Chinese Tesla rival NIO launches a new sedan featuring augmented reality glasses...

Chinese Tesla rival NIO launches a new sedan featuring augmented reality glasses

Chinese Tesla rival NIO launches a new sedan featuring augmented reality glasses

Aron Chen

posted on 8 hours ago

"With augmented reality and virtual reality in-car devices, a huge in-car screen is not necessarily needed," said William Li, co-founder and CEO of NIO.

Chinese electric car company Nio launched Saturday a new smart mid-sized sedan featuring a custom augmented reality glasses that is aimed to offer immersive experience and reduce the need for in-car screens.

Unveiled at its annual product event Nio Day 2021 held in Suzhou, the new mid-sized sedan named ET5 is scheduled to begin deliveries in September 2022, with pre-subsidy price starting at CNY328,000 (USD51,250) for standard models that come with battery and CNY258,000 (USD40,468) of lower price model with BaaS (Battery-as-a-Service).

ET5 is the NIO’s fifth production model since it was established in 2014. ET5 is fitted with a 75 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery that can go as far as 550km on a single charge, the long-range version has a driving range of 700km with a 100kWh battery, the ultralong range model carrying a 150kWh battery can go 1,000km.

It is worth noting that the interior of the ET5 will equip with PanoCinema, a panoramic and immersive digital cockpit featuring AR and VR technologies. NIO partnered with an AR device company called NREAL to jointly develop AR glasses that debut at ET5, which can project a 201-inch screen at 6 meters for drivers.

“With PanoCinema, our electric car is able to reduce needs for a huge in-car screen and offer immersive experience to car owners,” NIO co-founder and CEO William Li said on speech in Suzhou where more than 10,000 people attended the annual NIO Day Event on Saturday.

NIO also announced the launch of VR glasses with VR start-up Nolo, which have ultra-thin pancake lens and can achieve binocular 4K display effect.

Driven by major moves of big tech companies toward Metaverse, AR and VR sector is getting major boosts this year from venture capital firms and big tech companies which has invested multi-billion dollars into the sector.

NIO has invested in both NREAL and Nolo through its venture capital unit NIO Capital.

It might take a decade or more for the metaverse to mature with fully functioning and immersive ecosystem, but games like Roblox have already gave us some previews of how an economy operate in the virtual world and connect with the physical world. In addition, core technologies such as augmented and virtual reality devices allow people to tap into a growing class of immersive video games, immersive workplace collaboration tools and other applications that seek to meld the physical and digital worlds.

NIO delivered 10,837 units to customer in November that bounced back from a 15-month low of 3,667 unit in October. In November, William Li also said that the company will bring its products and service to Germany next year and NIO will reach customers in more than 25 countries by 2025.