The updated Onvo L60 SUV. Credit: Onvo
- The updated Onvo L60 starts at 192,800 yuan ($28,440) with battery included, 6.8% lower than its predecessor, with deliveries set to begin on June 12.
- The new model features Nio’s in-house developed Shenji NX9031 chip for the first time and adds LiDAR versions.
Onvo, a sub-brand of Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO), officially launched the updated L60 SUV (sport utility vehicle) on Thursday, with its starting price cut by 6.8% from its predecessor, in a bid to boost sales in China’s fiercely competitive EV market.
The updated Onvo L60 starts at 192,800 yuan ($28,440) with battery included, 6.8% lower than its predecessor’s 206,900 yuan. Deliveries of the model will begin tomorrow.
Notably, the price cut comes against a backdrop of rising costs. Nio’s management recently said that the cost of the updated L60 has increased significantly compared with its predecessor.
The new model is available in three variants — Pro, Max+, and Ultra+ — priced at 192,800 yuan, 202,800 yuan, and 222,800 yuan, respectively, with battery included.
Under the BaaS (battery as a service) battery rental scheme, the starting prices of the three variants drop to 135,800 yuan, 145,800 yuan, and 165,800 yuan, respectively.
The mid-size SUV brings a total of 106 upgrades, the biggest highlight being the first-time adoption of Nio’s in-house developed 5-nanometer automotive-grade smart driving chip, the Shenji NX9031, along with the addition of versions equipped with a LiDAR sensor.
The Max+ and Ultra+ variants are powered by the Shenji NX9031 chip, which works with the Nio World Model (NWM) architecture to support point-to-point navigate-on-pilot across all domains as well as autonomous entry and exit at battery swap stations.
The entry-level Pro variant continues to use a vision-only solution, equipped with Nvidia’s Orin-X chip with 254 TOPS of computing power, the same as its predecessor.
Notably, the starting price of the Max+ variant, which is the base version that carries the Shenji NX9031 chip, is also lower than the starting price of the older L60’s base version.
In terms of hardware architecture, the new L60 is built on a 900-volt high-voltage platform. In addition to supporting 3-minute battery swaps, it can charge from 10% to 80% in 25 minutes.
The model comes standard with a 60-kWh battery pack, offering a CLTC range of up to 560 kilometers. It also offers a larger 85-kWh battery pack option, extending the CLTC range to 740 kilometers.
Onvo’s two other larger and pricier SUV models, the L80 and L90, both come standard with the 85-kWh battery pack.
The updated L60 also sees improvements in comfort features. The top-of-the-line Ultra+ variant is equipped with a 17.3-inch 3K ceiling-mounted foldable rear screen, a roof sunshade, and a 6-liter smart fridge with heating and cooling functions.
To attract early buyers, Onvo is offering purchase benefits worth more than 53,000 yuan for users who lock in orders by June 30. These include a limited-time 40% discount on optional features, a 5,000-yuan optional features fund, a 3-year interest-free financing plan with zero down payment, and 5 years of free access to its smart driving assistance.
The power network is another selling point of the model. As of June 11, 2,553 battery swap stations are available to Onvo vehicles in China, and the brand aims to raise that number to more than 3,300 by the end of 2026.
The Onvo L60 was initially launched in September 2024 as the Nio sub-brand’s first model, with the similarly sized Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model Y as its main rival.
The update is expected to sustain Onvo’s recent sales momentum. The brand delivered 12,029 vehicles in May, up 91.51% year-on-year and surging 124.76% from April, driven mainly by the intensive launches of new models including the L80 and the 2026 L90.
Nio Inc delivered a total of 37,705 vehicles in May, its highest monthly record so far this year. The company expects total deliveries in the second quarter to be between 110,000 and 115,000 units.
Onvo also said its Coconut operating system will receive a major update in July, covering all of the brand’s models, including an iteration of the end-to-end smart driving assistance model, AI cockpit, and underlying performance optimization.
The third-generation Nio ES8 saw retail sales of 11,472 units in May, topping the sales chart in China’s large SUV market for the sixth consecutive month.
($1 = 6.7753 yuan)
