Battery swaps and personal assistants: Nio EL6 ready to impress UK drivers

2024 marks 10 years since the idea for EV brand Nio was thrashed out by serial entrepreneur William Li, who is sometimes described as China's version of Tesla founder Elon Musk. 2024 may also be the year when the Nio electric cars currently available in Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany also start to be shipped into the UK, however the Chinese car company still will not be pinned down on its UK launch timetable.

Nevertheless, it is setting up its national sales company at offices in Milton Keynes, has already appointed 16 UK senior managers who report to NIO UK managing director Matt Galvin, and it recently welcomed a handful of UK motoring journalists including AM's editor Tim Rose on the European launch of its EL6 electric SUV in Germany. 

There have been recent reports on Nio's lack of profitability - its co-founder recently told the FT it loses $12,000 on every vehicle - but many remember the same happening with Tesla, and look where that is now. And Nio already sells more than 100,000 cars per year in its China homeland. So, dismiss Nio at your peril.

The EL6 is one seriously refined electric SUV. It brings desirable styling, extensive technology and real comfort into a clever package that Nio bosses hope will tempt people away from their traditional premium SUV providers. In Germany the EL6 starts at €65,500 (£57,076), although most customers will lease the EL6, and/or its battery, to be able to take advantage of Nio's slowly growing European network of battery-swap stations, which will help for long-distance travel.

Use of battery swaps is not mandatory, as most buyers will charge their Nio at home or work similarly to any other EV. Nevertheless, Nio's vision is for stations to be opened in the UK for its launch.

Nio's bosses point out that this is the second generation EL6 - the first didn't make it to Europe - and it represents a great deal of progress. It's a very easy car to spend time in, thanks to acres of space for five adult occupants and a high quality, minimalist cabin plus excellent all-round visibility.

A large touchscreen dominates the dashboard, but Nio has a novel on-board personal assistant, Nomi, which responds to voice commands and helps minimise the frustrating finger-prodding required to change basic settings. 

There are so many ways to personalise the car, from lights to the driver assistance features, so buyers could take a good hour or so to set the car up to their precise tastes.

A crisp head-up display and a small dash screen ensure the driver sees the important information during the drive.

Customers in Europe are offered an EL6 with two electric motors (that combine to produce a hefty 483bhp) and a choice of two batteries, either a 75kWh (total capacity) unit or a 100kWh (total capacity) unit.

With the 75kWh battery, it can officially travel up to 252 miles on a full charge, while the 100kWh version can cover up to 329 miles.

On an ultra-rapid charger, both can top up their charge from 10-80% in around 30 minutes.

No matter which battery you go for, performance is the same: 0-62mph officially takes just 4.5 seconds. Despite the brisk acceleration, the EL6 feels very much geared towards comfort rather than sporty driving.

This is an electric car I would happily useon a family holiday to Scotland.

Nio's leadership team describe the business as "a user enterprise". From the beginning its mantra has been to focus on lifestyle and comfort for Nio users, which led to the development of its battery swap stations. There are now 27 of these in Europe.

Its physical network of sales points is set to expand. In Europe there are six Nio Houses already open, plus smaller Nio Spaces and Nio Hubs. Nio Houses are just as much about providing social space as car showrooms - users of the Nio app can build up loyalty rewards and meet friends at a Nio House for coffee.