Among the many new car-making companies, the excellence of the NIO brand is still eye-catching. The first model, NIO ES8, has laid a solid market foundation for the brand with its good product strength. The subsequently launched NIO ES6 has been improved and improved in terms of cruising range and vehicle system, building reputation and opening up the brand. Sales volume has made a significant contribution.

After years of market verification, product strength has become the foundation for the development of an automobile company. With its ES6 and ES8 models, NIO has become the only new car manufacturer with cumulative sales exceeding 10,000 in the first half of the year, and has been rated as It is one of the most likely new car manufacturers to come ashore.

In order to continue to consolidate its position in the domestic market and enhance its brand appeal, NIO has launched its third product.

Recently, Weilai EC6 has been officially launched. Among them, the sports version model is priced at 368,000 yuan before subsidies; the performance version is priced at 408,000 yuan before subsidies; and the signature version is priced at 46.8 yuan before subsidies. Thousands of dollars. At present, reservations for the new cars have begun, with the first batch delivered in late September and official deliveries starting in December.

Full of a coupe feel? Exquisite workmanship

The EC6, which inherits the design language of the NIO family, adopts a coupe-style body, which is both dynamic and elegant. The EC6 can be regarded as the Coupe version of the ES6, benchmarking against the Tesla Model Y that will be delivered in the first quarter of next year. A new round of competition between NIO and Tesla is about to begin.

The front of the car body, like other NIO models, uses split headlights. The slender lights bring a more technological feel to the new car. The entire front face design is basically the same as ES6. The wide and flat mid-grid shape is paired with penetrating black decoration below, bringing a strong sense of hierarchy. On the center grille and the decorative strips are the front camera and millimeter-wave radar respectively.

On the side of the new car, the large fastback shape starting from the B-pillar backward creates a unique body proportion and adds a lot of color to the side appearance. Thanks to the fastback shape, the wind resistance coefficient of NIO EC6 is only 0.26Cd, which is of great help to the cruising range. In addition, the hidden door handle design not only has a strong sense of technology, but also can effectively reduce wind resistance.

In addition, the new car is also equipped with cyclone-style low-wind resistance wheels, and some of its parts are made of carbon fiber, further reducing the body mass.

In terms of body size, the length and width of the new car are 4850mm and 1965mm, the height of the sports version is 1731mm, the height of the performance and signature versions is 1714mm, and the wheelbase is 2900mm.

Due to the fastback design, the rear of the EC6 has a lower visual center of gravity. The taillights continue the irregular light strip design style of the ES6, and add a blackened effect to the lower surround. The rear spoiler not only improves the aerodynamic effect, but also creates a sportier visual effect.

The interior design of EC6 uses the design concept of the "second living room" NIO EVE concept car. Warm-colored leather wraps the seats, and the dark-colored central control wrapping material makes the cab more cozy.

In addition, most of the physical buttons in the car are replaced by an 11.3-inch central control LCD screen, making the entire cockpit more concise. All EC6 series are equipped with Microfiber super fiber velvet roof and Nappa leather sports steering wheel as standard, and the instrument panel and door panels are made of Microcloud material with a delicate touch.

The biggest highlight of the interior is the double-layer insulated panoramic canopy on the roof, which gives the car a more transparent visual experience.

In terms of configuration, EC6 has an intelligent and pleasant digital cockpit, a 9.8-inch ultra-narrow-edge digital instrument, an 11.3-inch high-definition multi-touch central control screen, and NOMI voice assistant. In terms of driving assistance, it is equipped with active braking, parallel assist, optional adaptive cruise, variable suspension, etc.

It is worth mentioning that EC6’s intelligent fragrance system has added three new fragrance types, and you can freely switch fragrance types and adjust concentration through NOMI or the central control screen.

In terms of power, the EC6 signature version and performance version are equipped with a dual-motor intelligent four-wheel drive system composed of a front 160kW high-efficiency permanent magnet motor and a rear 240kW high-performance induction motor. The peak power is 544Ps, the maximum torque is 725Nm, 0- The fastest acceleration to 100km/h is 4.5 seconds. The sports version is equipped with a combination of front and rear 160kW dual permanent magnet motors, and can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 5.4 seconds.

The EC6 performance version and signature version are equipped with a 70kWh battery pack, with a comprehensive operating range of up to 440Km; the sports version is equipped with a 100kWh battery pack, with a comprehensive operating range of up to 615Km.

In addition, EC6 adopts a high-strength aluminum alloy body. The entire series is equipped with CDC dynamic damping control system as standard. Active air suspension is optional, which intelligently recognizes road conditions and combines controllability and comfort.

Fighting Tesla? The turnaround campaign is struggling

When everyone thought that Weilai should launch a sedan product line, Weilai still brought an SUV. Judging from the past automobile market, crossover SUV models usually have higher price positions and will have discounts on practicality. In recent years, consumers' novelty towards Coupe models has gradually faded, and fastbacks and SUVs have gradually become "marginalized" in terms of sales. Therefore, the incremental benefits that EC6? can bring to NIO are actually relatively limited.

Although SUV is a relatively large-growing market, sedans are still the main sales force at present. As NIO’s biggest rival, Tesla started directly with sedans as the absolute dominant player in electric vehicles, and then slowly entered the fast-growing market of SUVs. NIO chose to release the EC6 coupe SUV this time, and even more There is something about avoiding its sharp edges.

Weilai released the EC6 when the Model Y was not yet on the market, and it seemed that it hoped to seize the market before Tesla got involved. If you are led by the nose, you are likely to follow suit and fall into passivity.

Currently, NIO’s main highlights lie in high-tech configurations and various value-added services beyond the car. However, as car-machine interconnection systems become more and more popular, including in high-end cars from traditional manufacturers, this advantage is becoming less and less obvious.

However, NIO's unique battery swapping model and attentive customer service have allowed NIO to establish the image of high-end cars, which will have a crucial impact on NIO's future survival.

Electric vehicles have always been criticized for issues such as range anxiety, slow charging of electric vehicles, and accelerated battery degradation due to fast charging. NIO makes travel more convenient through the battery swap mode.

In addition, through membership services and NIO’s order-based and highly personalized model customization, many NIO car owners have become NIO’s “cargo carriers”.

It is understood that Tesla has put the plan to produce Model Y in China on the agenda. The overseas pre-sale price of Model Y starts at 444,000, which is likely to fall below the 400,000 mark after it is produced in China. NIO, which wants to fight a turnaround with EC6, will face brutal market competition.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.