(Benzinga) – Ahead of the China Auto Show 2020, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio Inc – ADR (NYSE: NIO) announced the first delivery Friday of the newest vehicle in its stable.
Nio Meets Delivery Schedule: Nio announced via a tweet that it has officially begun deliveries of the EC6, its five-seater premium electric coupe SUV.
The company launched the vehicle at the Chengdu Motor Show 2020 on July 24, and began accepting preorders immediately, with the promise of delivery starting by September.
A Drive Through The EC6: Nio’s EC6 comes in three editions: Sporty, Performance and Signature.
With the model’s lightweight architecture, the EC6 has a drag coefficient of only 0.26.
The EC6 has pre-installed Nio Pilot hardware and an internally developed advanced driver assistance system with features covering typical driving scenarios in China.
The EC6 accelerates from 0 to 100 kph in 4.5 seconds, Nio said.
The EC6 Performance and Signature versions come with either a standard 70 kilowatt-hour battery pack with an NEDC range of 440 km, or an optional 100 kWh battery pack with an NEDC range of up to 615 km.
To lure buyers, Nio offered to the first retail buyers a lifetime free power swap, lifetime free warranty, lifetime free car connectivity, lifetime free out-of-town power service and lifetime free roadside rescue.
Nio EC6 Pricing: The pre-subsidy price of Nio starts from 368,000 yuan (roughly $54,000), Nio said in July. The high-end model is priced at 526,000 yuan (around $77,000).
The competing Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model Y is priced at 488,000 yuan to 535,000 yuan for the variants.
The recently announced battery-as-a-service model makes Nio’s vehicles cheaper. The base model of EC6 post-subsidy works out to 350,000 yuan, and with the BaaS option, the price would be around 280,000 yuan.
Nio has seen a sales resurgence after COVID-19 cases receded in China. The addition of the EC6 should serve as a catalyst to accelerate the ongoing sales momentum.
NIO Price Action: Nio shares ended Friday’s session 2.63% higher at $18.32.
