🚗 Electric Wagon: A Stylish and Practical Choice 🌟

During the era of fuel-powered vehicles, the combination of high performance and station wagon is a niche market that requires a significant investment for enthusiasts. Classic and impressive models like the Volkswagen R36 and Audi RS 4/RS 6 are expensive but admired.

ET5T, the most handsome new energy station wagon, is truly deserving of its title. With an elongated body and harmonious proportions, it embodies NIO's minimalist and highly recognizable design style. In terms of appearance, ET5T's aesthetic appeal ranks among the best in electric and even most fuel-powered vehicles.

Despite the black color of our test drive vehicle, which tends to obscure most of the aesthetic lines, under the lens, the top-narrow and bottom-wide proportions, the elegant waistline, and the charming rear, ET5T still presents a handsome appearance.

From the name, ET5T reflects the "Wagon" concept, but in reality, it is not a traditional station wagon. In terms of product definition, the development process of ET5T has inherited the usage habits and travel culture of European station wagon users while integrating the actual usage scenarios of Chinese small family users. From the beginning, ET5T was not aimed at a niche market but was developed for young consumers and the mass market.

The PanoCinema panoramic digital cockpit, equipped with the same size full-liquid crystal instrument panel and control screen as the ET7, is 10.2 inches and 12.8 inches respectively. The interior design style is very restrained but also very high-end, emphasizing the texture of various soft lights and matte materials, and the minimalist style cannot be less functional than the design, such as using hidden air outlets and ambient lights to ensure the interior's harmonious unity.

Although this ET5T is handsome and the station wagon positioning is just right for my "heart", as a consumer, in this era of fierce competition, most people cannot impulsively pay for appearance.

NIO's biggest brand feature is its battery swap service. After changing the battery, you may open a new door! Whether it is various high-voltage architectures or the construction of super charging stations, the charging time and battery swapping are not in the same dimension. The entire process does not require getting out of the car, and after arriving at the entrance of the battery swap station, the vehicle automatically parks in, and the entire battery swapping process takes less than 5 minutes. After driving many fuel and electric vehicles, such energy replenishment efficiency is indeed addictive, and the anticipated battery swap station queuing and lack of batteries did not occur.

Since NIO put the first battery swap station into operation in 2018, the number of NIO battery swap stations has exceeded 2000, and it is expected to increase to 3310 by the end of this year. From the battery swap route being questioned by all parties to the gradual growth of the battery swap alliance, attracting top Chinese brand car companies to join, NIO has gained industry recognition in a few years, and has gradually built its technical barriers through the technical iteration of the battery swap station.

With the gradual growth of the NIO battery swap alliance, some well-known Chinese brands such as Geely, Changan, and Chery are expected to equip their new cars with battery swap technology in the future. However, it is not yet clear how other brands will implement their battery swap stations and battery swap technology models. It is expected that the first project of the battery swap alliance cooperation will be launched by the end of next year.

With the support of dual motors, the driving pleasure brought by 490 horsepower and 700 Nm is very obvious, and the openness of the driving mode is high enough, and the power strength is subdivided into many options, and the power output performance can be switched at will between "aunt on the road" and "high-performance station wagon".

The lower part is very solid, very whole, very much in line with the traditional impression of European car tuning style, the body follow-up is slightly heavy, but not clumsy. It does not use the CDC variable damping and air suspension that new forces have in hand, but in terms of suspension form, it uses front and rear five-link rods, which is the highest keyboard value plan. The road feedback is rich enough, but it still filters the fine vibration. When encountering large undulations, it will not be as hard as a performance car, especially in the garage speed bump, it is handled very appropriately, from top to bottom, and then gently transformed.

Whether it is power response or body follow-up and chassis support, it is difficult to find a point in the open road test drive. It can be as ruthless as a track car, change lanes, accelerate, and change lanes again. Even, it can make you ignore the rollover.

Although the steering of ET5T is accurate, no matter what kind of damping (comfort/standard/sport), when the small angle input, the feedback feel is not delicate, and the driver needs to adapt and make fine adjustments, the electronic taste is still a bit strong, not natural enough.