Nio has demonstrated the real-life range of its new 150-kilowatt-hour Ultra Long Range battery by completing a 648-mile (1,044-kilometer) journey in China on a single battery charge.
A Nio ET7 electric sedan fitted with the semi-solid state battery and driven by Nio CEO and founder William Li and Senior Vice President of Nio Power Dr. Fei Shen covered the distance in 14 hours (12.4 hours excluding breaks) using 97 percent of battery power. The EV's average energy consumption was 212.4 Wh/mile (13.2 kWh/100 kilometers) during the trip, 92% of which was covered in NOP+ (Navigate-on-Pilot) semi-autonomous mode.
Driving from Shanghai to Xiamen with 3 percent battery life to spare—no need for a battery swap or recharge along the way—is a great achievement, especially since this wasn't your typical hypermiling attempt.
The Nio ET7's average speed was 52.13 miles per hour (83.9 kilometers per hour) during the trip, which took place in cold temperatures that ranged from 28.4° F to 10.4° F (-2° C to -12° C); the cabin temperature remained constant at 68° F (20° C) throughout the journey.
Achieving a range of 648 miles on a single charge in cold weather, which is known to reduce EV battery performance and range, is quite remarkable.
"The completion of this range test marks the range of smart EVs going beyond 1,000 kilometers, which will further promote the transformation of the automotive industry from the consumption of gasoline to electricity," said William Li, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Nio.
According to the company, the 150-kWh Ultra Long Range Battery Pack is the world's first pouch format cell CTP Pack with no thermal propagation design; it has a cell energy density of up to 360 Watt-hours/kilogram, the highest for mass produced production car battery packs in China.
Nio currently offers the 150-kWh Ultra Long Range battery exclusively in China for users of its Battery as a Service (BaaS) subscription model. The battery is compatible with Nio's entire range of smart EVs through the company's chargeable, upgradable and swappable power service system.
