Nio EL8 review

SUV flagship from UK-bound Chinese EV brand aims to mix it with BMW’s iX

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Nio is a brand you’ve read plenty about on this website without ever seeing one of its cars on UK roads.

Still, it remains one of the most interesting Chinese brands to arrive on European shores, with a creditable attempt at rivalling the likes of BMW and Volvo with a sleek range of models.

Nio is already on sale in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands - but a bit like tomorrow, Nio’s UK launch is always coming but never arrives.

Officially, that launch is still planned, and fairly soon, and given the brand’s development footprint has already extended into the UK with a facility just north of Oxford officially labelled as the “global R&D centre for performance and advanced concept engineering”. 

If and when it comes, the second-generation Nio EL8 – previously known as the ES8 when it became the first Nio to be sold in Europe, in Norway – would be the flagship model at the top of the Nio range. 

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DESIGN & STYLING

Nio EL8 review front driving

In profile, the EL8 looks quite similar to a Range Rover Sport (even the optional 22in alloys look like something out of Gaydon). It is a three-row electric SUV with six seats rather than seven, for a more luxurious feel, and is pitched at the likes of the BMW iX. 

It’s a large car, at 5099mm long, 1750mm tall and 2199mm wide, with a wheelbase of 3070mm. That makes it longer than a Range Rover, and it feels it on the road. Even a Range Rover feels a bit too big for UK roads these days and, on that basis, the EL8 would fare the same.

The EL8 is fitted with optional adaptive matrix headlights, which have individually controlled micron LEDs that can bend around corners

Nio’s styling is on the discreet side, the firm keeping things very restrained and reserved.

The EL8 is inoffensive yet not memorable to look at, much like a Tesla, though the lidar sensor on the roof suggests the air of a taxi, and the other cameras either side on top of the pillars little horns. All together, these cameras and sensors give the look of one of those Google cars you sometimes see mapping the streets. 

Underneath, the EL8 is related to the ET7 saloon (a BMW i7 rival) and the smaller EL7 SUV. 

Apart from their catchy and memorable names, these cars have plenty in common, including an ultra-high-strength steel and aluminium architecture called Nio Platform B, a battery pack in the floor and twin electric motors for four-wheel drive.

Despite the vehicle's size, its drag coefficient is impressive, at a slippery 0.25. As standard, 20in alloys are fitted, with 21in and 22in options. 

INTERIOR

Nio EL8 review Mark Tisshaw driving shot

Nio is one of a number of brands to adopt a minimalist look and let a large central touchscreen do all the heavy lifting, which if done badly can lead to quite a sparse and cold feel inside.

Yet as we’ve found on some of its other models, including the Europe-friendly Nio ET5 saloon, Nio is able to add a premium feel to its interiors thanks to excellent material choices and perceived quality. The firm is all in on being a rival to the likes of BMW and Audi, with the models priced accordingly, and the interiors don’t let them down.

Nio is pushing the sustainability of the EL8’s interior materials, which include sustainable rattan, soybean foam seat cushions and the world’s first plant-based woven suede made of sugar cane and caster oil

The central screen still dominates the experience. There’s so much space it doesn’t look like Nio knows what to fill it with, and while the display responds instantly to inputs, you still have to take your eyes off the road to check your finger is pointing in the right place. There is still a driver’s display for all key driver info such as speed – not a given these days, as seen with, for instance,f the Volvo EX30.

Nio is one of a number of brands trying to better master voice controls, and the EL8 has the firm’s ‘virtual assistant’, which sits on the top of the dashboard and is called Nomi.

When it works, it works well even for more advanced commands, but it has selective hearing before it will even spark into life, let alone make itself useful. 

The EL8 follows the Kia EV9 in having six seats for a more executive feel, and this is the only available choice. All three rows have large, comfortable chairs but there’s an absence of storage throughout and the boot space is ultimately compromised, at 265 litres with three rows up and 810 litres with the third row down.

You can’t then fully get the second row out the way to create a van-like cargo hold like you can with other large SUVs. For so much space, there’s not much versatility.

There are some clever features and functions, including a refrigerator that can also operate at 50deg C to keep things warm, a hot-stone massage function on the heated, massaging seats, and the ability to truly change the sense of mood and feel inside through clever use of ambient lighting.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

Nio EL8 review front driving from distance

The EL8 has two motors for four-wheel drive, with a permanent magnet motor at the front and an induction motor at the rear, and they can work independently of one another to boost efficiency. 

The combined outputs are prodigious - 644bhp and 627lb ft of torque - as is the acceleration, with a 0-62mph time of 4.1sec quoted, exactly what you need in a 2.6-tonne family SUV…

Towing capacity of the EL8 is 2000kg

As you’ll read below in the ride and handling section, the EL8 behaves very differently in the different driving modes. 

In the standard Comfort mode, it doesn’t feel very quick at all – in fact quite slow and heavy. Select Sport+ mode, though, and you’ll soon find that this is simply a case of software tuning; the EL8 is rapid, unnervingly so. Good job Nio talks up the stopping power of the Bosch brakes… 

There are no real hidden depths at all to the EL8: it’s a very quick car in a straight line, and how much power you make available to your right foot is simply a result of which driving mode you are in.

RIDE & HANDLING

nio el8 coty 2024 jh 30

Now then. It has all been fairly typical so far, yet the EL8 is the strangest car I’ve driven all year. That’s all thanks to the suspension tuning.

The suspension is incredibly soft and tries to be so comfortable to the point that it becomes uncomfortable. If a stiff, crashy ride takes your fillings out, the EL8’s soft ride makes you feel like being in a boat on choppy waters. Your correspondent gets car sick as a passenger, yet the Nio EL8 is one of few cars I’ve driven that makes me feel that way from the driver’s seat. 

The EL8 leans and rolls around corners, and any input on the wheel will have you tossing one way before going back to the middle

The suspension is actually rather sophisticated: dual-chamber air at each corner with continuously variable dampers, backed by hydraulic bump-stops to further cushion the extremities of travel. Citroën uses the same bump-stops to better effect.

Yet in the standard Comfort mode, the EL8 borders on undrivable, because the car takes so long to settle back down to level after going over a bump or around a corner, whether that’s from front to back or side to side as you get tossed and swayed around.

Even the most ‘extreme’ Sport+ mode, it’s a soft car, though it’s better so this is the mode to leave it in.

The extra weight to the steering is also welcome in Sport+ mode, because it’s so light in Comfort that you’re constantly making adjustments to keep the EL8 in a straight line.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

Nio EL8 review front

A starting price of €82,900 (£70,000) is in line with the BMW iX on the face of it, but you have to pay for battery rental on top of that, which then allows you to change batteries at Nio’s battery swap stations, 56 of which exist in Nio’s five current European markets. 

The starting price including the battery is an extra €12,000 (£10,000) for a 73.5kWh battery with up to 242 miles of range and €15,000 (£12,600) for a 90kWh battery with up to 317 miles of range.

In total, there are 33 cameras and sensors as part of Nio’s extensive active safety equipment

Our test wasn’t long enough to give a comprehensive assessment of range, but it displayed close to 300 miles on quite a mild morning. The ability to decouple the two motors to run on only the front motor should boost efficiency at motorway speeds too.

Beyond the two battery options in the EL8’s line-up, there are two trim levels: a standard model and an Executive one, which puts €5000 (£4200) on the list price. The main difference inside for the Executive is the addition of a bespoke centre console in the rear that includes that special refrigerator. 

VERDICT

Nio EL8 review parked

The Nio EL8 is a very peculiar car. Its styling on the outside is inoffensive, yet on the inside it’s a much more pleasing experience, even if the six-seat layout limits practicality and versatility. 

Nio EL8 news

Nio EL8 revealed as six-seat flagship EV with 316-mile range
Nio EL8 revealed as six-seat flagship EV with 316-mile range

Yet the way it drives is what defines it, and not in a positive way. The car is so soft in its ride and handling that it is actually uncomfortable, and even in its so-called sportiest settings, it still lacks the level of control and interaction you’d expect from a premium SUV.

The range is decent, and performance plentiful should you have the car in the right setting, yet the overall impression is that, unlike other Nio models, the EL8 falls short of the established European competition. 

There’s a good car in the EL8 somewhere. It doesn’t want for hardware, but it’s let down by how it has been tuned and set up. So while it might look like a Range Rover Sport, it certainly doesn’t drive like one.

Mark Tisshaw

mark-tisshaw-autocar
Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?, Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.