I guess there is a tendency to view EV cool as being largely a Tesla story. And yet... this is for the benefit of those who think Chinese EV technology is at slightly advanced golf cart stage....
I had a 3 hour walk in 37 degree heat around Hangzhou's west lake today. At the end of 3 hours I was desperately in need of cooling off and the approaching rain wasn't going to be enough. I saw an upscale shopping mall,wandered in and instantly felt (but certainly did not look) substantially cooler. For context - I wandered past Salvatore Feragamo and Max Mara (the better half was not with me) and then the jaw dropped. There was "Nio house". No not niu house. Nio house. Now I am not ashamed to say I had never heard of these guys but it was a revelation. So the first I see is a hot looking SUV -
the ES8. The website photos don't do it justice, but it was clearly an EV with the skateboard undercarriage and every bit of electronic wizardry you can think of - a very nice family car.
Then there was the
EVE - clearly a concept car. I have never been one for daft doors, but this had some character and demanded some attention.
And it would have got a lot more attention but for what sat beside it - the
EP9 - a seriously badass electric blue batmobile. Now, I must say high perfomance sports cars are not my thing, but this demanded attention. After a 3 hour walk in 37 degree heat I was definitely not cool enough to enter the show room - it was well guarded to keep bedraggled riffraff like me out - so I had to content myself with the big screen outside. It seems the EP9 may have had the title of fastest EV for a while - I am sure it has been bettered since. The fastest lap (for a production EV) at Nurburgring was pretty cool. But the most seriously cool was the self driving mode -
258 km/h without a driver Must confess, I lingered longer than the need for air con dictated...
… waiting, waiting … it seems a never ending wait with this lot … just pull the gawd-damn trigger ...
