Nio tests autonomous ES8

Nio is already an important player in the car market in its home country of China, but now it wants to become one in Europe as well. Nio has been active in Norway since last year, and we don’t have to wait long in the Netherlands either. With the ES7 it has a promising EV in the pipeline and the ET5 is also very interesting on paper. The somewhat older big brother of the ES7, the ES8, may also be heading our way and it is that car that we see in these photos. None other than AutoWeek editor-in-chief Damiaan Hage spotted it in Norway. It’s not just any ES8, but one that can’t be missed with a battery of cameras and lidar sensors on it.

As Nio has neatly indicated on the car, this is a test car with which they are working on NAD, Nio Autonomous Driving. With this, Nio wants to compete with Tesla’s FSD, among other things. The newer models from Nio, such as the ET5 and ES7, are immediately equipped with lidars and cameras to eventually be able to go through traffic completely independently. Of course, level 4 autonomous driving cannot be rolled out immediately, a lot of test work precedes it and that is probably the reason that Nio is far from home with this German ES8. It is reported that the roads in the (targeted) sales countries are currently being mapped. Undoubtedly, such a test car will eventually appear in the Netherlands, or maybe they are already there.

With the NAD software and hardware already developed, it should already be possible to largely relinquish control on highways and in cities. The next generation goes a step further and can, as mentioned, take over driving everywhere. Then you as a driver no longer even have to pay attention to it. Before that happens, the legislation must be ready for this. The European Union is also sympathetic to this, it was announced last month. Mercedes-Benz is already not far from it with its level 3 Drive Pilot, which can already be used in Germany.