Test: Nio ET5 – Enough to tackle the Tesla Model 3?

Where should you place the Nio ET5?

The NIO ET5 is a model below the ET7 that we have tested before. The ET5 will compete with the Tesla Model 3, which currently seems unbeatable with its relatively low prices. But also with the BMW i4, Volkswagen ID7 and Polestar 2.

Tell us about the powertrain

The Nio ET5 has a 150 kW induction motor at the front and a 210 kW permanent magnet motor at the rear, making a total of 360 kW (490 hp). It is available with a 75-kWh battery, but also with a 100-kWh version. The NT5 ‘Standard’ has the 75-kWh version and thus reaches 445 WLTP kilometers. If you go for the Nio ET5 Long with 100 kWh, you can count on a driving range of up to 580 kilometers. The battery is not standard with the car. You have to rent them or buy them separately, but we will come back to that in a moment.

How are you in the ET5?

The first thing you notice is the rather high seat in the ET5. We like to sit deep in a car like this, but if you put the seat in the lowest position, you will notice that it is still very high. The seat adjustment is electric by the way, with buttons on the side of the seat. To get a good sitting position, the steering wheel is electrically adjustable and you do that via the multimedia screen. There you can assign different functions to the buttons on the steering wheel, so you can adjust the steering wheel and, for example, mirrors. It’s more cumbersome than the traditional method, but how often do you set it? In addition, each driver can store his own settings in memory. Because you sit a bit higher, you have a good view of the nose. By the way, if you look at an ET5 with driver from the front, you will see the same as with a Tesla Model 3: a lot of steering and driver. Just pay attention to that. There is enough space in the back seat for two adults, and a third can still be added if it doesn’t take too long. Headroom is also still sufficient there, especially given the sloping roofline.

You look out at a minimalist dashboard that is broadly similar to that of the larger ET7, but the materials feel just a little less luxurious. In the ET7 you will find luxurious finishing strips, in the ET5 they are omitted. Again, no visible ventilation grilles and an almost total absence of buttons. There are only buttons on the steering wheel and three next to the transmission selector, but everything else is via the large, almost square screen in the center. It is a proprietary system from Nio, but with its design it is quite similar to the Android Automotive used by Renault and Polestar, among others. Many functionalities have been put into it, but it is logically structured and fairly easy to understand. The screen responds quickly and the voice control does not cause too much irritation in our first, short introduction. We will of course go into more detail about the system in a future test.

Also in the Nio ET5, ‘Nomi’ entertains the occupants, a virtual assistant who sits on the dashboard like a doll. Look at it how you want: something cheerful in a business environment, or something superfluous and annoying.

And how does such an ET5 drive?

We were able to drive the car briefly at an event organized by our German colleagues from AutoBild. That explains the wild decals of the car, by the way, because the event took place on the Bridgestone test track and that tire brand wanted to get a good picture. We drove it on a closed circuit and therefore did not make an extensive test yet. That will follow soon, if we can drive the car in the Netherlands. The first impression is that it is quite smooth. Via the menu with the driving modes you choose a driving mode somewhere between economic and sporty, and on the basis of that choice the maximum power is determined – and therefore the acceleration time. He can be bloody fast, or just smooth in a relaxed way. He holds his own on the Mickey Mouse circuit. It doesn’t feel too heavy, takes corners fairly neutrally and the only thing that stood out is that the center of gravity seems to be fairly high for a car like this. In combination with the somewhat high seating position, this gives the feeling that the ET5 is less sporty than the Tesla.

On the banked track of the terrain, we were able to replicate a highway-like experience. It’s nice to make kilometers in the Nio ET5, we quickly think. It’s quiet and comfortable, perhaps a little more comfortable than a Tesla Model 3, which seems to have a slightly firmer suspension. But we will have to determine that when we can drive them both together for a short time.

What about buying or renting the battery?

Nio offers the same system for the ET5 as for the ET7. You can buy the car including a battery, and then it is actually an EV like all other EVs. Or you decide to buy the Nio and rent the battery. Then you can just charge it, but you can also use the exchange stations (now only a handful in the Netherlands) where they change the battery pack in a minute or so.

The Nio ET5 has a starting price of €50,700 in the Netherlands. In that case you will not receive the battery pack and you will have to rent it via Nio’s Battery-as-a-service construction (BaaS). You pay €169 per month for this. Do you want the battery pack to be all yours? Then count on a starting price of €62,700 for the ET5 Standard (75 kWh). Nio also charges a starting price of €51,900 for the Nio ET5 with a 100-kW battery in the case of battery rental, but then you pay €289 per month for the battery pack. The ET5 Long including battery costs €71,700. Don’t buy, but drive? That is also possible, of course. Depending on the chosen variant, you pay monthly €1,056 to €1,195 for the ET5 via a private lease construction.