Chinese electric automaker NextEV unveiled its new brand – NIO – yesterday in London. The start-up has also taken the wraps off its first-ever all-electric supercar, christened the NIO EP9.
NIO claims that the EP9 is the world’s fastest electric car, clocking the lap at Nordschliefe aka the Green Hell in 7m 05.12s, beating the previous record of 7m 22.329s accomplished by the Toyota TMG EV P002.
The Nürburgring Nordschleife's (North Loop’s) lap time is a widely accepted benchmark by which the speed of a vehicle is judged. For the uninitiated, the North Loop is nestled in the Eifel mountains in Germany. It is often called the ‘Green Hell’ since it spans around 20km in lush green surroundings and is considered the most challenging and difficult purpose-built built circuit in the world.
The NIO EP9 produces a blistering 1-MegaWatt of power, which equals 1,360PS. The power comes from four electric motors featuring four gearboxes as well. Talking about the figures, the supercar hits 0-100kmph in a mere 2.7 seconds, while achieving 0-200kmph in 7.1 seconds. It has a top whack of 313kmph. The company claims that the vehicle features an interchangeable battery system that can be charged in 45 minutes and has a range of 427km.
The EP9 uses the customary carbon fibre extensively and NIO says that the EP9 is capable of achieving 24,000 Newtons of downforce at 240kmph. It has the required hardware (e-control structure and sensor system) for the incorporation of the latest autonomous driving tech.
William Li, NextEV founder and chairman, said in an official release, “Today we launched our electric supercar that broke the record at the Nordschleife. The NIO EP9 was born to push limits and is the first stage of automotive production for NIO. It is a statement of our vision and technical and manufacturing capabilities.
It is a best-in-class product that showcases what is possible with electric vehicles. We believe that when the car ownership experience exceeds expectations, electric vehicles will become the natural choice for everyone, leading to a more sustainable tomorrow. And with that, our vision of a blue sky will come true.”
Source: CarDeho.com
