Consumers familiar with NIO know that as a high-end luxury brand among domestic electric vehicles, NIO’s luxury and comfort in the interior space are on par with similar models from joint ventures. However, NIO has recently made some adjustments in one of its most valued aspects—its configurations.
Recently, NIO made a configuration adjustment to the ES6 model, with the most notable change being the replacement of the standard interior materials from genuine leather to Haptex synthetic leather (including the seats, center console, and door panels).
Reportedly, Haptex synthetic leather is an innovative polyurethane solution developed by BASF. It’s more environmentally friendly to produce since it doesn’t use any organic solvents, and it also reduces costs. However, for a luxury vehicle in this price range, removing the "genuine leather" material might slightly diminish its luxury appeal.
Additionally, the mid-cycle update of the ES6 has reduced the number of smart keys from two to one, with the second key being replaced by an NFC card key. Compared to physical keys, the NFC card key needs to be swiped near the B-pillar of the vehicle to unlock it, and it cannot remotely control the trunk door, making it more suitable as a backup key.
It’s worth mentioning that the overall configuration of the new ES6 has both upgrades and downgrades. For instance, the digital dashboard has been upgraded from 8.8 inches to 9.8 inches, and the charging port current has increased from 1.5A to 2.4A, among other changes.
At the same time, the company also announced that current locked-in orders will be produced according to the previous configurations, and the adjustments will only affect ES6 models that have not yet been ordered or scheduled for production.
This time, NIO's announcement to change the ES6 configuration is likely driven by cost considerations. Previously, NIO CEO William Li stated, “NIO's gross margin is still negative, and there is no room for price cuts, so we must focus on delivering good products and services.”
