Nio plans to unveil its new flagship model in the second quarter of 2026, founder and Chief Executive Officer William Li said on Saturday during an offline event held in Wuhan with owners of the ET9 model.
With its recent models, Nio has typically held a pre-launch event to showcase each vehicle’s technology and specifications without disclosing prices.
Pre-orders usually open at that stage and remain available until the official launch, which takes place a few weeks later, followed by the start of deliveries.
Li didn’t confirm whether the ES9’s official launch would also take place in the second quarter.
The ET9, the sedan counterpart to the ES9, was unveiled in December and began deliveries in China three months later.
Nio has not yet announced plans to offer the luxury model outside its domestic market.
The update on the ES9 unveil aligns with remarks made in May by Nio’s co-founder and president Lihong Qin, who said the new flagship SUV would debut in the first half of 2026.
The ES9 was spotted undergoing road tests in China earlier this month — the second time the prototype has been seen in public — signaling progress on the vehicle’s development. Heavily camouflaged prototypes offered few visible design details.
The model is expected to measure about 5,400 millimeters in length, slightly longer than the ES8, which spans 5,280 millimeters, and will serve as the SUV counterpart to Nio’s ET9 executive sedan.
Like the ET9, the ES9 is expected to feature steer-by-wire, Nio’s latest Cedar operating system, two Shenji NX9031 intelligent driving chips, and the SkyRide chassis system.
The ES9 will follow the ET9, which began deliveries in China in late March after being unveiled at Nio Day 2024 in Guangzhou.
The sedan, priced from 788,000 yuan ($110,700) including the battery pack, was positioned to compete with ultra-luxury EVs such as the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV.
Nio is expected to take a more aggressive pricing approach with the ES9 than with the ET9, which starts above 800,000 yuan, as the company continues to expand its lineup of high-end electric vehicles.
