Nio EL6 (2024) in the test: Mercedes EQE SUV opponent surprised

Top overall package… if driving dynamics aren’t that important to you

Let’s be honest: With the mass of electric SUVs that are currently pouring into the good old German car market from the land of smiles, you can definitely lose your bearings. I mean, I do this whole thing for a living and even my head is spinning now. With the X after that, it probably goes BANG at some point. 

And yet there are Chinese manufacturers that somehow stand out. Nio is one of them. Because they want to be premium there and obviously don’t want the usual Chinese fighting rice. And because you rely on battery replacement. Firstly, it’s quite exciting and secondly, it’s pretty brave. Or do you know any other car manufacturer that does this? 

The crazy pace of Nio and its founder William Li, on the other hand, is typically Chinese. If you leave out the electric hypercar EP9 from 2016 – around 18 examples of the flounder with a megawatt of power and a seven-figure price tag were built, one of which is currently standing in Munich – seven new models have been brought onto the market since series production began in 2019.

We have been working in Germany for over a year. And during this time we launched five vehicles. The newest of the bunch is also likely to be the one with the greatest marketing potential. I just say “SUV” and “4.85 meter length”. You can figure out the rest yourself. We were now able to test the EL6 for a day. It will be delivered from October 30th. 

What is that?

Nio’s first car, the ES6, launched in 2019, was only available in China. Here you can see his successor. It sits on the same platform as all other Nios. For us these are the mid-range ET5 as a sedan and station wagon as well as the ET7 in Mercedes EQS format and the XL SUV EL7. Its quite enormous dimensions (width without exterior mirrors: 1.99 meters) can be easily explained: the very special battery construction would not fit in otherwise. The battery is available with either 75 or 100 kilowatt hours. As mentioned, the energy storage devices are replaceable. That’s why they are the same for all Nios.

Visually, this SUV also looks a bit like “let the AI ​​designer do it”. After all, Nio places some value on independence with its “watchtower sensor layout”. All the sensors for future autonomous driving stand confidently above the windshield like a kind of additional rally headlight. The Mercedes EQE SUV and the upcoming Audi Q6 e-tron are likely to have been chosen as the main competitors .

Two electric motors (150 kW at the front, 210 kW at the rear) ensure a total output of 490 hp and 700 Nm of torque. This means that the EL6, which weighs a good 2.4 tonnes, accelerates from 0-100 km/h in 4.5 seconds. A maximum of 200 km/h is possible. The range according to WLTP is 406 kilometers with the small battery and 529 kilometers with the large battery. 

On the subject of driving dynamics: The car relies on adaptive dampers, a specially developed 4-piston brake (braking distance according to the manufacturer: 34.5 meters), 20 or 21 inch wheels with 265 tires and nine different driving modes. Everything is held together via the so-called “Intelligent Chassis Controller” which can be updated “over the air” if the developers come up with things in the future that will make the car drive better. 

Speaking of which: In the brave new world, nothing works without constant wireless optimization. At Nio you can even complain to the charming in-car assistant Nomi if you don’t like something about the car. If desired, the criticism can then be forwarded directly to the development team and, with a bit of luck, your torment will be over with the next big FOTA update (Functions Over The Air, every six months). 

Okay, okay, everything is wonderful. But what happened again with this replacement battery?

Ha, I knew it – that’s what gets people stuck. In addition to the classic purchase of the entire vehicle, Nio also offers the battery-free vehicle plus monthly battery rental. In the case of the EL6 there are four options:

• 53,500 euros basic price plus 12,000 euros for the 75 kWh battery
• 53,500 euros basic price plus 21,000 euros for the 100 kWh battery
• 53,500 euros basic price plus 169 euros/month for the 75 kWh battery
• 53,500 euros basic price plus 289 euros/month for the 100 kWh battery 

By the way, just five percent of customers decide to buy the battery. The reasons are obvious: If I purchase the battery, I cannot replace it. At the so-called Power Swaping Stations (PSS), this happens fully automatically in around five minutes. According to Nio, this is also the reason why the maximum DC charging speed of 140 kW (75-series battery) or 180 kW (100-series battery) is not really great: the overwhelming majority of customers hardly charge their Nio, they prefer to replace it regularly the memory.

Now you will say: It’s all nonsense with currently only seven of these stations throughout Germany. And I agree with you. But we all know the China pace. The manufacturer itself wants to increase this to 20 this year. Let’s see what happens next. There are currently around 1,800 systems in operation in the home market. The service is currently free except for electricity. Of course it won’t stay that way, but we would like to offer a fixed price. 

The second advantage of renting a battery is that you will soon be able to adjust your personal rental model on a monthly basis. For example, I only need to get the 100 KWh battery if I know that I have several longer trips coming up soon. Then I switch back to the cheaper smaller one. Don’t forget: A new 150 kWh battery is already in the starting blocks. It should offer a good 800 kilometers of WLTP range and will soon complement the rental portfolio. 

By the way, they are also open to other manufacturers switching to the battery replacement setup and can provide the technology upon request, officials say. A rogue who thinks evil of it. 

Now all I see in front of me is batteries. Does the EL6 actually drive well?

No question, a lot of it is about the user experience. Nio also calls its customers “users”. In addition to the battery issue, the main aim is to score points when it comes to service. Five-year guarantee, personal pick-up and delivery service for maintenance, mobile service teams that come to the customer … er … user if there are problems and so on. This includes a kind of all-round, worry-free package that includes all maintenance, tire service, insurance, etc. Of course, 1,179 or 1,309 euros (depending on battery size) per month won’t make everyone fall over with joy. 

Of course, all of this is of no use if the dear EL6 turns out to be a failure in daily use. Spoiler alert: He doesn’t. 

I don’t think we need to say too many words about propulsion here. It has 490 hp and it runs like crazy. As is the case with electric cars in this performance class. In Comfort mode, where the instrument display shows up to 270 kW during kickdown, this is very fast. In Sport Plus (shortcut by pressing two buttons on the steering wheel) with a full 360 kW, things are much more radical. 

So, unsurprisingly, we are moving extremely fast here, but not in a particularly sporty or involving way. The steering is very light and largely free of feeling. It’s like stirring in a vacuum. At the limit – and yes, I was actually able to try this out – the car pushes violently over the front wheels and has little interest in driving dynamics. You can feel the weight. But the EL6 remains stoic in all situations and brakes safely back on track. 

And that’s enough said on this topic, because it could hardly be less important for a large, luxurious family SUV. Much more important: the driving comfort is first class. The car is relatively softly tuned, literally floats over the asphalt and irons out even larger bumps without complaint.

No unwanted vibrations or noises from the chassis and body area, no weak points in the event of nasty impacts, no excessive wind noise. Brake? Even without real one-pedal driving, there is a good level of recuperation and a reasonable pedal feel. This all works.

The generously sized, long-distance seats in row one also fit in well. The passenger seat even has a Maybach-esque lounge function with extendable footrest and reclining position. Things are similarly feudal in the rear. Rarely have I rested my bottom more comfortably than on this ever-wide, soft back seat. Thanks to the electrically adjustable backrest, you can lounge around like in a cinema seat. Legroom: monumental. The trunk volume, however, can be expanded to between 579 and 1,430 liters. The maximum trailer load is 1,200 liters.

Oh yes, the consumption: At the end of the test drive on the motorway and sometimes fast mountain roads, it was 21.5 to 22 kWh according to the on-board computer. Over a distance of 175 kilometers, I drove the battery from 84 to 40 percent (remaining range from 431 to 206 kilometers).

And the service?
You can see it yourself in the pictures: Gentlemen, everything is clean in here. A few unlabeled buttons on the valance, the gear selector roller on the front of the center console – that’s it. The rest – almost everything – is controlled via the expansive central screen. Even adjusting the exterior mirrors.

Is that annoying? A little, yes. At first. But it’s no use if the car journalist who spends 5 hours with the vehicle complains about the inconvenience of operation. You quickly get used to it. Also because the implementation was successful. Among other things, via a shortcut page where you can bundle the most important functions and settings.

Or you can just use Nomi, basically Nio’s “Hey BMW”. Only in a friendly way. And – you have to be honest – it’s significantly better. You may recognize the rather cheeky ball on the dashboard from other Nios. She squints at you, makes faces, and sometimes takes out the guitar (no joke). The Chinese love it. The Germans don’t, which is why you can now get the fantastic voice control without a cuddly Tamagotchi nub. 

That doesn’t change the quality of the whole thing. Nomi understands everything (it’s almost frighteningly good) and can do everything that doesn’t involve safety-related adjustments. And by the way, from all seats, she can differentiate. So if you hear “I’m cold” coming from the rear left, then the heated seats in the rear left turn on. 

Because of the reclining passenger chair, there is no glove box. But you get a decent amount of storage space between the front seats, easy-to-use shelves in the doors and a lockable compartment in the center console. There are also things like premium-level material quality and excellent workmanship inside and out.  

Conclusion

It almost sounds a little trite now, but the standard Nio has achieved in such a short time is impressive and should certainly scare one or two long-established car manufacturers. 

In the test, the EL6 proved to be a very luxurious, spacious, comfortable touring car with all the chicanery. In terms of driving dynamics, this is admittedly average at best. And of course it still remains to be seen whether the ambitious plans for battery changing stations will work. The price seems fair for what is offered. The question is how ready the German customer is for premium products from the People’s Republic.