The electrical vehicle market in China is developing quickly. In January 2018, electric and autonomous vehicle company NIO launched its first production car for the masses with the ES8 electric SUV. In June, NIO’s second SUV production model, the ES6, officially rolled off the production line. Hexion is proud to announce that our epoxy material is used for the floor in this innovative car. The floor is made of our resin system in combination with carbon fiber, which can be produced in a short time and has a high torsional stiffness, contributing to a lightweight sport utility vehicle with fast acceleration and a large driving range.
The electrical vehicle market in China is developing quickly. In January 2018, electric and autonomous vehicle company NIO launched its first production car for the masses with the ES8 electric SUV. In June, NIO’s second SUV production model, the ES6, officially rolled off the production line. Hexion is proud to announce that our epoxy material is used for the floor in this innovative car. The floor is made of our resin system in combination with carbon fiber, which can be produced in a short time and has a high torsional stiffness, contributing to a lightweight sport utility vehicle with fast acceleration and a large driving range.
NIO has selected the same resin system EPIKOTE™ Epoxy resin 06000/EPIKURE™ Curing Agent 06130 as BMW qualified for the BMW 7 Series Carbon Core. The strong track record of BMW and Hexion in Automotive composites enabled a swift qualification process. Thanks to the efforts of a larger Hexion team this new business opportunity materialized with locally manufactured products, which gives us a significant competitive advantage to pursue several other business opportunities.
China is today the largest car producer globally and is diligently implementing its 5 Year strategy to become global leader in New Energy Vehicles (NEV) and the use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics in NEV’s. While the Chinese market for fuel cars is going through a recession, the growth of NEV keeps accelerating and reached more than 1 million cars sold in 2019.
With the introduction of the ES8, NIO became a real contender for Tesla in China, where Silicon Valley cars are not eligible for government subsidies and incentives as they are imported. The car is about half the price of a Tesla model X in China and makes an estimate of 220 miles in range where the model X goes 237 miles. The two electric motors supply 644 horsepower to accelerate from 0-62 mph in just 4.4 seconds comparing to 3.3 seconds for model X. The ES6 is smaller and $14,000 less expensive than the flagship ES8. It has an ultralong range of 317 miles and sprints in only 4.7 seconds.
NIO advances the electric driving concept with a battery replacement service in as little as three minutes, the company has plans for 1100 trading stations in China until 2020. They will even offer a service in which a van, as a large power bank on wheels, powers the electrical cars for 10 minutes to give tens of miles extra. NIO’s vision for independent electromobility is supported with NIO lifestyle houses and custom-tailored Chalayan clothing for NIO users.
Read more about NIO on their website: https://www.nio.com/.
