Niels van Roij finds Nio ET7 more upper class than Mercedes EQ range
Nio has been working in China for years with its recognizable EVs. Now the brand is setting foot in Europe with its newest member, the Nio ET7. The Nio designers are not lacking in self-confidence about that car. According to the marketing materials, it is ‘the perfect sedan’ and creating beauty and perfection was the pursuit of its development. Few exceptional goals in the world of car design and rather hackneyed marketing statements. It’s high time for car designer Niels van Roij to take a closer look at this EV!
Unlike some European manufacturers of electric cars, the ET7 is visually really strikingly modern, pure and beautifully drawn. The entire car is on the one hand progressive, but also refined and friendly: approachable. The soft, stylish surfacing of the ET7 and the typical DRG are aesthetic developments based on the characteristic, but less refined 2018 ES8 SUV.
Nio ES8 of 2018, Auto Express’s photo.
That SUV had a unique face, with a large silver X-shaped nose element, but also with a somewhat clumsily designed body: heavy and a bit wooden. The renewed brand DNA is more accessible due to its softness, but never gets heavy and blobby. That’s at the EQrange of Mercedes-Benz is strongly the case.
Nio ET7 has 33 sensors which are nice be integrated
The 33 sensors in the exterior are seamlessly integrated into the design of the body. A sophisticated exterior with flowing light lines, an elegant design and stylish frameless windows. The ET7 shape spectrum is consistent from bumper to bumper and is consistent throughout the interior. It was designed as a second living room, with the focus on making the passengers feel at home. The perfect living room has natural light, including the ET7 with its large panoramic roof and light colours. Beautiful use has been made of relevant colors and materials. They underline the solid, mild forms.
A Nomi in the Nio as a digital assistant
Nomi is also present in the living room, Nio’s digital assistant. The moving mini robot lives on the dashboard. The idea behind Nomi is to provide drivers and passengers with a closer connection to the car. According to Nio, it is the first in-car AI for production vehicles. In this video you can see how Nomi is present in the ET7.
Nio ET7 with Nomi in the center of the dashboard.
Nomi resembles a human face. It spins around, blinks and addresses each occupant focused on their location. Nomi can set personal seat and steering wheel positions when it senses a driver approaching. You can also give Nomi verbal commands: adjust the temperature in the cabin and open or close windows. And – very Chinese – even taking a selfie is possible!
The refined living space is equipped with invisible air vents, seamlessly integrated into the dashboard. That is why it is clean and simple. This is exceptional good design work and better, more subtle and rightfully more upper class than that of the brand with the star, the brand that so explicitly pretends to create tranquility in its interiors.
The innovation does not stop at Nomi, because 14 touch points in the car are made of sustainable, organic Karuun wood: a renewable material from tropical rainforests. Noteworthy are the beautiful details that have been integrated into this wood, such as the small transverse poker that is recessed into the center console. The wood material is also used in an organically shaped window control bowl, housed in the door panel. Extremely artfully done.
The perfect sedan actually comes from China.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl