NIO unveils the most premium electric sedan with high-speed suspension adjustment during tire blowouts and in-house 5nm self-driving chip

One of the most innovative EV makers just announced its new NIO ET9 sedan, and its specs peg it at the top of the premium electric vehicle food chain with the price to match.

Starting at over $100,000, the ET9 features a record high voltage 925V drivetrain and NIO's new SkyRide intelligent chassis with Steer-by-Wire, Rear-Wheel Steering, and Full Active Suspension systems all rolled in.

The Full-Link Ultra-Low Latency communication protocol allows for instant suspension reaction in under 0.3 seconds that allows the ET9 to keep steady even if a tire blows out while riding at 100 mph, as can be seen in the test video below.

The ET9 sedan is a big luxurious four-seater that offers plenty of legroom and headroom with its 5,325 mm length, 1,621 mm height, and a 3,250 mm wheelbase.

Perhaps the most interesting ET9 specs, however, are concentrated at its powertrain architecture and processing system. NIO managed to successfully tape-out its own Shenji NX9031 self-driving car chip, built on a modern 5nm production process. Besides a smorgasbord of cameras and sensors, the ET9's self-driving system includes not just the LiDAR at the top of the vehicle, but two side LiDARs as well, in a stark contrast to Tesla's FSD hardware that only relies on camera input.

The NIO ET9 is also China's first vehicle with steer-by-wire technology in mass production, and it also comes with rear wheel steering with a sharper 8.3-degree angle than what Tesla's Cybertruck is currently capable of. This maximum rear-wheel steering angle of 8.3° brings a turning diameter of just 10.9 meters, allowing for sharper U-turns, or parking in tighter spaces.

The 100 kWh battery can propel the ET9 for 650 kilometers, or over 400 miles, but that is on the local CLTC test cycle, which is way more generous than the EPA estimates in the US.

NIO has already put the 700HP ET9 up for preorder with an initial batch of 999 limited edition units that are priced from $94,500 with NIO's BaaS (battery-as-a-service) option that allows to swap the battery for a fully charged one in 3 minutes at any of its thousands of swap stations, with a monthly battery pack rental of $150. Regular shipments of the new premium NIO ET9 electric sedan will begin in March 2025.

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