Nio ET5 Touring visits Norway for a photoshoot

Forget about Nio ET5 Touring coming to Europe - it’s already here! The company has brought at least one unit of its first electric wagon to Norway for a marketing photoshoot, and someone thankfully shared at least some of the images on social media. Nio may not be happy about that, but we don’t care - here it is.

In beautiful Airspace Blue the Nio ET5 Touring fits the Norwegian landscape like a glove - this has to be one of the best-looking wagons on the market. For people who don’t really like sedans and can’t fathom getting an SUV, the trusty load-lugging wagon is the only sensible choice. While Europe may have many wagon models on sale, there is only one electric wagon, and that’s the MG5. But when it comes to performance wagons - ET5 has no competition at this moment.

Nio ET5 Touring enters a very contested niche that’s been occupied by the likes of the BMW M3, which only recently returned with a wagon version. Then there’s the Audi RS4 and AMG CLA Shooting Brake. The slightly bigger segment is represented by BMW M5, Audi RS6, and AMG E-Class, but at 4.8 meters, the ET5 is simply too small to compete with the big boys.

It all boils down to two more things - performance and price. Well, ET5 Touring has plenty of the first one, the AWD 490 hp (360 kW) powertrain is enough to catapult the ET5 sedan from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 4 seconds. Since both models share the powertrain, there is no reason to believe the Touring version will be any slower.

In fact, the ET5 Touring maybe even quicker than its sedan sibling. Looking at the specification released by the MIIT, the ET5 Touring weighs 2,195 kg (4,839 lbs), and the ET5 sedan comes in at 2,240 kg (4,938 lbs) - both vehicles with a 75 kWh battery. We’ll have to wait a little bit longer for those numbers to be officially confirmed, but even if the Touring ends up being heavier, it won’t be by much. It’ll still be a 4-second wagon that will give the M3 Touring a good run for its money.

Talking about the run - there are two battery options to start with, the 75 kWh with 455 km (283 miles) and the 100 kWh pack with 589 km (366 miles) of WLTP-certified range. Nio has just applied for re-certification of its vehicles in China with the new, 150 kWh semi-solid battery pack from WeLion New Energy Technology. We can expect to see the 1,000 km battery by the end of the summer, but it won’t be cheap. It apparently costs as much as the ET5 itself, and the company will only offer it through its BaaS - battery-as-service subscription program.

Nio ET5 Touring is tantalizingly close, and with the ET5 sedan starting at €47,500 (without the battery which is €12,000 extra or €169 per month) in Germany, the Touring version won’t be much more expensive. The 100 kWh ET5 sedan starts at €68,500 (or €47,500 without the battery plus €289 every month) in Germany, this would mean the ET5 Touring would be priced closer to the €70,000 mark. That is a lot of Euros, but it is still nearly €28,000 less than the BMW M3 Touring. Yes, the BMW fans will scream here that nothing compares, and they would be right - the ET5 Touring will be in a league of its own when it finally launches.

Sunbathe Yellow ET5 Touring

Via