Electric vehicle maker Nio unveiled its new flagship ES9 on Thursday, the largest model the Group has ever produced and now China’s largest fully electric SUV.
The six-seat model takes over from the ES8 as the Shanghai-based brand’s flagship SUV, targeting the executive segment.
It is positioned alongside the ET9 flagship executive sedan — the first model launched under Nio‘s NT 3.0 platform.
Pre-Sale Prices
The ES9 opens pre-sales in three trims.
The Executive Luxury Edition starts at 528,000 yuan ($77,200) with the battery included — or 420,000 yuan ($61,400) under Nio‘s Battery as a Service scheme, with the 102 kWh pack leased separately for 1,128 yuan ($155) per month.
Both seating configurations — a six-seat centre island layout and a six-seat aisle layout — are available at this price. The Executive Signature Edition starts at 588,000 yuan ($86,000), or 480,000 yuan ($70,200) with BaaS.
A range-topping Horizon Special Edition, offered exclusively in the centre island layout, starts at 658,000 yuan ($96,200), or 550,000 yuan ($80,400) with BaaS.
All three trims share the same 520 kW dual-motor powertrain, 900-volt architecture, and 102 kWh battery with up to 620 km of CLTC range.
The official launch price — due in a month at the formal debut, days ahead of the first deliveries — is expected to be slightly lower, in line with previous Nio launches.
Founder and CEO William Li has described the ES9 as “the most important product of the year” for the brand.
A few hours before the unveiling, Li wrote across several social media platforms that “from day one of the project, I’ve believed that as a pioneer in the smart electric executive flagship SUV segment, the Nio ES9 should come with breakthrough technology and a truly original design language.”
“No true leader wants to stand in someone else’s shadow,” he added.
Management has previously told Morgan Stanley the model’s average selling price will exceed 500,000 yuan ($72,200).
Immediately after the price was unveiled, Nio’s US-listed shares were trading 4.7% higher at $6.38.
Prior MIIT Filings
Most of the ES9’s hardware specifications have been disclosed across two regulatory filings and a series of executive statements over the past three months.
The first official images and dimensions surfaced in a January MIIT filing, confirming a length of 5,365 mm, width of 2,029 mm, height of 1,870 mm and a 3,250 mm wheelbase.
The figures make the ES9 China’s largest SUV, 85 mm longer than the Gen-3 ES8 and 430 mm longer than the outgoing second-generation model.
The same filing confirmed a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system producing a combined 520 kW (697 hp) — 180 kW at the front axle and 340 kW at the rear — with a top speed of 220 km/h.
A second MIIT catalogue released on February 10 revealed the battery and range details.
The ES9 uses a 102 kWh CATL nickel-cobalt-manganese pack weighing 545 kg, with an energy density of 187 Wh/kg.
CLTC range is offered in three configurations — 580, 600 and 620 km (360, 373 and 385 miles).
The vehicle’s 900V electrical architecture enables ultra-fast charging, adding 200 km (124 miles) of range in five minutes.
Chassis, ADAS and Interior
Ahead of the reveal, Nio released a teaser highlighting the ES9’s “Light Carpet” projection system, synced with the vehicle’s advanced driver-assistance system.
Rather than simply tracking the road ahead, the function pivots in advance during a lane change, lighting up the target path before the wheels begin to turn.
The ES9 now offers the “Xuanjin Package,” a true blacked-out option.
Unlike the previous “Moon” gun-grey version, which includes blacking out all chrome features, including the emblem.
The ES9 inherits the SkyRide intelligent chassis that debuted on the executive flagship ET9, combining fully active suspension developed by the Nio Capital-backed startup ClearMotion, steer-by-wire and rear-wheel steering.
For driver assistance, the ES9 uses Nio’s AQUILA sensing suite with three LiDAR sensors — including a roof-mounted unit — and runs on two in-house Shenji NX9031 intelligent driving chips.
The production exterior was seen publicly for the first time in late March, when the ES9 was photographed uncamouflaged during the filming of promotional material.
The images showed silver chrome trim running around the entire body, a pure white cabin visible through the windows and the roof-mounted LiDAR sensor.
The ES9 is Nio‘s model with the most physical buttons, following the third-generation ES8 — which had 111.
The move reflects a shift as brands move away from the ultra-minimalist interiors they adopted in the early 2020s, inspired by Tesla.
An interior image leaked on Chinese social media on March 27, 11 days ahead of the planned official reveal.
Nio also completed winter testing of the ES9 in Yakeshi, Inner Mongolia, at temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius, with the SUV passing a blowout test at 150 km/h and showing a turning radius comparable to the much smaller Firefly.
Timeline
A more detailed schedule surfaced on the Chinese automotive platform XChuXing on March 26, reportedly shared by a Nio sales representative.
That timeline outlined an official interior reveal on April 7, a media static experience on April 8, the product technology event on April 9, the opening of the in-app configurator on May 11, and a launch event with order lock-in on May 28.
The source added that test drives would be available before the official launch.
Despite the interior being revealed on April 7 matching the timeline, Nio has not formally confirmed it.
Lineup Outlook
The ES9 replaces the ES8 as Nio’s flagship SUV — a position the ES8 has held since becoming the brand’s first mass-produced vehicle in May 2018.
The third-generation ES8 — launched last September — has accounted for the vast majority of the brand’s deliveries in recent months.
It was also the key driver behind Nio’s first-ever profitable quarter in the final three months of 2025, lifting vehicle margin sharply after management repeatedly said the model was generating gross margins of around 20%.
Nio is increasingly focused on large SUVs as demand for its sedans has weakened.
The ES9 will compete against the Zeekr 9X and the upcoming XPeng GX — a three-row SUV expected to be offered in both BEV and extended-range formats.
Earlier this month, Nio released facelifts of its entry-level models — the ET5 sedan, the ET5 Touring station wagon, and the ES6 and EC6 SUVs.
The refreshed Firefly EV — from Nio Group’s second sub-brand — was also launched this week.
The company is now scheduled to debut the Onvo L80 next month, a five-seat version of the sub-brand’s second model, alongside a LiDAR version of the L90.
