NIO ET5 is the second sedan under NIO’s NT 2.0 platform. At this year’s Chengdu Auto Show, NIO executives stated that this model’s goal is to surpass the BMW 3 Series. As we all know, the BMW 3 Series has always been a mid-sized sports luxury sedan. The benchmark product is also the entry-level model for many young driving enthusiasts. Today we will examine this car from the two perspectives of sports and driving to see whether it is capable of taking on the role.
Credited to 100km/h in 3.8s/stopped in 38m
The basic power of sports is given priority. ET5 also has a dual-motor four-wheel drive configuration. The front induction asynchronous motor is 150Kw and the rear permanent magnet synchronous motor is 280Kw. Rear drive can be achieved in some modes.
Acceleration test driving mode is adjusted to Sport +, and the vehicle traction control cannot be turned off. Press the accelerator pedal to the bottom. When starting, the front of the car rises slightly, the center of gravity shifts backward, and the wheels do not slip. The final measured time to break 100km/h is 3.8 seconds. .
During the test, the peak acceleration of this car exceeded 0.8G, and the vehicle speed began to gradually decay when it exceeded 70km/h. The actual test results were 0.2s faster than the official results, but it was also expected. NIO said that when calibrating the vehicle Using a half-load test, with three people in the car and some luggage, the single-person test will definitely be faster.
The car we actually photographed is equipped with Pirelli PZERO tires, and the front wheels are equipped with opposing four-piston calipers. The official said that the material of the friction plate has been improved to ensure the braking effect while reducing noise.
In the braking test, the front suspension support was in place, the body tilted slightly forward, the body posture was stable and controllable, and the braking force output was very stable and basically maintained above -1G throughout the entire section.
The final 100km/h-0 braking distance was 38m. Judging from the grade and weight of the car, the result itself is good, but there is a certain gap with the official promotion. What we got was a trial assembly car. If there is any later The mass production version will be tested and verified again.
Track score 1 minute 16.40s
Pure electric models are the best to obtain power. In order to comprehensively test the quality of ET5, we drove the vehicle to Bitauto Jinggang Circuit for lap testing. Bitauto Jinggang Circuit has a total length of 1994m, a width of 10-17m, and is the longest The straight line is 455m, the maximum inclination angle is 8.8%, the maximum drop is 10.4m, the maximum slope is 12.9%, and it has many medium and high-speed curves.
During the test, the vehicle's battery power was 90%. The powerful power of 360kW can push the speed to 161km/h in a straight line. However, this set of Pirelli P ZERO tires was still difficult to withstand such high-intensity pressure. The car reared at Turn 1. 3 times, even if ESP is turned off, it will still intervene to pull the front of the car.
The vehicle in the No. 2 high-speed corner is a bit pushed, and with the continuous intervention of ESP, the line can only be filled to alleviate the push. When passing through the high-speed S-curve, the speed can reach 130km/h, and the power reserve is very abundant.
After braking hard at the No. 5 Tsukuba Turn, both the braking feel and the braking effect were mediocre, so that I could not fully grasp the apex of the corner. The lateral acceleration was only 1.04g, and the tires once again took the blame.
The entry speed of the No. 67 high-speed combination corner reached 114km/h. Before the test, we adjusted the kinetic energy recovery to the standard mode, so as long as the oil is loosened here, we can rely on the anti-drag torque of the motor to slow down or even adjust the direction of the front of the car. , the lateral acceleration when exiting the corner reached the highest in the game at 1.08g, and the tail speed on the rear straight exceeded 134km/h, which is very outstanding.
The brake pushback is very obvious at Turn 10. After that, there are low-speed U-turns, so not much time is lost. You must be patient when exiting the last corner. Applying the oil in a hurry will only aggravate the pushback, and you will eventually rush. The online score was 1 minute and 16.40 seconds, ranking fourth in the overall list, surpassing the Jikrypton 001 dual-motor version, and only less than 1 second behind the third-placed BMW i4 M50. This result is quite surprising.
Note: The models in the above table are all in original factory condition
Overall, the adhesion of the tires and the conservative ESP held back a lot in the track test. If a set of good tires can be replaced, the ESP will be more open, and there is still room for improvement in the results. Maybe there will be more engineers. We still want users to enjoy the fun of daily driving.
Daily driving
Back on daily urban roads, this is the main scene for many car owners. Compared with the ET7, the NIO ET5 is more compact in body size and wheelbase. When driving, the first impression is that it is more agile and can quickly change lanes and change lanes. U-turns need to be much more flexible, and the steering part also needs to be more direct. I only need to move the front of the steering wheel slightly to give me feedback. This setting is very consistent with its positioning.
This car has four driving modes, and there is also a custom mode. Personally, I like to adjust the steering to the sportiest and the acceleration to 7.9 seconds. The steering feedback is direct, the power is neither strong nor weak, and it is enough for daily use. You can press the accelerator pedal to the floor at any time without making other passengers motion sick.
In addition, the chassis part is in the form of five-links at the front and rear, and the road feel is quite clear and very tough. We have always talked about the sense of communication in sports adjustment. When driving this car, you can clearly know whether it is a road seam or a small branch that is being passed over.
It can be said that the chassis of this car is the most sporty one currently owned by Weilai. The support in cornering is also good, but it is a bit direct for big bumps such as speed bumps. The rear axle hasA little bounce, but it doesn't hurt. You can't ask for everything. Don't be too greedy, as long as it fits your position.
The combination of steering feel, chassis tuning, and power will make you feel mentally tense when driving. It seems that the car is teasing you to drive faster and faster, but you are still reminded to abide by the traffic rules. Another point is that the ET5 has dual motors at the front and rear. It can transform into a rear-wheel drive car in comfort mode. Now everyone is talking about OTA. Is it possible to develop a drift mode later or adjust it within a certain range? The ratio of front to rear power distribution makes it more playable.
Interior/Space Review
In terms of interior design, NIO ET5 still inherits the family-style design, with the iconic central control screen and hidden air outlets. The overall style is simple and elegant. The official also provides six colors for consumers to choose from.
Different from ET7, ET5 has also made innovations on the door panels. The striped design can diffuse the beam of the ambient light. It also uses a skin-friendly material similar to silicone, which feels more comfortable to the touch than traditional leather materials. Gentle.
The smart cockpit part is basically the same as the current ET7 in terms of functionality and configuration. The Banyan operating system runs very smoothly, and the in-car entertainment part supports mainstream online music and video playback on the market.
In terms of comfort configuration, the new car comes standard with front seat heating and seat memory, while front seat ventilation, seat massage and rear seat heating need to be purchased separately.
In terms of seating space, a passenger with a height of 177cm sits in the front row. After adjusting the standard driving posture, the headroom is about 10%. The subjective feeling of this car is that the sitting posture is relatively high and needs to be adapted to.
Keeping the position of the front seats unchanged and sitting in the back row, your hair has basically touched the roof of the car. The overall seat cushion height of the rear seats is relatively high, sacrificing a certain amount of head space. The advantage is that the sitting posture is relatively better. Stretch, leg room is 2 punch, if the length of the seat cushion can be extended a little more, it will be better overall.
Write it at the end
As for this ET5, I think it is more about letting car owners experience a sporty adjustment and enjoy the strong power and daily agile driving feeling. As for extreme scenes such as the track, first of all, the absolute results are not bad. , but the body stability program is a bit conservative. If it is more open, there is still room for improvement. We leave this issue to the engineers. In addition, for the two parts of smart cockpit and driving assistance, you can refer to ET7, so I won’t go into details here. The final question is, if you are a driving enthusiast, who would you choose between the BMW 3 Series and it?