New NIO ES8 On Fire — Sold Out Until March 2026
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NIO just released its new ES8 electric SUV, and it is on fire. Customers have locked in so many orders that you can’t take delivery for a new order until March 2026 now.
NIO reportedly has the capacity to build 40,000 ES8 EVs in the remainder of 2025, and 15,000 a month by December. NIO hasn’t sold more than 2,400 units a month of the ES8 in the past few years, and its sales peak was 3,318 units way back in December 2018. However, it looks like this new version is primed to blow past those previous numbers. We’ll see soon.
“Chinese customers ordering any of the three ES8 variants now are expected to receive deliveries 24–26 weeks after order confirmation — meaning as early as March 2026, according to Nio App data monitored by CnEVPost,” CnEVPost writes. “Nio officially launched the third-generation ES8 at Nio Day 2025 on September 20, with deliveries commencing the following day on September 21.”
Note that this is not a cheap vehicle, so it won’t sell hundreds of thousands of units a year, but it should help boost NIO’s profit margins. The two “cheaper” trims, the 6-seat Executive Luxury Edition and the 7-seat Executive Luxury Edition, start at RMB 406,800 ($57,177), while the third and final option, the 6-seat Executive Signature Edition, starts at RMB 446,800 ($62,800). Or you can get them with the BaaS (Battery as a Service) option for RMB 298,800 ($41,998) and RMB 338,800 ($47,620), respectively.
Those prices, though, are quite competitive for a large, premium-class SUV. (Hence the rapid roll-in of orders.) They are also 30% lower than previous pricing of the ES8. So, maybe a lot of previous buyers decided to upgrade, or maybe people who really wanted an ES8 before but couldn’t afford one leapt on the opportunity.
The ES8 uses a whopping 100 kWh battery. It is also the longest fully electric SUV on the Chinese market, quite a feat in a huge market that is now so highly electrified.
With a 900-volt vehicle platform, the new ES8 also has a 4C charge rate, and the vehicle has a rated range of 635 kilometers (395 miles) — so, really, forget about any range or charging concerns! But, hey, if you still demand more … another version of the ES8 will be launched with a 120 kWh battery and a 5C charge rate! With that trim, you will be able to add 250 km (155 miles) of range in just 5 minutes. Mind blowing.
And if you want rapid acceleration, the ES8 has that too. With a combined max power output of 520 kW (697 horsepower) from its two motors, the ES8 can zip from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.97 seconds. There is no need to accelerate that quickly, but at least no one can say the giant beast is slow.
Note that the model has actually grown in size quite a lot. These were the specs of the previous version of the ES8:
- 5,099 mm long
- 1,989 mm wide
- 1,750 mm high
- 3,070 mm wheelbase
And these are the specs of the new, upgraded ES8:
- 5,280 mm long
- 2,010 mm wide
- 1,800 mm high
- 3,250 mm wheelbase
This is NIO’s third generation of the ES8. It was the first model the company launched, and NIO continues to be a tech leader in the Chinese EV market (and, thus, the world EV market) with this updated version of its first child.
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