• Nio will hold a product and technology event for the third-generation ES8 in late August, with display vehicles available at stores at that time.
• The third-generation ES8 will be officially launched at the Nio Day 2025 event in late September and will begin deliveries shortly thereafter.

Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) will unveil the third-generation ES8 later this month and officially launch the large electric SUV (sport utility vehicle) model next month at Nio Day 2025.

Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li revealed the plan today during a media briefing in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, with media outlets including CnEVPost. Yesterday, Nio's sub-brand Onvo officially launched the L90 large electric SUV in Hangzhou.

The company will hold a product and technology event for the third-generation ES8 in late August, when the display vehicles will be available at stores, Li said.

The third-generation ES8 will be officially launched at Nio Day 2025 in late September and will begin deliveries soon after that, according to Li.

The release schedule for the new ES8 will be similar to that of the Onvo L90, with local media able to experience it before the product and technology event, Li said.

Nio announced in early July that it would move its most important annual event, Nio Day, from the usual end of the year to the fall, partly to take advantage of the peak sales season in the fourth quarter.

The company will launch its luxury three-row flagship SUV, the third-generation ES8, at that time, it said on July 3.

The third-generation Nio ES8 had already entered China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's regulatory filing catalog at the end of June, showing that it is larger than its predecessor.

The SUV, which comes in six- and seven-seat configurations, measures 5,280 mm in length, 2,010 mm in width, and 1,800 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,250 mm.

Its predecessor measured 5,099 mm in length, 1,989 mm in width, and 1,750 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,070 mm.

The ES8 is Nio's first mass-produced model, with the first generation launched on December 16, 2017, at Nio Day 2017.

The second generation ES8 was launched on December 24, 2022, at Nio Day 2022, transitioning to the NT 2.0 platform.

The model is currently Nio's flagship SUV, with a starting price of RMB 498,000 ($69,060) including the battery pack.

Li emphasized in today's media briefing that the ES8 is a strategic model for Nio as the company's first mass-produced vehicle.

It is worth noting that the ES8's position as Nio's flagship SUV may be replaced by the higher-end ES9.

Nio could launch its new flagship SUV, the ES9, in the first half of 2026, according to its co-founder and president Qin Lihong at a user event in Shenzhen on May 30.

When discussing the positioning of the ES8 and Onvo L90, Li said today that the ES8 focuses more on business attributes while also catering to the family market, while the Onvo L90 focuses more on family use.

($1 = RMB 7.2114)