community around its brand it's made in china it's chinese people who are building neo cars [Music] neo day is an annual extravaganza open to all car owners and the company spares no expense recruiting some of china's biggest celebrities for the event like rock singer wang feng but the real star of the show is another man founder and ceo william lee hello everyone faith and courage are what drive us welcome i am william lee lee founded neo in 2014 when he was already a self-made billionaire he made his fortune from various internet startups including a website for trading used cars the key to his success was being more innovative and wiser to developments than the competition neo's stock soared over the course of 2020 as did that of tesla the story of william lee is similar to that of elon musk the founder of his american rival more so than established carmakers neo invested in a sense of community among its customers while relatively new in china it has proved a hit drivers have set up their own clubs like this one in wicho compared to tesla neo is a brand that really understands chinese people club members organize outings and charity events and communicate regularly with the company neo has an active commitment to its users as customers are called a lot of owners install an app on their phone that keeps them in constant contact with neo and in many cases queries are answered by the ceo himself china is home to the world's biggest market for electric cars and one boosted by government subsidies i chose it because it's more enjoyable to drive you don't have to worry about anything built-in neo software enables users to link up with popular apps like wechat and the digital assistant know me hey me hey open the driver's window all of this is intended to appeal primarily to the young online generation we believe that our model will be in demand in any country with a creative and upbeat lifestyle frank schlenger is a german engineer now based in china he's the chief of technology at xenon automation in sucho and was one of neo's first customers [Music] for two years now he's been driving an es8 china's first premium suv [Music] what i really love on this car is the power 650 peak horsepower is actually a lot neo was one of the first companies to make racing cars for formula e in 2018 it moved on to designing suvs for the chinese market targeting well-off families with prices ranging between 45 and 70 000 euros the new et7 is aimed at a sportier clientele it boasts 650 horsepower and a solid-state battery with 150 kilowatt hours in the biggest version neo promises a range of 1 000 kilometers or more which has caused quite a stir in the automotive industry after all that's a figure no other electric car has ever managed our main competitors for now are traditional combustion engine cars in the same price bracket if we compare ourselves to them i don't see any disadvantages whether it's the performance the integration of intelligent systems interior design the digital experience autonomous driving features or our service quality i think we're very competitive on all fronts the new et7 is not yet available for testing but frank schlenstedt treats us to a sneak preview in his two-year-old es8 it already has some of the same autonomous driving features like lane keeping assist technology that enjoys state subsidies as does the infrastructure [Music] i use it always and for sure i will overrule if necessary but i know what is possible what not so i can already see when it's a little bit tricky have a look the lane actually now we change the expressway so you're not doing anything now no i have everything free i have whether my feet on the pedals know my hands on the steering wheel so now it will be a little tricky in this car but for electric car makers range remains the biggest challenge and this is where the chinese company has found a neat solution enabling customers to swap empty batteries for full ones now at this moment you see we have here two cars in front and one is in so we have to wait a little bit you can check the app also so one two three four i'm number four currently the company has a little more than 200 swap stations around china most of them in big cities or alongside highways with an eye on people making long distance trips for shorter journeys cars can be refueled at charging stations the battery swap takes less than 10 minutes it's fully automated with the empty unit being removed and replaced with a new one in a procedure that no supercharger no matter how fast can compete with neo also offers its batteries on a rental basis which allows customers to avoid the financial risk of a battery defect or failure [Music] we have a number of algorithms to analyze the battery's health if a battery is not in good condition it's withdrawn from the cycle that's an advantage of our swap system we can guarantee our customers that they will always have a healthy battery in their car but longer trips within china still need to be carefully planned and broken down into stages so as not to exceed the given range swamp stations in rural areas are few and far between [Music] in january frank schlenster embarked on an adventurous 11 day trek from his current residence in eastern china to the tibetan plateau in the west of the country covering over 6 000 kilometers this is actually the street already in 4 300 meter height and one morning we have some snow and ice on the road but it's so beautiful and up here too the neo did just fine schleichted had discussed his plans beforehand with the company and wherever he needed to charge up they had a team to help out something that really impressed the german engineer a level of service in line with neo's ambitious goal to become the company with the highest customer satisfaction worldwide in the automotive industry [Music] ask even in the night to ask the people they always have some people from service they can give you some support but as faithful as many fans are the company wants to see a lot more of them [Music] the neo community is getting bigger and bigger last year we added 43 728 new car owners in total we've already exceeded 75 000 that said the numbers aren't yet that impressive for a market that sells more than 20 million cars a year even looking at the 1.3 million new electric cars sold in china annually neo is a minor player sluggish sales almost led the company to bankruptcy two years ago prevented only by a government bailout we were facing the most complicated situation that a startup can face and we're grateful to our users for standing with us in difficult times there have also been technical setbacks one time a neo was stuck in the middle of a road in downtown beijing due to an untimely system update a pr disaster and there's another issue everything here is in chinese this gives me the opportunity to learn chinese more and better because i always learning by doing but i think now i own this car two years and still have a new possibility to have an english control system it's a little bit funny he also cites a few other minor flaws such as the air conditioning controls but overall he is very much a satisfied neo user the company is now planning to expand into europe probably first to norway and then to bigger countries this car has all properties to be successful in germany i'm a german engineer and i can say this car proved two years this is one of the best cars i ever drove in my life if not even the best one and once the car goes on sale in europe frank schlensteight might finally get his english touchscreen display i believe customers in europe will be able to buy our cars by the end of 2021. asia europe and then the world william lee has high hopes for the neo et7 a 1000 kilometer range together with a solid state battery a winning combination that no other electric car can currently match you

Channel: DW REV - Cars & Mobility

Views: 466,490

Keywords: NIO ET7, dw rev, NIO ET7, nio et7 sedan, nio et7 review, nio et7 interior, nio et7 launch, nio et7 test drive, nio et7 vs tesla, nio et7 sedan review, nio et7 sedan interior, nio et7 drive, nio et7 car, nio, nio vs tesla, nio news, tesla, nio et7 specs, nio battery swap, new nio et7, 2021 nio et7, new electric cars, William Li, ET7, China, electric car, e-mobility, battery, nio car, tesla news, ev from china, et7 electric car, ev sedan et7, dw, nio et7, nio stock, elon musk

Id: EfAAip-p03k

Length: 12min 53sec (773 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 10 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/SB_Kercules]

I would buy one if they were sold here in Mexico 🇲🇽

[u/dxiao]

And people keep thinking that Chinese people will choose Tesla over NIO.

Listen to what my boi in the red jacket had to say

[u/rektogre1280]

Another documentary about NIO by European media! Check this out! 🚀🚀🚀

[u/fiberleaf]

I want one!!!

[u/StarSpangledUSA]

Well here we go with bond yields sky rocketing again... another sell off

[u/stockaddict2021]

🇺🇸 please

[u/bcth98]

this car is sick af

[u/deadwish215]

I dont see why not if their competitors aint there yet such. Tesla is execption. Unless they fall asleep behind the wheel.

[u/-Dunnobro]

Interesting he had 3 people in line in front of him for the swap, despite how fast it is. Good sign of the adoption rate/use of the batt-swap model