Firefly by NIO gets an update for more power

The Firefly city EV, which NIO also sells in Europe under the same brand, is set to receive a power increase in the Chinese market. According to the documentation submitted by the manufacturer to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, known by the acronym MIIT, the body responsible for approving the launch of any vehicle sale in this Asian country, the power of its electric motor will rise from 105 to 120 kW.

It is not yet clear, however, whether this more powerful model will replace the current one or be offered as a higher-spec version. Likewise, there is currently no information available about a possible launch of this more powerful model in the European market.

The Firefly’s new electric motor has been developed in-house by NIO’s XPT division under the reference TZ160S012. For the time being, the implications that integrating this new motor will have on acceleration or range are also unknown, as this data is not required by the MIIT. What we do know, however, is that the battery pack remains the same, supplied by Sunwoda, with a capacity of around 42 kWh.

A welcome improvement that nobody had asked for

In tests conducted with the European Firefly, this city model stood out for its dynamic behavior and its modest consumption, without power ever being criticized as an issue. This update by NIO therefore does not appear to be the result of an attempt by the Chinese manufacturer to correct a weak point of the vehicle compared with its rivals.

In October, NIO delivered 5,912 units of the Firefly, most of them in China, marking the third consecutive month in which a sales record was set.

Looking ahead, Firefly plans to offer electric models with greater range thanks to an increase in battery pack capacity. These new batteries will remain incompatible, however, with CATL’s battery swapping system, due to their liquid cooling, since those used by this system are air-cooled.