Nio doesn’t do things by halves. After the SUVs and the limousines, the Chinese are taking on a Teutonic automobile favorite: the station wagon. It was actually overdue for a car manufacturer from the Middle Kingdom to put an e-loading master on its wheels. And the Nio ET5 is also handsome. That is somehow the crux of the station wagon, the rear of which bears a striking resemblance to the rear of the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo. But hey. A good copy is always better than a bad design and the rear is definitely the chocolate side of the Zuffenhausen Stromer.
However, the trunk volume is decent, but not German station wagon-like. At 450 liters, the luggage compartment of the Touring exceeds that of the sedan by 64 liters; if you fold down the rear seat backrests, you can fit a maximum of 1,300 liters in the trunk. There is another 42 liters of space in the compartment below the loading floor. Not exactly record-breaking, but still okay. Ultimately, the neat ET5 Touring is more of a lifestyle station wagon than a practical large-capacity van. Nevertheless, we like ideas such as the hooks in the tailgate, which are suitable for hanging up swimwear, for example. Sounds like Simply Clever and Skoda. As is the detachable rechargeable flashlight. There is enough space in the rear. Even tall Europeans can be accommodated in the second row without the sky falling on their heads. However, the three headrests block the view through the rear window. It’s good that there are exterior mirrors and a 360-degree camera.
The interior with the leather seats invites you to linger, even if the seating does not offer excessive lateral support. The 1.32 meter long glass roof contributes to the feel-good atmosphere. And the cute ball language assistant Nomi has now mastered the German language so well that she perfectly implements the command to set the air conditioning to 20 degrees. As in the sedan, the air flows into the interior through almost invisible air vents. With the Nio ET5 Touring, too, you have to get used to the fact that the operation works almost without analogue input elements such as buttons. For example, the steering wheel and the exterior mirrors are selected via the touchscreen and the positioning is defined using the control buttons on the steering wheel. Since you can save your settings in a profile, this is not a big issue. Speaking of command. As soon as you glance in the direction of the 12.8-inch touchscreen, the instruction “stay focused” often comes up. Thanks to the driver surveillance camera.
Speaking of cameras. It is part of Nio’s design philosophy to make the sensors visible. We find that the three “horns” at the front of the roof don’t exactly enhance the ET5 Touring’s shapes. But that’s about it: The advantage of all these sensors, including a lidar sensor, is that the ET5 also has an eye on the surrounding traffic at all times and shows this on the 10.2-inch digital instrument display. A preliminary stage of autonomous driving. Just like the 23 assistance systems such as a lane departure warning system or the blind spot warning system, which are now a prerequisite for a product from the Chinese carmaker.
To ensure that the Nio ET5 Touring reaches its destination quickly and safely, it is equipped with all-wheel drive, just like the sedan. The front three-phase asynchronous machine has an output of 150 kW / 204 hp and can be decoupled from the propulsion in no time at all, while the rear permanent magnet synchronous motor thanks to its 210 kW / 286 hp easily propels the station wagon forward on its own. With its total output of 360 kW / 490 hp, the Nio ET5 Touring does not need to hide behind its optical rear brother from Zuffenhausen. Especially since it hits the 100 km/h mark from a standing start in four seconds and has a top speed of 200 km/h. Ok, so the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo shows him the taillights. Those who are ambitious on the road choose the sport driving mode, otherwise comfort and eco are completely sufficient in everyday traffic. You can definitely have fun with the Nio ET5 Touring. However, the chassis is not yet completely harmonious, since it teeters slightly in long waves and cushions quite tightly in transverse joints. The steering does not want to feign sportiness with large restoring forces, which is good. However, it could provide more information about the condition of the asphalt and the traction of the front wheels.
As with the sedan brother ET5, Nio also offers two battery sizes for touring. With 75 kilowatt hours and 100 kWh, which then provides energy for 560 kilometers. The Chinese carmaker states the consumption as 21.6 kWh/100 km, we got 21.2 kWh/100 km on our test drive. The Nio ET5 will be available from dealers from the fourth quarter of this year and will cost 47,500 euros. If you buy the battery, you have to pay 12,000 euros for 75 kWh and 21,000 euros for 100 kWh. If you rent the battery, you shell out 169 or 289 euros per month.
