Source: NIO

On November 29, NIO announced the delivery of the 20,000th all-new ES8 at the Shenzhen Bantian Delivery Center, marking a record — just 70 days after deliveries began on September 21 — for the fastest time any pure-electric vehicle priced above 400,000 CNY exceeded 20,000 deliveries.

On October 31, NIO announced the delivery of its 10,000th 3rd gen NIO ES8 in 41 days and raised production output by 70% for November.

The company’s founder, William Li, disclosed that among all new ES8 buyers, 49.2% originated from German luxury brands while 62.4% switched from traditional luxury gasoline cars.

Source: NIO

Li further noted that in the three-row SUV segment, pure-electric SUVs overtook extended-range, gasoline, and plug-in hybrid models in September and maintained the lead through October, indicating growing adoption of large EV SUVs.

The ES8, launched on September 20, 2025, is offered in three variants. Its full-purchase price ranges from 406,800 to 446,800 CNY (c. $57,400 – $63,000). A battery-as-a-service (BaaS) option is also available, with battery rental pricing between 298,800 and 338,800 CNY (c. $42,200 – $47,600).

In September and October 2025, NIO delivered 2,803 and 6,703 units of its 3rd gen ES8, respectively, for a total of 9,506 units. In other words, the company has already exceeded 10,000 deliveries of its upgraded SUV.

NIO management previously announced that the production capacity cap of 40,000 units for 2025 was exceeded at launch day. At the current pace, NIO will need to deliver about 20,000 ES8 in December to ship every ES8 produced to customers before year-end.

Built on the NT 3.0 platform, the ES8 comes standard with dual-motor all-wheel drive, a 102 kWh battery pack, and an official CLTC range of 635 km (395 miles). The vehicle offers 6-seat or 7-seat layouts. Its suspension system includes dual-chamber air suspension with CDC.

Exterior changes include a redesigned front trunk hood that yields 230 L of storage, adjusted LED daytime running lights, repositioned front bumper trim, hidden door handles, 22-inch wheels with red brake calipers, and aerodynamic improvements yielding a drag coefficient of 0.259 Cd.

Sensor hardware was enhanced to include a roof-mounted long-range LiDAR plus two wide-angle front-fender LiDARs and a 4D millimeter-wave radar — improving blind-spot awareness and forward perception.

Inside, the ES8 adopts a new cabin layout borrowed from NIO’s ET9 model, featuring a 48-inch panoramic display, a 15.4-inch floating center screen, hidden air vents, a minimalistic steering-wheel and column-mounted shifter configuration.

Its smart cockpit runs the SkyOS Tianshu system powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P chip, including the NOMI voice assistant, six-zone voice recognition, 5G connectivity, face recognition, and remote control via a mobile app.

Source: NIO

Autonomous driving is supported by NIO’s Aquila system: two proprietary NX9031 5-nm automotive-grade chips, plus a total of 31 sensors, including three LiDARs and a 4D millimeter-wave imaging radar. The system supports highway and urban navigation, intelligent parking, automatic emergency braking (AEB), and emergency steering (AES).

The ES8 also offers high-end comfort and convenience: a 21.4-inch rear entertainment screen, 38-inch HUD, an 8.8 L hot/cold refrigerator, a 27-speaker audio system, five-zone climate control, smart privacy glass, zero-gravity second-row seats (right side sliding 150 mm), and a third row that reclines to 130°.

The 520 kW (700 Nm) dual-motor system delivers 0–100 km/h in approximately 3.97 seconds, with a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph). The 102 kWh battery supports 5C fast charging and power-swap technology; under optimal conditions, the car can regain over 250 km of range in roughly 5 minutes.

With 20,000 units delivered less than three months after launch, the all-new ES8 represents NIO’s best hope to achieve the already lowered Q4 guidance of 120,000 to 125,000 deliveries.

Conversion rate: 1 USD = 7.086 CNY as of November 29, 2025