The Nio ES8 is a battery electric full-size luxury crossover SUV manufactured by Chinese electric car company Nio. The ES8 was put into production in June 2018 for the Chinese market, and on 30 September 2021 it was launched in Norway.
First generation (2018–2023)
The first generation ES8 was first unveiled in December 2017 and production started in 2018. The name ES8 is derived from E means "Electric", S means "SUV", the ES8 is an SUV and 8 refers to its model range in Nio's Performance product range i.e., 1–9, "9" being the top of the range.
Nio tested the vehicle for thousands of kilometres in Yakeshi, Inner Mongolia, China, and Australia to test the car's winter and summer economy and cold and hot temperature performance.
Nio is cooperating with a number of suppliers including Bosch.
Specifications The ES8 is powered by a 70 kWh or 84 kWh lithium-ion battery pack (upgraded to 100 kWh in 2019) that is also swappable.
The ES8 is a 6 or 7-seater full-size production car, with a wheelbase of and a body length of . The body and chassis are completely aluminum (96.4%), and the drivetrain is all-wheel drive as standard, and also features active air suspension. The design includes the X-bar and Nio's signature "Spark Beat" taillights.
2020 facelift In March 2020, a revised ES8 was released. It uses a combination of permanent magnet and induction magnet motors. It can accelerate from in 4.9 seconds and a NEDC range rating of up to . From 2020, the digital cockpit was upgraded to a 9.8-inch display with an 11.3-inch high-definition multi-touch center display. The NOMI Mate 2.0 features an industry-first circular AMOLED display, with much larger active display area. Additionally, ES8 comes with a smart charging port cover and NFC key card. Euro NCAP confirmed a 5 star rating for the ES8 in September 2021.
Safety
Second generation (2023–2025)
The second generation Nio ES8 was unveiled during the Nio Day in December 2022 riding on the NT2.0 platform.
The dashboard features a 10.2-inch miniLED instrument panel, 16.3-inch augmented-reality heads-up display, and a 12.8-inch vertically-oriented 3K-resolution AMOLED central infotainment touchscreen all powered by a Snapdragon 8295 SoC with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The rear also has access to a 6.6-inch miniLED touchscreen. Its ADAS system consists of a 32-sensor suite, including a roof-mounted 150-line Innovusion (Seyond) Falcon long-range LiDAR, 5 mmWave radars, 11 exterior cameras, and 12 ultrasonic sensors. It is powered by Nio's Adam compute module, which consists of four Nvidia Orin-X chips for a nominal total of 1016TOPS.
Specifications The second generation model features a permanent magnet synchronous front motor and a induction rear motor reaching a combined maximum power output of and of torque. Acceleration from is 4.1 seconds, and the top speed is .
Two battery packs are available as well as a battery leasing program, with the 75kWh battery supporting a CLTC range of , the 100kWh pack supporting a CLTC range of . A 150kWh semi-solid-state pack supplied by WeLion is available exclusively as a temporary rental option which can be installed at a battery swap station. It has a CLTC range rating of .
+SpecsBatteryMotorPowerTorqueRangeDCFC0–100 km/h(62 mph)Top SpeedFrontRearFrontRearTotalFrontRearTotalWLTPCLTCPeak75kWhPMSM 180kW TZ180S001Induction 300kW YS300S002180 kW4.1 s100kWh150kWh (rental only)
Third generation (2025–present)
The third generation ES8 was revealed through China's MIIT filings on 20 June 2025. It is codenamed Cetus and rides on the NT 3.0 platform, which it shares with the flagship Nio ET9. It launched on 20 September 2025 at Nio Day 2025.
Exterior Compared to its predecessor, the third generation model grew by in length, in width, and in height. Its design takes on a similar approach to the ET9 and the facelifted ES6 and EC6. It has a drag coefficient of 0.259Cd.
It is equipped with Adaptive Driving Beam projector headlights, which can shape the beam to highlight the road for features such as lane navigation assistance, two-wheeler warning alert, and vehicle width guidance. It is also used to display a welcome animation and a light show when parked.
Nio says the ES8 has of total floor space, and has the largest door openings in its class, with the second row doorways measuring high and wide. All doors have soft-close and electronic unlatching with interior mechanical backup handles.
The ES8's ADAS system is powered by Nio's self-developed Shenji NX9031 chips along with a 31-sensor suite, including 1 roof-mounted Seyond Falcon 300-line long-range LiDAR, 2 fender-mounted wide-angle LiDARs, 1 4D mmWave radar, 7 8-megapixel cameras, 4 3-megapixel surround-view cameras, and 12 ultrasonic sensors.
The ES8 has five-link fully independent suspension geometry both front and rear, and is equipped with continuous damping control and dual-chamber air-suspension capable of of ride height adjustment, which is used to automatically lower the vehicle for easier entry and automatic self-leveling on uneven surfaces. The front wheels are capable of a maximum steering angle of 41°, allowing for a turning radius of .
Interior The ES8 was initially available in either 2+2+2 six-seater or 2+3+2 seven-seater configurations, with a two-row five-seater version launching in July 2026. The dashboard contains a 'floating' 15.6-inch 3K-resolution AMOLED central infotainment display, a narrow 48-inch dashboard-spanning 'Skyline' information display, and a 38-inch AR-HUD serving as the instrument cluster, all powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P SoC.
Nio says the ES8 has 111 physical buttons located throughout the interior, including door-mounted seat adjustment controls. Nio also says the interior upholstery uses a total of 120,000 stitches and of satin piping. The interior is available in 5 color options, which feature Nappa leather, burl wood trim, and satin-finish metallic accents: Sappanwood Red, Warm Gravel, Gangri Blue, Pamir Brown, and Mesa Brown.
Nio says the rear has of flat floor space, allowing for children up to tall to stand fully upright to access the third row. The front passenger seat and both second row seats in the six-seater model have a 'zero-gravity' recline mode, and the third row seats can recline up to 130°; only the passenger side second row seat has access to the recline mode in seven-seater models, while for five-seater models it's only available for the first row. The front seats with their headrests removed can fold back 180° to create a lounge chair in conjunction with the second row seats. The second row has access to a folding ceiling-mounted 21.4-inch miniLED entertainment display with Dolby Vision HDR, capable of screen mirroring from devices such as laptops or game consoles like the Nintendo Switch. The second-row seatbacks have airline-style folding tray tables, in-built manual sunshades, ceiling-mounted LED-lit vanity mirrors, and an 8-inch control touchscreen is located on back of the center console. It has optional liquid crystal electronic dimming windows for the second and third row side windows with 3 levels of dimming up to 0.35% transparency.
The ES8 has five-zone climate control (4-zone in 2-row models). It has Nio's self-developed Lyra 2600-watt 27-speaker 7.1.4 surround sound system with Dolby Atmos, featuring 8 groups of surround speakers, 1 subwoofer, 4 ceiling mounted speakers, and 2 headrest mounted speakers. It has a panoramic sunroof.
The ES8 has a power-opening frunk, and the 3-row version has of rear cargo storage space; the 2-row version has of rear cargo space with an additional underfloor compartment, expanding to with the second row folded down. The two-row version also comes with a Haptex-upholstered parcel shelf.
Powertrain The third generation ES8 has a 900-volt class electric platform and features a front-mounted motor and a rear-mounted motor for a total of and of torque, with the rear being more than its predecessor. It achieves a 0 time of 3.97seconds and has a top speed of . It is powered by a 102kWh CATL-supplied NMC battery pack providing of CLTC range, and can be swapped at a swap station in 3 minutes. Alternatively, it can be charged at a peak rate of 600kW at a maximum of 925volts or 765amps to replenish of range within 5 minutes. +BatteryMotorPowerTorqueRangeTop speedKerb weightTypeWeightFrontRearFrontRearTotalFrontRearTotalCLTC102kWh NMC CATLInduction 180kW YS198S003PMSM 340kW TZ198Y001
Sales Two days after the launch of the third-generation ES8 on 20 September 2025, production capacity for 2025 had sold out with estimated delivery dates reaching as far as March 2026, with an externally estimated 40,000 locked-in orders and 100,000 cancellable pre-orders. Deliveries of the third-generation ES8 reached the 10,000 milestone on 31 October 2025, 20,000 on 29 November 2025, 30,000 on 18 December 2025, 40,000 on 28 December 2025, 120,000 on 22 June 2026, and 150,000 on 20 September 2026. Nio sold 22,258 ES8s in December 2025 alone.
YearChina201812,80720198,169202011,106202120,943202214,380202314,13820249,188202542,889
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