Nio EP9

The Nio EP9 is a battery-powered, two-seat sports car manufactured by RML Group on behalf of Chinese electric car company Nio, not assisted by their Formula E racing division. The name EP9 stands for Electric Performance 9.

History
Developed and built in 18 months, the EP9 debuted at the Saatchi Gallery in London, England.

Six EP9s have been sold to Nio investors for GB£2.5 million each. Nio has announced that ten additional EP9s will be sold to the general public.

However, it is not a road-legal vehicle, and none of the 16-production model EP9s were ever registered for road use. The EP9 is purely designed for track use only and does not comply with the laws and regulations to be registered in China. None of the 16-production model EP9s were ever exported and registered for road use outside China so far.

Specifications
Each of the EP9's wheels has its own motor and transmission. Each motor has 335.25 hp, giving the car a total power output of 1341 hp. The EP9 is both all-wheel drive, and individual-wheel drive. The car has an advanced torque vectoring system that can adjust the power output to each wheel.

The EP9's battery can last up to 427 km before it needs to be charged. Recharging takes 45 minutes, and battery replacement takes 8 minutes as the batteries need to be removed when recharged.

The car is equipped with an active suspension, including a ride height controller that makes 200 calculations per second.

The car's brakes are developed and constructed by U.K manufacture Alcon.

The car's chassis construction is all carbon fibre, and is based on the FIA Le Mans Prototype regulations. The exterior is also made of the same material.

The vehicle's batteries weigh 635 kg. All of the carbon fibre in the car, in total, weighs 364 kg. The total weight of the car is 1735 kg.

Performance
The EP9 can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.7 seconds, 200 km/h in 7.1 seconds, and 300 km/h in 15.9 seconds, as demonstrated by Richard Hammond in The Grand Tour. The car can achieve a top speed of 313 km/h.

The EP9 can also brake at a very short distance, as Richard Hammond (who had compared its acceleration to two vehicles he had famously crashed, a Rimac Concept One and the jet-powered dragster) demonstrated at the Eboladrome.

The car is somewhat capable of autonomous driving, which it did when the car set a record for fastest autonomous driving at the Circuit of the Americas. However, this was only possible because it was configured to drive autonomously.

Design
The EP9's chief designer was David Hilton, who was also Nio's former senior design director.

Exterior
The EP9's rear wing is adjustable between three settings: parked, low-drag, and high-downforce. The EP9 produces 24,000 newtons (5,395 lbs or 2447 kg) of downforce at 240 kph, similar to a Formula One car, allowing the EP9 to corner at 3.0 Gs.

Interior
The interior, like the exterior and chassis, is made entirely of carbon fibre. There are four screens: one on the driver's side of the dashboard, one on the passenger's side of the dashboard, one on the centre console, and one on the steering wheel.
 * Dashboard screens - Both screens display performance data, but differ in function. The passenger-side screen displays only four measurements: the car's top speed, lap time, and lateral G-forces, and the driver's heart rate.
 * Centre console screen - Displays performance data, lap times, and a track map with the car's current position.
 * Steering wheel screen - The steering wheel is a simplified version of Nio's Formula E racing wheel, and is built by the same company.

World records
The EP9 set the record for the fastest lap by an electric vehicle for the Circuit of the Americas, Shanghai International Circuit and the Circuit Paul Ricard tracks. It also set the record for the fastest lap by an autonomous vehicle at the Circuit of the Americas track.

The EP9 used racing slicks for all of the record attempts.