Sunday 21st May 2017

NIO EP9 sets new Nurburgring record


If you thought the Huracan Performante was fast...


---

...the NIO EP9 has gone over six seconds quicker! And, yes, we know this achievement was public knowledge a few days ago but in this age of conspiracy theories about tweaked video frame rates, 'theoretical' lap times made up of best sector compilations and all the rest we wanted to wait for the video of the lap to see for ourselves.

NIO sent out the release earlier in the week confirming that the 1,360hp EP9 had set the new record. Now we have the video so you can watch it below. Suffice it to say it's quick - a whole 19 seconds quicker than the EV record, claimed last October in what NIO describes as "the inclemental weather that the Nürburgring Nordschleife is known for" and the best of two attempts it made. Back in the world of internal combustion engines Lamborghini of course made some noise at Geneva with the 6min 52sec claimed for the Huracan Performante; that this has now been beaten by the EP9 puts an interesting 'electric versus internal combustion' twist on the familiar soap opera of 'ring lap times.

NIO has also confirmed that a second batch of 10 EP9s is to be built priced at 1.48 million dollars, all being made to order. Watch the video here

 

[Thom]

Hmm that was a tastefully boring, thank you.

[V8A*ndy]

Thom said:

Hmm that was a tastefully boring, thank you.

As boring as my washing machine on 1600 spin (washing machine might actually sound better).

[Reffro]

Maybe something fishy there, I hope not though.

NIO have not timed the lap as everyone else does! Everyone else starts the timing further up the road, so the EP9 is between 3 & 4 seconds faster in a true comparison......

Why would NIO claim a time that is obviously slower than others would claim?

Though in defence of NIO, they have at least timed a full lap, not the 'full' lap others seem content to use.

Edited by Reffro on Tuesday 16th May 11:42

[anonymous-user]

And the car was mostly engineered here in sunny Northamptonshire!


Nice to see the UK leading the charge to full electromobility from the front ;-)



;-)

[ukaskew]

The phrase 'on rails' is banded about a lot but that looked ridiculously smooth and planted, zero drama.

Whether that's a good thing or not is personal preference (I'm sure they could engineer a slower, slidier car if they wanted) , but it's an impressive statement.

[Wayoftheflower]

Thom said:

Hmm that was a tastefully boring, thank you.

I'm sure you can lookup the steam powered lap record for more excitement, or perhaps the wood gas one?

I want to know is how close they'd run Bellof's record with a set of slicks and big eff off aero.

[Dave Hedgehog]

very very fast

but everyone knows electric cars can be fast, tesla have been making stupidly fast cars for ages and at semi affordable prices, the 100D has been descibed as physically painful in lydicrious mode

still not desirable

[havoc]

Very impressive, in an unemotional way.

EV's are now at the point where they make a lot of sense as a commuter car...but I just CAN'T see me having one as a fun car, no matter how capable - sound is too big a deal for me...

...and doubly so in the super / hypercar market, where the drama of the car is often as important as the performance.

[hondansx]

Don't want BUT just been on their website and it looks amazing! Not sure where their investment comes from but they have won Formula E and the technology behind the EP9 is very impressive... 200% aero of an F1 car and 200% braking of a GT3 car; combined with all that power then you should expect records to tumble!

http://www.nio.io/ep9-experience

Obviously have serious plans as they have multiple offices, 100s of employee and the EP9 is also autonomous...

[NickGibbs]

Max_Torque said:

And the car was mostly engineered here in sunny Northamptonshire!


Nice to see the UK leading the charge to full electromobility from the front ;-)



;-)

Aha - an RML car. Must be close to an LMP3 car underneath right?

[FourWheelDrift]

[Cotty]

I really like that head on shot,

[355fiorano]

NIO one heard it

[RumbleOfThunder]

Insane achievement. As desirable as the holy trinity is, it kind of makes a mockery of them. Probably developed in half the time with half the cost, first time it turns up on a dry run and boom! Record taken with ease.

[rtz62]

FourWheelDrift said:

Ditto; I'd love to watch the footage in order that I may comment, but it now seems blocked??

[Thom]

Wayoftheflower said:

I'm sure you can lookup the steam powered lap record for more excitement, or perhaps the wood gas one?

That would be a lot more fun

Seriously though, this whole "fastest NR lap" thing has become devoid of any purpose. Attempting it with electric cars makes as much sense as trying to beat a consumption record with a 2CV running a super tanker engine, and I'm sure that would be more fun. Where is all the fun gone?

[Nik Attard]

rtz62 said:

Ditto; I'd love to watch the footage in order that I may comment, but it now seems blocked??

Sorry about that, will get it uploaded to the PH channel and the embed will be changed.

Nik

[Ambleton]

the one on the official NIO youtube channel still works okay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4MRydmz86E

[thegreenhell]

No mention that I could see of it being a road car, or what tyres it was using, so presumably it's just an 'anything goes as long as it's all electric' attempt on slick tyres?

[lestiq]

WOW! that thing is shifting!! (just not gears) I bet its a whole lot more exciting behind the wheel, that instant torque looks insane! Great to see