NIO Test Vehicle Loses Control, Kills Two

Domestic media outlet The Paper learned from sources that at 17:22 on Wednesday, a NIO test vehicle lost control in NIO HQ’s at the Shanghai Automobile Innovation Park, causing injuries to two test drivers. The injured were sent to the hospital by emergency vehicles after which one test driver failed to respond to attempts at resuscitation while the second driver was  pronounced dead in the early morning of the 23rd after failing to recover from surgery.

The incident sparked heated discussions on the Internet. NIO responded on Thursday night, “A NIO test vehicle lost control and fell from the company’s Shanghai Innovation Port building, killing two digital cockpit test drivers, one of whom was a company colleague and the other a partner employee. We are very saddened by this accident. The company has set up a special team to help the families deal with the aftermath. After the accident, the company immediately cooperated with the public security department to initiate an investigation and analysis procedure for the cause of the accident. According to the analysis of the scene, it can be preliminarily confirmed that this It was an accident and had nothing to do with the vehicle itself.”

Photos from the scene of the incident indicate that the vehicle that plunging down the building appeared to be a test vehicle in camouflage. The roof was caved in and the body was surrounded by smashed blocks of white cement. Some analysis suggests that the vehicle in question might be the NIO ET5, which has yet to be released.

After the incident, NIO staff removed the vehicle from the scene while firefighters dealt with the rest of the situation.

Regarding the claim that someone was inside the car which then hit a passersby downstairs, it is unknown. As for the reason why the test vehicle “lost control” and fell from the building remains to be answered by NIO.

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As a leading enterprise of new energy vehicles in China, NIO has released four models, S8, ES6, EC6 and ET7. According to official data, as of the end of May, NIO delivered 204,900 new cars. Specifically, in Q1 2022, NIO delivered about 25,800 new cars, up 37.6% year-on-year.