Nio‘s upcoming ES9 has been photographed uncamouflaged on a public road for the first time, during the filming of promotional material ahead of the unveiling of China’s largest SUV on April 9.
The images, which circulated on Chinese social media on Wednesday, reveal the production-ready exterior of what is set to become the country’s largest SUV with 5,365 mm in length.
The vehicle features silver chrome trim running around the entire body, a pure white interior, roof-mounted LiDAR, and the SkyRide intelligent chassis — the same system that debuted on the flagship ET9 sedan, combining steer-by-wire, rear-wheel steering, and fully active suspension.
The ES9 measures 5,365 mm in length, 2,029 mm in width, and 1,870 mm in height, with a 3,250 mm wheelbase — dimensions first disclosed in a Ministry of Industry and Information Technology regulatory filing last month.
The wheelbase alone is 430 mm longer than the third-generation ES8 launched in September 2025.
Road to Launch
Nio‘s founder and CEO William Li confirmed earlier this month that the ES9 would be unveiled on April 9 — a day earlier than the April 10 date co-founder and President Qin Lihong had previously stated.
“We have officially scheduled it: the ES9 product technology launch event is set for April 9,” Li said during a livestream. He described the vehicle as “the most important product of the year” for Nio and called it “the world’s most technologically advanced SUV.”
Deliveries are planned to begin on June 1, following a launch event in late May, according to Qin.
Li confirmed to local media outlets late last month that the ES9 had completed the tooling trial manufacturing phase and entered pre-production.
The company recently released a winter test video showing the ES9 undergoing extreme cold testing in Yakeshi, Inner Mongolia, at temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius.
The clip shows the vehicle passing a blowout test at 150 km/h and compares its turning radius with the much smaller Firefly — suggesting the full-size SUV will achieve a turning circle comparable to a compact car, enabled by the rear-wheel steering system inherited from the ET9.
The ES9 was first spotted road testing in China last October, but all previous sightings showed the vehicle in heavy camouflage.
Flagship Succession
The ES9 will replace 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 all-new third-generation ES8, launched last year, has driven the Nio brand’s deliveries in recent months and became the best-selling pure electric large SUV in China in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The ES9 sits above it as a full-size model aimed at the executive segment.
Nio is increasingly focused on large SUVs as demand for its sedans has weakened.
In addition to the ES9, the company plans to debut a five-seat SUV later this year.
SkyRide Chassis
The ES9’s adoption of the ET9’s SkyRide intelligent chassis is a significant step in trickling down Nio‘s most advanced technology from its flagship sedan — which starts at 788,000 yuan ($108,000) in China — to a model likely to be priced considerably lower.
The system integrates ClearMotion-based fully active suspension, steer-by-wire, and rear-wheel steering into a unified chassis platform.
