Fast and Luxurious: The Intelligent NIO ET7 EV Built on NVIDIA DRIVE Orin Arrives

NIO launches electric sedan equipped with Adam supercomputer for software-defined performance and luxury.
by Jurgen Ferchau

Meet the electric vehicle that’s quick-witted and fully outfitted.

Last week, NIO began deliveries of its highly anticipated ET7 fully electric vehicle, in Hefei, China. The full-size luxury sedan is the first production vehicle built on the NIO Adam supercomputer, powered by four NVIDIA DRIVE Orin systems-on-a-chip (SoCs).

The production launch of its flagship sedan follows a blockbuster year for NIO. In 2021, the EV maker delivered 91,429 vehicles, more than quadrupling sales from 2019.

The software-defined ET7 bounds past current model capabilities, boasting more than 620 miles of battery range and an impressive 0-to-60 mph in under 4 seconds.

With the DRIVE Orin-powered Adam, the ET7’s centralized, high-performance compute architecture powers advanced AI features and allows continuous over-the-air upgrades. As a result, the intelligent vehicle redefines the customer experience, with an AI-enhanced cockpit and point-to-point autonomous driving capabilities.

Sensors on the bottom of the sleek ET7 detect the road surface in real time so the vehicle can automatically adjust the suspension, creating a smoother, more luxurious ride.

The opulent interior and immersive augmented reality digital cockpit inside the sedan interact with the driver through voice recognition and driver monitoring. The sedan comes standard with over 100 configurations for comfort, safety and smart technologies.

Peak Performance

The ET7 outperforms in both drive quality and AI compute.

The NIO Adam supercomputer is one of the most powerful platforms to run in a vehicle, achieving more than 1,000 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of performance.

At its core is DRIVE Orin, the world’s most advanced autonomous vehicle processor. It delivers up to 254 TOPS to simultaneously run a high number of deep neural networks and applications while achieving systematic safety standards such as ISO 26262 ASIL-D.

By integrating multiple DRIVE Orin SoCs, Adam meets the diversity and redundancies necessary for safe autonomous operation.

On the Horizon

Following the start of ET7 deliveries, NIO is slated to launch a mid-sized performance sedan, the ET5 — also built on the Adam supercomputer — in September.

NIO plans to enter global markets with the ET7 in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Netherlands later this year. With a goal of bringing one of the most advanced AI platforms to more customers, NIO intends to have vehicle offerings in 25 countries and regions by 2025.

With the ET7 now entering the market, customers can enjoy a software-defined experience that’s as fast as it is luxurious.