Not long ago, NIO's new ES6 ushered in the launch, and in the entire listing live broadcast, BAO Master found two keywords, one is improvement and the other is self-research. These two routes are defining the future development path and characteristics of NIO.
First of all, the new ES6 adopts the second-generation design language of NIO, although it follows the concept of X-Bar, but the overall is more concise and condensed. The watchtower sensor layout under the "Design for AD" design concept was also shown on the ES6. The all-new ES6 has a body length of 4854 mm, a width of 1995 mm, a height of 1703 mm and a wheelbase of 2915 mm. Compared to the first-generation ES6, the wheelbase is longer, the body is wider and the height is lower. The new ES6 is 55mm taller than the other, but the overall optimisation of the cockpit arrangement has increased rear headroom by 75mm.
The Queen car has always been the core selling point of NIO's SUV models, and this time it has ushered in a new functional upgrade. Support one-key zero gravity mode, forming a dual 120-degree zero gravity comfort posture; At the same time, the queen's co-pilot also offers a reclining mode, which can be raised at the rear end of the seat cushion for a more comfortable fit in a 160-degree reclining position. The new queen's co-pilot is equipped with heating, ventilation and massage functions, supporting three-zone heating of backrest, seat cushion and leg rest, and supporting Air Cushion back soothing and spa-grade eight-point massage; In addition, the new ES6 rear seats have electric angle adjustment.
One of the major improvements to the new ES6 is that it will be the first to be equipped with the Banyan 2.0.0 system. The system brings more than 120 new features and experience optimizations. Previously, almost every NIO user enjoyed many-to-one WeChat group services, this time the owner can directly initiate service requirements to the exclusive service group through the car without opening the mobile phone, and support one-click sending of vehicle information such as location and system screen recording. The "Calendar" app can connect the user's mobile phone calendar itinerary after authorization, and realize the unique intelligent voice note reminder function through NOMI.
In addition, the new system also adds the function of "automatic planning of circuit lines", the new ES6 is based on NIO Energy Cloud, with the industry's best navigation & power up one-stop path planning capability, users do not need to bother planning power up along the way for long-distance travel, one-click navigation in the map interface, the system can provide a variety of path planning schemes for users to choose.
Looking at NIO's financial report last year, it was found that its R&D expenses increased from 4.5919 billion yuan in 2021 to 10.8363 billion yuan in 2022, an increase of 136% year-on-year. A large number of parts that used to be purchased from suppliers have been changed to self-research. The reason given by Li Bin is still related to improvement. Because the speed of suppliers cannot meet the rhythm of NIO's rapid improvement of products based on customer feedback, it simply develops itself.
For example, the new ES6 uses NIO's self-developed high-end seat platform, and the main and passenger seats are equipped with 20-way adjustment as standard, including a floating 4-way adjustable headrest. The new ES6 seat adopts a Multi-layer comfort system, with a total of 9 layers of support, from the surface covering material to the seat frame layer. The 3D Müller fiber layer lined with the skin composite layer is equivalent to 10,000 individual small springs and is delicate to the touch. The Comfort Pad foam layer is 20 mm thick and covers 100% of the seat surface, effectively improving the comfort of the seat.
Another example is that the new ES6 is equipped with self-developed high-performance four-piston fixed calipers as standard, and the braking distance is only 34.5 meters per 100 kilometers. Standard self-developed ICC intelligent chassis domain controller, equipped with CDC dynamic suspension damping control system, can make transient damping adjustment according to different road conditions, the fastest adjustment speed can reach 500 times / second, only 0.01 seconds can complete the damping force adjustment greater than 6000 N, so that the vehicle's dynamics can quickly switch between sport and comfort; and for example, the standard self-developed ISS intelligent comfort brake function, which can automatically adjust the braking force at the end of the brake, greatly suppressing the "nod" phenomenon caused by braking. Improve driving comfort in urban congestion scenarios.
Master BAO found that not long ago, NIO was applying for trademarks such as "KnowmeGPT", "NIOGPT" and "nomigpt", involving social services, building repair, scientific instruments, etc. It can be seen that artificial intelligence functions based on large models have also entered NIO's research and development vision.
It can be seen that continuous improvement is currently the core competitiveness of NIO to firmly control user loyalty and enhance its own attractiveness. Self-research is becoming the core way to ensure this competitiveness and expand its advantages. However, this will also bring a corresponding negative impact, that is, high research and development costs. However, the launch of the all-new ES6 is helping NIO expand its lineup of mass models, and is expected to deliver more than 10,000 vehicles per month.
Written at the end:
With the continuous growth of China's new energy market, Chinese consumers are increasingly accepting new energy models, and the sensitivity to brands is no longer as obvious as in the past decade. Of course, technology, capital scale, brand precipitation may be the weakness of the new force brand, but NIO is taking improvement and self-research as its core competitiveness, and constantly strengthening, here BAO master wishes that the NIO brand can break through the delivery bottleneck as soon as possible through more competitive products, and achieve rapid growth in scale and profit.