NIO ET9 is the first Chinese premium car and it is electric with unique 46105 battery and Tesla Cybertruck's steer-by-wire

Tesla Cybertruck's steer-by-wire and high voltage systems just got a competitor in the face of the first premium car from a Chinese automaker that jumps the ICE vehicle queue and goes straight into the EV era. The NIO ET9 luxury sedan, however, one-ups Tesla in many of its specifications and is chock full of unique technologies worthy of its $112,000 price tag.

The ET9's 925V architecture, 46105 battery, and a 5nm autonomous driving chip are a first for any electric vehicle, while NIO is also introducing a class-leading suspension system that can make a 50mm height adjustment in a second. Giant screens for each passenger, panoramic roof with ambient lighting and massage seats round up the luxury interior, as can be expect from the first Chinese luxury car that is intended to take on the likes of Mercedes Maybach or the Porsche Panamera.

NIO ET5 specs and features

Being a NIO electric car, the ET9 can also "fuel" faster than any other EV via the company's battery swap station network, and be on its merry way with a fully charged 120 kWh battery in 3 minutes or so. That same battery is comprised of unique 46105 battery cells that are taller and with higher energy density than the 4680 cylindrical cells that Tesla uses for the Cybertruck. The battery pack is rated for crazy fast 5C charging speeds, too, and NIO vows that 5 minutes of charging the ET9 on its 640 kWh charging station will be good for 255km (158 miles) of travel.

Apart from the premium electric propulsion and high-tech suspension system that compensates for every bump in the road, the ET9 also comes with the ultimate in smart driving capabilities made possible by NIO's in-house 5nm Shenji autonomous driving chip that it says can rival four NVIDIA Drive Orin processors. The ET9 will have two of those for redundancy purposes.

Speaking of redundancies, those encompass not only the processing platform, but also the brakes, drivetrain, sensors, and the new steer-by-wire (SBW) system. Similar to the Cybertruck, the NIO ET9 offers redundant SBW motors, powered by a modern 48V system, as well as 8.3° rear-wheel steering that allows the big 5,324 mm long electric sedan to turn on a dime.

The NIO ET9 preorder reservations have now started, with first deliveries to be shipped to customers in Q1 of 2025. Mum's the word if it will also be able to utilize NIO's 150 kWh semi solid-state battery that was just tested as capable of more than 650 miles on a charge, like its other premium sedans.

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