This is a new trend for promoting new cars: You open a "lounge" or "lobby" where people can come in and warm up with a cup of coffee or something similar, read a bit on their mobile phone or chat. Inside this idyll there are also a couple of nice cars...
Snobbish location at the Grand Hotel
NIO could hardly have chosen a better place to profile itself. NIO House is located on the first floor of the former Hotel Nobel on Karl Johan, right next to Grand Café and Bjerke Urmaker. In warm lighting with visibility from Karl Johans gate, supercars such as the NIO EVE and EP9 can be glimpsed. On the other side of the hotel entrance is a coffee bar in the same style and colours.
welcome inside
You don't need to show a membership card or business-class ticket to let yourself into the heat. Around the cars, there are "supervisors" - not pushy salespeople. Once you have familiarized yourself with the car (currently only ES8), you can order a test drive. You should have done that in advance - online. For now, the only location is NIO House Oslo centre. Many would probably prefer a more open landscape for their first drive in a large, electric SUV.
Currently only ES8
The NIO ES8 is just over 5 meters long, almost 2 meters wide and weighs 2,4 tonnes. The SUV is a typical representative of the "gigantomania" that is ravaging the car market. If you take a closer look at the car - a Signature 6 seater - there is little doubt that it belongs in the premium segment. The price tag of 609 seems almost ridiculously low. That's because the batteries are not included. You have to add 000 for the "standard range" batteries of 90 kwh and 000 for the "long range". With 75 kWh, the car has a range of 160 km (WLTP).
Battery as a service
The concept is that NIO ensures that the car has power on the batteries. If you choose to leie batteries instead of owning them, you can benefit from NIO's "battery swap" stations that will be placed in a network. The first has already arrived at Kjellstad, where the "Lierbommen" was located. You can drive in there and change to a fully charged battery in 5 minutes. In China, other services are also offered, such as someone picking up your car, charging it for you, and putting it back in its place. Or that there will be a "charging van" where a guy puts your car on charge and has a smoke while your batteries are being recharged.
Can open up new opportunities
NIO's extended battery service can open up new possibilities. According to one of the customer advisors, most people choose to rent batteries. Those who choose the NIO ES8 Signature LR thus get a car in the top luxury segment for "only" NOK 609. Included in the price is a home charger (without assembly). In addition, the battery rent is NOK 000 per month - or NOK 1999 for the "standard range". The rent gives access to 1399 kwh and 200 free battery changes per month in the "battery bow". It will be interesting to see how this develops. Tesla considered both battery rental and battery replacement - but decided against it. Renault Zoe has battery rental as an "option" - but that did not attract Norwegian customers.
OIL ET7
The sedan version ET7 on display in NIO House is a one-of-a-kind. They will be rolled out to the first customers in China in a few weeks. Currently, no one is registered in Norway. We don't know much about it other than that it is 5,09 meters long (!) and has a stated drag coefficient that is as good as the latest Tesla S and almost as good as the Mercedes-Benz EQS. The range with a 100 kwh battery is stated to be 1000 km (NEDC).
ES6 and ET5 could become big sellers
The ES6 is 4,85 meters long and is only offered as a 5-seater. It has been in production for over two years, but will not arrive in Norway until 2023. Then the NIO ET5 will also arrive, which - if the price is right - could become a "Tesla 3 killer". The Tesla 3, produced in Shanghai, is currently hugely popular in China. All Tesla 3 and Tesla Y imported into Norway today are manufactured in Shanghai.
The special cars
The NIO EP9 is the world's fastest electric car. It does 0-100 in 2,9 seconds – enough to inhibit the blood supply to the head. The future car NIO EVE is a self-driving prototype that was shown for the first time in 2017. Then it was said that the model would be put into production in 2020. That did not happen. The world is probably not yet ready for cars where all 6 passengers can sit facing each other without anyone having to drive. The entire roof is transparent, but the side windows contain controllable "pigments" to prevent visibility and keep the sun out.
If you are visiting Oslo, it is recommended to pay a visit to NIO House. Soon they will also come to Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Kristiansand.
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