Fastest ever EV Launched – The NextEV NIO EP9

The EP9's figures shift it into hypercar territory: Its four onboard motors and four gearboxes provide 1,300bhp, or one megawatt of power, which means it accelerates to 124mph (200kph) in 7.1 seconds. It has a top speed of 194mph and is designed to be charged in 45 minutes, with a claimed range of 265 miles. Last month, the EP9 was put through its paces at the Nurburgring and posted a lap time of 7m 5 seconds – smashing the previous record for an EV of 7m 40 seconds.

The pace of development for the EP9 has been staggering: NextEV was founded just two years ago and the car has been designed, engineered and manufactured in just 18 months by teams in Munich, San Jose, Shanghai, and London, before being finished back in China, where it goes on sale next year.

NextEV is a start-up company with backing from renowned global investors including Sequoia Capital, Lenovo and TPG. It has 2,000 staff, from Google and Facebook among other tech companies, and has just been issued a permit to begin autonomous vehicle testing on public roads in California.

While the EP9 will remain a £1m-plus hypercar, William Li, co-founder of NextEV, and a man with a huge amount of experience in the tech industry, spoke at the launch of how NIO's work "is just beginning. We will continue to develop this car for the roads," he said, "and build affordable EVs".

Both Oliver Turvey and Nelson Piquet Junior have tested the EP9 and spoke about their experiences behind the wheel at its launch:

"The EP9 has a real racing pedigree," said Turvey. "The acceleration is quicker than a Formula E car and produces a phenomenal amount of downforce."

"For us, it's ecstasy the whole time we are driving it," said Piquet Junior.

The EP9 is a significant car for all sorts of reasons:  it's the quickest road-legal EV to date, it has been executed in an incredibly short space of time, and, perhaps best of all for fans of Formula E, it is the first trickle-down of Formula E racing technology into a road car, which is exactly the aim of Jaguar, Audi and other mainstream manufacturers now planning to compete.

The first affordable electric car to emerge with a NIO badge will be a very interesting proposition indeed.