When most people are asked to imagine luxury, they tend to think of the old, established brands. You know: Mercedes, BMW, and Audi. All three have spent millions over the years to maintain their high brand status—some might even say, a somewhat arrogant status. If we isolate this to the basic materials, it can certainly be summed up with leather, wood, and aluminum—or other exotic materials. Some of them, as the brochure teaches us, were designed and crafted by skilled artisans, often with painstaking manual labor requiring countless hours.
However, we are now in the midst of a deep change. We've already completed the transition from the industrial age that brought us steel tycoons, railroads, and aircraft manufacturers, to the age of information and technology, where when a company founder takes the stage to present a new product—conquering worlds—they do so in jeans and a T-shirt, wearing a smartwatch, not a tailored designer suit and heavy gold watch with a gleam of "old money." The center has shifted, and the medium is no longer the message—the value is the message.
This is exactly what stands behind NIO—a new luxury brand that redefines the conventions of old luxury and redefines technology and design as the new center. Luxury for a generation of users moving away from polluting engines in favor of powerful, 100% environmentally friendly electric propulsion, making the strongest cars of the past seem like smoking steam engines. The heavy, extravagant luxury, full of details, is replaced with minimalist and refined interior design inspired by nature, using green and innovative raw materials that replace the known materials that harm the environment. All of this, without compromising on the important values still sought by drivers who enjoy driving themselves (quality, comfort, handling, suspension, feedback, etc.). CASE IN POINT: Meet the NIO EL6.
When we think of a luxury or premium car, most of us think of the black limousines of world leaders and occasional dictators. However, luxury customers prefer to buy SUVs. This vehicle category has significant presence among luxury brands. The medium-sized luxury SUV segment is one of the largest in the Israeli luxury car market, including well-known models from highly respected brands: Audi Q5, BMW X3 and X4, Mercedes GLC and electric EQC, Lexus NX, Volvo XC60, and more. Each manufacturer brings its core values and brand identity to these models—what is crucial for them. Usually, this is reflected in the extensive use of shiny, "luxurious" finishes, bold and ostentatious design motifs like large front grilles, and more. However, in NIO's new world of luxury, bling-bling doesn't necessarily express capability—but mostly attention-grabbing and "show-off." NIO's compact SUV—the D-SUV segment—is called the EL6, with a wheelbase of 291.5 cm, larger than the usual size for this vehicle group.
Looking at the car reveals a very dynamic and clean design, one that could definitely come from the world of aviation, where design has a practical purpose, not "look at me" and flashy. The body lines flow and merge, the windows create a smooth surface with the body, the LED daytime running lights and main headlights create a distinctive minimalist light signature, and the car’s body is painted in a two-tone color scheme, with the roof and pillars painted black. There is power in the expansive, clean surfaces, and when executed at a high level, it amplifies the capabilities underneath.
This is exactly the challenge in designing the interior and digital space of the EL6. How to create an interior space that is luxurious, aligning with the best German craftsmanship, yet minimalist and stylish in a "non-formal" way, as expected from the brand's design line, without appearing ultimately bare and ascetic. The solution is a combination of talent and knowledge from European designers (with experience in brands within the VW Group and JLR), who share NIO’s vision of new luxury, creating a mobile living space in the car (Smart mobile living space), and no longer just a "driver's seat" in the old-fashioned sense. The passenger compartment also clarifies that NIO’s technology is not just focused on the electric propulsion unit or the vehicle's autonomous capabilities. Leather upholstery, wood, and aluminum finishes are replaced with new, advanced, and eco-friendly raw materials, developed by high-tech companies with which NIO collaborates, providing the feel of the most luxurious leather, the visual appeal, and texture of wood finishes, and the rich appearance of suede, without any of these materials being used in the car. The seats feature HAPTEX upholstery (offered in four different shades), an environmentally produced material that reduces the use of hazardous solutions by 50% in the production process (according to BASF, the manufacturer) and provides exceptional durability with a quality and tactile experience identical to genuine leather.
Large screens have already been seen in numerous fairly mainstream electric car models, but not like this. The EL6’s screen is a 12.8-inch AMOLED. First, its size is perfectly matched to the dimensions of the passenger compartment, unlike the oversized, out-of-proportion screens in many modern vehicles. Second, AMOLED technology provides image quality, motion, and deep blacks that competitors' screens lack—it is backed by a strong graphics processor, as well as a digital dashboard and an augmented reality heads-up display (HUD), which projects information onto the windshield, and an additional touchscreen at the back for the convenience of second-row passengers.
Interior space is a significant feature in this vehicle segment—where drivers and passengers spend considerable time daily (often stuck in traffic). Just as the living room of these luxury customers is equipped with the most advanced seating, lighting, and sound systems, their "living room" in the EL6 feels just as comfortable: the seats feature multiple adjustments and supportive structures with heating, ventilation, and even massage functions for both front and rear passengers. The sound system has 23 speakers distributed throughout the cabin, a panoramic sunroof, and noise- and heat-insulating windows, contributing to the atmosphere and quiet ride. The climate control system offers three zones, is powerful and efficient, and features a unique fragrance function. NIO understands the effectiveness of light waves on user moods, so the ambient lighting offers 256 color combinations. Such a rich level of equipment is considered exceptional even in such a prestigious segment.
The combination of clean design, refined quality, unique raw materials, advanced connectivity, and the driving and seating experience in the passenger compartment is an excellent example of the "new" luxury world that NIO is creating.
When technology is the basis for product development, it probably won’t surprise you that NIO equips the EL6 with a wide range of sensors: 33 different sensing devices, some of which are visually prominent in the vehicle's design, such as cameras, radar, ultrasonic sensors, and more, all responsible for safety and autonomous driving systems. At NIO, this is called NIO AQUILA. The main systems include adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, lane-keeping assistance, emergency braking both forward and reverse, driver fatigue monitoring, and many other systems alongside 7 airbags, advanced stability and traction control, and a perfect 5-star rating in the strict European E-NCAP crash tests.
Where is the power you promised?
Remember when 489 horsepower required a powerful V8 engine? How about placing such an engine in an SUV like the EL6? Impossible. With two electric motors (front + rear), it's easy to reach this output and with 71 kg·m of torque—there’s always more BOOST waiting beneath the pedal. Because the new luxury concept is no longer just about a large emblem on the hood and an aggressive front grille—it’s also defined by the depth you sink into the seat under full acceleration. Think 4.5 seconds to 100 km/h. And all of this in complete silence, as expected from a modern electric car.
The EL6 is offered with an option between two batteries (75 and 100 kWh) and a maximum range of up to 529 km. Fast charging (DC) at a rate of up to 170 kW means reduced time at public charging stations—a very tangible expression of true luxury. The EL6, like all NIO models, is equipped with battery-swapping technology. This fully autonomous process allows the car's battery to be swapped with a fully charged one in less than three minutes, less time than it takes to refuel. The first stations are expected to be established in Israel in the last quarter of the year.
Design and technology are important and create differentiation, but in the luxury vehicle world, there is also a particularly high-quality standard, set by the long-established luxury car manufacturers over the years. To meet this high standard, NIO engineers invested hours of development into the automotive values important to this niche market: the EL6 is equipped with adaptive suspension that adjusts in real-time to changing road conditions, providing both road grip and dynamic handling with ease of driving, while also ensuring maximum ride comfort for all passengers. The same investment paid special attention to the vehicle's weight distribution, steering system, and braking system. To make driving easier, NIO equipped the vehicle with a driving mode system that changes the feel of the accelerator pedal, steering wheel resistance, power distribution between the wheels, suspension softness, and more.
If you happen to pass a NIO car and think the driver is talking to themselves, that’s not the case. They’re talking to NOMI. NOMI is NIO’s AI-based digital assistant, which, through simple and intuitive voice commands, can activate many features in a warm and human way, bringing the car's existing technology to life—in NIO's vision for the future, when autonomous driving becomes a reality, the steering wheel will be in NOMI's hands, and users (you) will be able to focus on what really matters—life.
True luxury isn’t just the car, but the entire experience that comes with it. Every NIO customer enjoys the most comprehensive service package available in the Israeli automotive market: comprehensive, no-excuses warranty for 5 years, including periodic maintenance at no charge, a personal service advisor available 24/7 for all car operation and service needs, full vehicle transport from anywhere in the country to NIO service centers at no charge, and a loaner NIO car during any service appointment. Customers also enjoy open invitations to NIO’s lifestyle centers, with workspaces and even local cocktails—an excellent opportunity to meet other NIO users and expand one’s social network.
Now we arrive at the bottom line: the price. What price would you put on a portal to the next era of the automotive world? NIS 349,900 suddenly seems very reasonable. No longer talking about bling—talk about value.
In collaboration with NIO.