NIO ET7’s first tooling trial prototypes come off line

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- The first tooling trial (TT) prototypes of the NIO ET7, the fourth production model and first sedan model of NIO, rolled off the production line on September 15 at the JAC-NIO Advanced Manufacturing Center in Hefei, NIO announced via its WeChat account.

NIO ET7's first TT prototypes rolling off assembly line; photo credit: NIO

The startup said the birth of the prototypes indicated greater maturity on the product validation and industrial debugging for the NIO ET7. To make things easier to understand, the tooling trial is to test if the factory is ready for production and train assembly line workers. The next-step units, namely, pre-production cars, will confirm whether the vehicles are qualified to be handed over to buyers.

The ET7 made its world's debut at the NIO Day held in Chengdu on January 9, 2021. With dimensions of 5,101mm length, 1,987mm width, 1,509mm height, and a wheelbase of 3,060mm, the vehicle plays in the league of full-sized sedans, which represented by the BMW 5 Series and the Audi A6L.

Coming with three trim levels, the ET7 will be priced between 448,000 yuan ($69,660) and 526,000 yuan ($81,790) after government incentives. Those prices are only available when a consumer buys the vehicle with a battery pack. Thanks to NIO's BaaS (Battery as a Service) solution, a consumer is allowed to buy a car without battery pack and pay for an additional battery rental service on a monthly basis.

According to the automaker, the NIO ET7 is expected for delivery in the first quarter of 2022.