Nio will hold the launch event for the five-seat version of the ES8 at 7:30 pm Beijing Time on July 9. Credit: Nio
- The launch event for the 5-seat Nio ES8 will begin at 7:30 pm Beijing Time on July 9. Users can watch it via Nio’s official livestream.
- The model, which opened for pre-orders on June 28, will broaden the ES8’s customer reach.
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) will hold the launch event for the five-seat version of the ES8 at 7:30 pm Beijing Time on July 9, as the Chinese EV (electric vehicle) maker set a specific start time for the rollout of the premium large five-seat SUV (sport utility vehicle).
The company announced the timing in a Weibo post on Monday, inviting users to tune in to its official livestream channels. Nio had previously confirmed the event would take place on July 9 but had not disclosed the exact time.
“Let’s witness together as premium large five-seat SUVs enter the all-electric era,” Nio wrote in the post.
The five-seat ES8 opened for pre-orders on June 28, with display vehicles available in stores from the same day. Pre-order customers can lock in a limited-time benefit, with a 5,000 yuan ($740) deposit counting as 10,000 yuan toward the purchase price.
The model will sit alongside the existing six-seat and seven-seat versions of the third-generation ES8, broadening the customer reach of this flagship model.
The third-generation ES8 starts at 406,800 yuan. It is a high-margin model and a key driver of Nio’s recent financial turnaround.
William Li, founder, chairman, and CEO of Nio, previously said the new five-seat ES8 will drive large five-seat SUVs into the all-electric era and make the ES8 a more enduring “king” of the large SUV market.
The five-seat ES8 retains the lineup’s large body, measuring 5,280 mm in length, 2,010 mm in width, and 1,800 mm in height. Its wheelbase is 3,130 mm, slightly shorter than the 3,250 mm of the three-row version.
The model is built on a 900-volt high-voltage architecture and features a dual-motor system. It comes standard with a 102-kWh battery pack, offering a CLTC range of 655 km.
Fo assisted driving, it is equipped with the latest version of the Cedar system and uses Nio’s in-house developed Shenji NX9031 smart driving chip.
The launch event comes as the ES8 maintains strong sales momentum. The model completed its 120,000th delivery on June 22, 275 days after initial deliveries began in late September 2025.
However, the imminent launch of the five-seat version appears to have dampened demand in the short term. Deutsche Bank analysts estimated that ES8 deliveries in June were about 8,900 units, below expectations, partly because consumers were waiting for the five-seat version to go on sale.
Nio ES8 Monthly Deliveries 2024-2026
Month
2024
2025
2026
January
615
446
17,658
February
414
479
11,271
March
802
514
16,255
April
773
539
13,028
May
937
292
11,475
June
882
839
July
822
1,090
August
857
87
September
766
2,812
October
747
6,716
November
572
10,705
December
1,001
22,276
Nio ES8 monthly deliveries
2024
2025
2026
That also left Nio’s overall June deliveries of 40,597 vehicles slightly below the company’s guidance range, even though the figure marked its highest monthly total so far this year.
The launch of the five-seat ES8 comes as Nio seeks to boost sales and profitability through a flurry of new product launches. The flagship SUV ES9, which starts at 498,000 yuan, went on sale on May 27 and surpassed 10,000 deliveries in about 30 days.
Driven by the ramp-up of ES9 deliveries, the main Nio brand’s average transaction price reached 443,000 yuan in June.
Deutsche Bank expects Nio to achieve non-GAAP breakeven in the second quarter, given the strong contribution from high-margin models.
Deutsche Bank said Nio’s June deliveries came in slightly below guidance, mainly because some customers were waiting for the upcoming five-seat ES8.
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