Nio to Launch New Electric Car Sub-Brand called “Alps” in July

The Chinese manufacturer of premium electric cars, “Nio,” is preparing to enter a more mass market segment. Nio will begin test assembly of the first model under the new sub-brand “Alps”.

A few years ago, Nio announced its intention to produce more affordable electric vehicles under two sub-brands internally designated Firefly and Alps. The first will include cars costing up to $28k, and the second will cover the price range up to $42k. According to Chinese media, the first Alps model will be an SUV and a sedan.

The new electric car, the Alps, is codenamed DOM. Like the latest Nio ET9 luxury sedan, it is built on the third-generation NT 3.0 platform and is equipped with some of the latest technologies that the company has used on more expensive models, such as 4D millimeter wave radar. At the same time, it is expected that the new product will not receive the traditional Nio lidar, and its infotainment complex will use only one Nvidia Drive Orin chip instead of the four used in the Nio Adam supercomputer.

Alps DOM will also get new electric motors and batteries, both of which are of our design. The battery packs will be thinner than the current ones, which will increase the free space in the cabin. Their capacity will be between 60 and 90 kilowatt-hours. Although deliveries of the new product will start only in the second half of the year, Nio expects to sell tens of thousands of such electric cars by the end of 2024.

The Nio brand itself does not plan to release new models in 2024. The 707-horsepower flagship ET9, declassified at the end of December, will reach customers only in the first quarter of 2025. However, it is already available for pre-order for $112.3k.