Chinese electric car Nio EP9 1341 hp - the car of the future?

We already wrote about cool and fast electric cars. For example, about the premiere of the new Porsche Taycan, presented less than a month ago, or about how the Tesla Model S did it on the North Loop. But electric cars have long ceased to be just a means of transportation. Now they compete not only in distance, which they can overcome on one charge, but also in speed. Imagine, there is an electric car for which you will be charged 100 million rubles and will not give it to you. Maybe this is what caused such a strong surprise of Richard Hammond?

Nio-EP9 looks very beautiful and rides very fast.

Most people who care about carswith great skepticism belong to the creations of the Chinese automobile industry. Yes, our Chinese friends have learned how to make inexpensive, but beautiful cars that have many design flaws. Recently, they have greatly increased in this matter, so there is no doubt that sooner or later their cars will become even better.

However, now there is one Chinesea car for which it’s not at all embarrassing. It is called Nio EP9 and is something simply unrealistic. Even the famous Richard Hammond, one of the host of the The Grand Tour car show, which had previously led the legendary The Top Gear, said that this machine can be piled on trousers. He knows what he’s talking about, as he already crashed the Rimac Concept One electric car a couple of years ago. This accident was not the first for him. For example, from serious incidents you can recall how during the dragster tests in September 2016 at a speed of about 400 km / h something went wrong and the tests ended in a serious accident.

The same Rimac Concept One that Richard Hammand could not return after filming.

Content

• 1 Team in Formula E
• 2 The fastest electric car
• 3 Pros of Electric Cars
• 4 The future of electric vehicles

Team in Formula E

Perhaps you know about the existence of a championship, inwhich only electric cars compete with. It all started in 2012, when the FIA ​​(International Federation of Motorsport) and a group of enthusiasts came up with the idea of ​​creating a separate class of competitions for electric vehicles. A year later, the first prototype of the machine for the new championship was shown in Frankfurt.

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The first race was held in September 2014, and the seriesreceived the name Formula E. I do not really share the idea of ​​this championship, but I respect it for honesty. It was originally created as an electric series and sticks to its path, and does not try to reach for other directions, like modern Formula 1, which tries to please both spectators and environmentalists.

These cars are from the late nineties ... Tens of millions on development, tobacco sponsors, intrigues and a new car every race. There were times…

Many famous people worked on the creation of machines.brands in motorsport. For example, McLaren was entrusted with the development of electronic filling and engines, Williams undertook to make batteries, and Dallara took up the usual thing - the design of racing chassis. Formula E electric cars fight for the E-Prix - that's what the grand prize in this discipline is called.

At the moment, many are playing in the championshipfamous racers, some of which even passed more than one season in Formula 1. For example, Filipe Massa, who for several seconds was the world champion, until Lewis Hamilton overtook two turns to the finish line and ended up ahead of the Brazilian by one point. Among the other famous, and not so, names in the Formula E championship are Lucas Di Grassi, Jean Eric Verne, Sam Bird, Brandon Hartley, Stofel Vandorn, Sebastian Buemi and many others. True, some of the pilots participating in the series, only in the past were at the top. Now, some of them can be safely called “downed pilots”, reaching their age. Nevertheless, some of them in this series were able to reveal themselves very well.

A bit futuristic view of a Formula E car

Racing series are held in different countries on the streets.cities. At one time there was even a stage in Moscow near the Kremlin. It is in this championship that the Nio team, which exposes its car, is represented. Her colors protect Oliver Turve and Chin Hua on a Nio 333. True, she has not yet achieved much success, but the experience gained on the track is still enough to create a cool electric car.

The fastest electric car

Probably, Nio EP9 can really be calledthe strangest car, as it will belong to its owner only conditionally. That is, paying for it, you will become its owner, but you will not be able to put it in your garage. They simply won’t give it to you. Instead, upon request, they will deliver it to the track, where a team of mechanics will prepare it for arrival. You ride, after which he will be taken away, and he will wait for the next time. The guys from Ferrari went along a similar path with their FXX. He is also issued only on the highway, and then taken away. If anything, a sink is included.

Team of mechanics conjures over Nio EP9

Until recently, the Nio EP9 was the ownerlap record at the Nurburgring with a score of 6: 45.90. A couple of months ago, this record was broken by the Volkswagen ID.R prototype, which drove the North Loop at 6:05:35. Given that the lap length is almost 21 kilometers, we can say that it is damn fast.

Nio-EP9 at the Nurburgring

Richard Hammond's facial expressions at the wheel of the Nio EP9 speaks volumes.

Of the main characteristics of Nio EP9 can be notedpower 1341 hp, accelerating the car to hundreds in just 2.7 seconds, and up to two hundred, also from the spot, in 7 seconds. During this time, the vast majority of conventional road cars will not even pick up the first hundred.

Very intriguing body features

No less interesting is the method of “refueling”a car. It takes only 45 minutes to fully charge the batteries, but would you like to wait when you paid so much and got out on the track? Here mechanics will come to the rescue, who will replace two batteries, each of which weighs 317 kilograms. Without special equipment in any way.

By the way, Nio EP9 is a Chinese car. Like this! And we are all rice, yes rice ...

Pros of electric cars

I often argue with those who say what kind ofelectric sports cars future. Personally, I'm not ready for this yet. I began to get involved in motorsport, when in Formula 1 there were still 12-cylinder monsters that did not roar or growl, but hysteria. They were heard from afar, and on the podium during the start it was impossible to be without at least some protection of the ears.

I believe that while the transition toelectricity in everything and everywhere has not yet come. Although it’s not so long. Automakers have already ceased to seriously invest in the refinement of internal combustion engines, as they gradually become unpromising.

Against this background, it is difficult to argue that it is the transition to electric cars in motorsport that will get rid of the disadvantages of the design, which must be circumvented if the car is built around the internal combustion engine.

First of all, this applies to weight. An internal combustion engine is lighter than batteries, but a gearbox and a fuel tank weighing about 100-140 kg are attached to it. As a result, even taking into account the use of advanced light materials, we get a weight approximately equal to the weight of the batteries of an electric vehicle. That's just even the boxer engine greatly raises the center of gravity of the car. Batteries can be placed flat on the bottom and thereby solve this problem.

We will discuss in our Telegram chat which electric car seems most interesting to you?

The second point is the diffuser. For example, with Nio EP9 it goes underneath. Perhaps this is due to the same lack of ICE, which should be in the middle relative to the transverse axis of the car.

In this photo you can clearly see the developed diffuser Nio EP9, which would be difficult to combine with the internal combustion engine without its significant rise.

Well, and of course, do not forget about the electric motors that can be placed on each wheel without the need to install additional mechanisms and shafts from the engine.

All this allows you to make the car faster. For example, in Nio EP9 there is even support for the head, to at least slightly relieve the pilot's neck. The problem is that the great simplicity of the electric vehicle reduces the influence of the creative approach of engineers to solving the problems of arranging the internal elements of the car. But he also makes motorsport more interesting.

When a team needs to figure out how to createa good car, the sport becomes really a team competition, without going exclusively into the competition of pilots. This also has its drawbacks, such as the dominance of one of the designers, but on this score I have a separate opinion that does not apply to the materials presented in this article.

The future of electric vehicles

As a result, we see not just signs, butconcrete signs that the automotive industry is changing dramatically. When hybrid cars appeared, I could not help but delight about them. It seemed to me that this is an unnecessary complication of design in ordinary life, which will require only more effort to overcome the difficulties that the user may encounter. Examples include breakdowns, accidents, and more.

Toyota Prius is probably the most famous hybrid car.

Now that we have already lifted our feet to sit behindthe steering wheel of an electric car, it is really clear that they will not become a dead end branch of the evolution of the automobile industry, but really will be the future. Examples like the Porsche Taycan, Nio EP9, and many others, not to mention Tesla, are further proof of this. What can I say, Volkswagen has even introduced a universal platform for creating this type of transport.

As they say, the wait is not long. Let's see how events will develop. While watching this is interesting. But do not touch motorsport! At least for now…