Nio’s sub-brand Onvo said on Monday it is introducing a 60 kWh battery pack option for its newly launched six-seat SUV L90.
As reported on July 21, the company had been planning to offer a smaller battery pack to provide a lower monthly rental option for customers who do not require the 85 kWh version.
However, the smaller pack was not mentioned at the July 31 launch event.
The 60 kWh option will only be available to buyers under the company’s battery-as-a-service (BaaS) rental model where customers pay a lower purchase price for the SUV and a monthly fee to rent the battery.
After taking delivery, users can still upgrade to the 85 kWh battery pack. The monthly battery rental fee remains 599 yuan, with customers able to upgrade for 45 yuan ($6) per day, 800 yuan ($111) per month, or 8,800 yuan ($1,225) per year.
A permanent upgrade option costs 899 yuan ($125) a month after the switch.
“Based on their test drive impressions of the L90’s low energy consumption and their own usage scenarios, they suggested that we offer a limited-edition L90 with a 60 kWh battery pack for users in the south who have home charging and mainly use the vehicle for urban commuting,” Onvo said in a post on its app
For customers who have already locked in their orders but not yet taken delivery, the pack can be swapped in before handover.
New buyers will not see the option in the online configurator but can request it after locking an order.
In a series of Weibo posts on Monday, Shen Fei, Onvo’s president, called the timing of the launch “the best moment to promote the 60 kWh battery” and said the decision demonstrated the company’s confidence in the L90’s energy consumption and range, in its swap and charging network, and in its strategy of relying on “real users to speak out”.
He added: “At everyone’s request, the L90 can now be equipped with a 60-kWh battery pack.”
The L90 went on sale on July 31 and began deliveries on the following day across over 40 Chinese cities.
Competition in the six-seat SUV segment is heating up, with the reveal of Tesla’s Model YL last month — a new three-row variant of its top-selling model, which is expected to be launched in China this Fall.
The new variant — named Model YL and using a longer wheelbase — was featured in the latest catalogue by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), revealing details on the battery pack used and the range.
