Test Nio EL7 – More progressive than traditional SUV but too conservative for the Tesla public

All those new car brands from China, I can’t see the wood for the trees anymore?

We can well imagine that. Nevertheless, Nio is a striking newcomer. The brand seems to be successfully profiling itself as hip and progressive, is only concerned with EVs and has sleek, tidy and therefore ‘European’-looking models. Nio positions these models high in the market and, in addition to Tesla, also finds BMW, Mercedes and Audi on his path. Nio himself says emphatically that he aims at those traditional luxury brands. The Chinese say they do not necessarily want to lure existing EV drivers, but mainly people who still drive a traditionally powered car.

High in the market, is the Nio EL7 a competitor for the large SUVs of the premium brands?

With the EL7, the BMW X5 is mentioned first when it comes to competitors, although we think the electric Audi E-Tron, now called Q8 e-tron, is a better fit. The EL7 – the ‘L’ stands for ‘Living’ and designates all SUVs in Europe – is about the same size as such a Q8. Behind the back seat, it offers more luggage space with 658 liters, but with the couch flat, a Q8 would win the comparison. The Nio does not have a luggage compartment in the nose. That’s a bit strange for an electric model on a pure electric platform and from a pure electric brand, but may have to do with another feature: a swappable battery.

What about Nio’s battery change?

As with the other Nio models, the EL7 makes it possible to simply exchange the battery for another one in five minutes, in a Swap Station specially developed for this purpose. There are four of these in the Netherlands at the time of writing, but more are coming soon. You can switch to obtain a full battery, but it also means that you can switch from 75 to 100 kWh (gross) battery capacity at will. The corresponding range is reasonable at 367 to 509 kilometers, but certainly not groundbreaking. This also applies to the fast charging capacity of up to 140 kW, although Nio promises a long-lasting peak and there is a faster alternative in some places due to the switch.

This Nio is certainly also very fast?

Except for the paint and interior colours, the wheels and the retrofittable battery, all EL7s are identical. That means everything from a panoramic roof and ‘soft close’ doors to excellent driver assistants and even a tow bar is all standard. This also applies to the two electric motors, which together generate 644 hp in all cases. The sprint from 0 to 100 is therefore done in 3.9 seconds. At least, you can. In the very extensive driving mode menu, you can choose from no less than five different 0-100 times, which therefore represent five different ‘fierces’. Anyone who has the chassis on Comfort will have to settle for 5.9 counts. Still fast enough, but not that fast anymore. It is striking that the Nio does not come to a complete stop on its own when the throttle is released. So no one pedal driving in this EV.

Is this electric SUV that heavy again?

For an electric SUV of this size, the weight is not too bad, but comfort fits the 2,350-kilo Nio without a doubt the best. The standard air-sprung SUV then rolls forgivingly and smoothly on the road and feels nicely balanced, although there are air suspension systems that eliminate short ridges with more finesse. With the chassis in a lower, sportier mode, the EL7 sometimes feels a bit bumpy, although it actually makes the car more dynamic. The steering is noticeably sharper in Sport. Around the middle position, the steering in ‘normal’ mode should also be less direct, because that would give a calmer picture on the highway. The EL7 is also a nice travel car. It is quiet, offers a pleasant sitting position and the interior appears to be of high quality.

Nomi sits on top of the dashboard of the Nio EL7.

Is the Nio EL7 also premium inside and does it also have such a robot on the dashboard?

Although it does not yet reach the finishing level of the German brands, the special design and impressive standard equipment partly make up for that. The choice of materials is creative, with ‘vegan leather’ in a color of your choice up to the dashboard and special decorative strips of rattan. The seats are very extensively adjustable and sit excellently and the lightning-fast and very extensive touchscreen offers access to numerous settings in a fairly clear manner. If you can’t figure it out via the screen, you can always enlist the help of Nomi. That ‘dashboard robot’ watches from the dashboard and responds to your voice, but in practice it comes across as quite interfering. Moreover, the twisting of the ‘head’, which Nomi does at random times, is very audible. Fortunately, ‘she’ can go out. The navigation is Nio’s own and is not yet able to plan a route along fast chargers or exchange stations completely independently if necessary. Furthermore, it lacks the ‘witness’ that Google Maps ensures that a half or misspelled word is enough to find the right destination.

Is the Nio EL7 a spacious car?

In the back it is very good to keep up. The electrically adjustable rear seat offers a lot of space and rear passengers have their own touchscreen (small), with which they can, among other things, put the front passenger seat in the ‘driver’s position’. Pure opulence. That costs something, because including the 75-kWh battery, Nio asks €88,900 for an EL7.

Can you also rent a battery from Nio and what does it cost?

It is perhaps smarter to buy the car and rent the battery. This opens the gates to the increasingly extensive battery exchange network and pushes the price to €76,900, although a monthly amount of at least €169 will be added. The EL7 is therefore not a bargain and that raises the question for whom it is intended. Nio’s desire to mainly attract non-EV drivers reinforces the brand by not turning the EL7 into a Tesla-like tech party. In addition to smartphone access, there is ‘just’ a key and the interior still has a relatively large number of physical buttons. The absence of one pedal driving should make the EL7 nice and ‘normal’.

Can you buy the Nio EL7 from the dealer?

No. The question is, incidentally, whether the desired, more traditional target group is waiting for a fairly futuristic-looking car from an unknown brand without dealers, which is also high-tech in other respects and therefore requires getting used to. The EL7 may end up between two stools: too progressive for the traditional SUV driver and not progressive enough for what we call the Tesla public. Although that battery change is of course unique.