Last-Minute Images Reveal New Details of Firefly’s Debut Model [Video]
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Less than 24 hours before Nio’s annual event in Guangzhou, China, founder and CEO William Li led the final rehearsal for the largest ‘Nio Day’ ever organized by the EV maker.
Images shared on Friday afternoon by automotive blogger ‘汽车志’ on Weibo show three units of the brand’s debut model on stage, partially covered with a thin blue sheet that offers the clearest view of the design so far.
The hatchback is expected to be unveiled in three colors, one more than the Onvo L60, which debuted in May with two colors. White and blue were introduced as additional exterior colors closer to the start of production.
According to the new images, the vehicle’s front fascia resembles Honda’s compact EV model, the Honda e, with circular LED headlights integrated into the shape. Firefly’s model will also be part of Nio’s battery swap technology although using smaller and cheaper-to-build stations.
Image Credit: Weibo / 汽车志
Onvo’s debut model was unveiled in orange, the official color of the sub-brand which uses orange and white as its primary colors. A silver version of the L60 SUV was also showcased on stage, which is currently the best-selling exterior color after the first three months of production.
In a video shared on Friday night local time, CEO William Li announced that the event will host over 22,000 attendees, marking it as the largest Nio Day to date. The company held its inaugural Nio Day event in December 2017 in Beijing.
At around the 42-second mark of the video [linked below], part of the hood is visible, revealing a lime green color—one of the primary shades in Firefly’s branding, unveiled earlier this week.
Image Credit: Firefly
Below is the video shared by William Li on WeChat. The footage has been manually edited (slowed down) to provide a clearer view of the uncovered section of the hood.
Unlike Nio’s other sub-brand, Onvo, which plans to offer a total of three models from the last quarter of next year, Firefly will focus on a single performance-oriented product, according to a recent report from the media outlet ITHome.
Firefly will first debut in China in the first half of next year followed by the expansion to the European market later in the year, according to the brand’s president Daniel Jin.
As shared last week by William Li, Firefly will focus on the high-end small car segment, competing with BMW’s Mini and Mercedes-Benz Smart brands.
In early November, Nio’s Co-Founder and President, Lihong Qin, dismissed a report by the Chinese outlet Yicai that claimed Firefly would launch an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) in 2026.
Nio aims to enter at least 25 global markets by the end of next year while doubling sales to over 440,000 units with Firefly planned to be one of the major contributors.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
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