Nio EL7's Unbelievable 1500km Journey Across China

In this epic adventure, tester Elliot Richards takes on the ultimate REV challenge - battling 1500 kilometers through the harsh Arctic cold in an electric Nio EL7 in Northern China. Facing temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees, the battery survival of the electric car is put to the ultimate test. Will the Nio EL7 make it through the extreme conditions? Join us on this thrilling journey as we witness Elliot Richards' determination to conquer the Arctic cold in the Nio EL7.
00:00 The Nio EL7 - a 1500km extreme test
02:33 Harbin, China & Harbin Siberian Tiger Park
06:16 NIO Battery Swapping Station
08:34 Back On The Road To Mohe
13:19 Dongbei Style
14:12 Nio EL7 Specs
15:20 Heilongjiang
16:54 Extreme Cold & charging network
20:06 Arriving in Mohe
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REV - The Global Auto and Mobility Show from Deutsche Welle
#NIO #CHINA #DWREV
Report: Elliot Richards & Christian Petersen-Clausen

[@valanz_]

what a nice video, not only showing the car, but the beauty of China and their people. Thumbs up

[@c8ke78]

i just wanna see the car ;-;

[@qinfugu2816]

great car！wonderful journey！

[@jigs8437]

China is still very unexplored country

[@peterjolicoeur8753]

Very interesting video! Coming from the northeastern United States, I've often wondered how electric vehicles would operate in cold weather conditions -- although Mohe and Heilongjiang are certainly much colder than where I'm from. As an added bonus, I got to see some beautiful scenery from a part of China that I still have yet to visit. Well done - entertaining and informative.

[@DWREV]

Thanks for watching Peter! We really wanted to put the Nio to the test, but we have to say it was plain sailing, bad for drama in the video but good for the EV 🤣

[@robertgittings8662]

@@DWREV *DW and western media always play some weird music (meant for specific things, funeral, mocking a old, orthodox individuals or others) when they talking about China, imagine always play some Charles Champlin falling out of car clips when talking about Europeans triumphs like: high speed trains, Airbus goal on soccer (and claim "hey it is Europeans' own movies") - nice spin doctors* just tell you the lack of sincerity It is hard to imagine this guy (or the German crews) live in China for years and speaks Chinese never heard any suitable Chinese musics for the stuff they are talking 🤭

[@HenryHui]

DW made the right choice to have Elliott presenting for us...

[@kittyflier8338]

Great choice. He presented very high quality videos in the fully charged show.

[@charlesd9949]

Wow, what a trip! I really like what the NIO owner said about the support NIO gives its customer, I can't wait for them to expand into France, Italy and the UK and for the BIG push into North America! $NIO

[@Birdylockso]

Do you think the US government will allow NIO to be sold in North America?

[@Klentung8989]

​@@Birdylockso No

[@crypticTV]

@@Birdylockso When USA can't beat something, they tuck their tail behind their legs and ban it 🙄 pathetic

[@yummytummy88]

The political in US will never allow NIO or any climate friendly EV company in US. The economic war just makes it harder for the average citizen in US to have option on future EV.

[@user-vc5qk9tg7u]

@@Birdylockso it is so predictable, N!0 will be sanctioned just like huwe!

[@florentinaghinea18]

Congratulation for this video, don’t listen to haters

[@DWREV]

Thanks for watching! We have thick skin and always welcome feedback 😇

[@niosanfrancisco]

You can’t CHILL a brand on FIRE like NIO !!!!

[@foodparadise5792]

Is Nio coming to the states?

[@isaacliu7654]

@@foodparadise5792 in 2025

[@1proudytfan]

Wow, great video Elliott. That part of China so different. People out in the open selling goods below freezing and friendly too. Those Siberian tigers are majestic. Thank you x1000

[@omarpuentes5082]

Awesome video showing the progress and the technology that is creating a bright future for China and the world. NIO's vehicles are build with passion, you can see that on each of their models. Their technology is one of the greatest of the market.

[@micholitzia5726]

Seeing how Chinese people are treated in the west it makes me almost angry these guys are treated with such kindness when they are in my country

[@kcfmark]

This is why you become a better people. Choose kindness and not hostility.

[@user-wq4fb7zt8y]

That's the role of propaganda. In China, The government recommend people to call foreigners "friendly foreigners" instead of "foreigners". This is often heard on TV programs and in the news.

[@MMLL369]

@@user-wq4fb7zt8y That goes true when the Western bloc recommend their folks calling, especially the Chinese (or anyone resembling of Chinese), "hostile spies", including all women, children and students.

[@yummytummy88]

​@@user-wq4fb7zt8yand yet, you still living under your basement bunker, to protect your belief and your resources while giving up living in a real world.

[@fahimeln3292]

What an awesome challenge. The video was well edited. I loved it 😍 thanks 🙏🏻

[@DWREV]

Thanks for joining the road-trip!

[@jeanhuynh8548]

Fantastic road test! Glad to know NIO is quality built and leading edge technology. I’ll buy one when it comes to US.

[@yummytummy88]

Wishful thinking, even if it meant to help fight the climate crisis, the US politicians will never allow another Chinese company to do business in US.

[@charliecooper3030]

Sweet footage of Dongbei. I like to imagine the final scene is just Elliot walking away and completely forgetting the director on the road.

[@umu-i-d2785]

99% of the battery being reusable is quite mind blowing. Great video and an amazing adventure. Loved the car too

[@amubi]

Incredible human engineering in harsh and challenging environment with up to +-90 degrees differential between southern tip of China to northern tip area

[@user-xw1mx2sq6b]

6:23 The UEG on the battery swap station means United Earth Government, which comes from a sci-fi movie The Wandering Earth 2, and NIO invest and advertise in that movie. I am really glad to see two of my favorite things cooperate!

[@DWREV]

We love an obscure sci-fi reference. Thanks for pointing it out! :-)

[@kanestalin7246]

Isn't it also a reference to halo?

[@user-xw1mx2sq6b]

@@kanestalin7246 I don't think so coz there's a logo of Wandering Earth 2 on it.

[@timmytumbler]

Now THAT'S a trip ! Thanks Elliot for showing us the far north, somewhere I have certainly not been, yet. Looks like the car did it in style, would have been interesting technically to understand the range and recharge details, and what effect the cold had on them against the specifications, and what was the lowest range point, for example. Anyway great video !

[@DWREV]

Thanks for watching and the feedback Tim, we take this onboard and implement this on our next productions

[@ElectricCarAustralia]

What an adventure! Great video Elliot, a real eye opener for Us Aussies.

[@ZZZ1368]

9:53 These shots of the frozen vastness are breath taking

[@gmb4374]

You are very professional in service . I will suggest your video.. From India .

[@DWREV]

So nice of you

[@DailyBeatings]

Those Siberian tigers looked like they wanted an English breakfast. Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside...🤣😂🤣😂

[@DWREV]

He is actually quite tender on the inside, the lack of stress on the road trip perhaps 🤔

[@jianyang6281]

and this meal is hairless which makes its better tastes.

[@iany2448]

Very nice episode on the scenery and the EV technology that is to preserve the environment for the generations to come.

[@guanzehuang9609]

What amazing!! The NIO shows the excellent performance, and also the local people you met are so nice and friendly!! Eliot is really brave to take this challenge of the trip, well done!!

[@yoyohighness]

oh man, I wish we here in Italy can get this car soon

[@NomadicAstro]

What a great trip! ❤ Nio s such a cool brand!

[@isuruthiwanka2595]

How beautifull China.. what a technology.. Love to settle there

[@TassieEV]

Why did they change the name for the EU model? I thought Nio won that challenge from Audi about the confusion in the name. Fantastic trip. I can imagine how the charging providers have the challenges of the winter in China would be similar for Norway/Finland/Sweden & Canada/US for those high north locations where it gets VERY cold sometimes as they mentioned -50c that is cold definitely. I think NIO are coming to Australia not sure when is all. I'll have to see if you did a review of the ES7 on Fully Charged yet.

[@MMLL369]

Prepping a new model for sale takes time, probably has to do with the lengthy paperwork ahead of the winning court case.

[@rabbitazteca23]

Harbin is a place in China that rarely gets love and it has many idiosyncrasies that makes it quite the cool place. Thanks for introducing us to the place!

[@tiantianwang8721]

Wow！can‘t image how NEV drive in such cold place of Mohe，that's totally fantastic！look forward to next Episode！

[@DWREV]

Thanks Tiantian, we have content out every Saturday!

[@IDann1]

Cool to see my favourite presenter 😎

[@yuyangerock]

Just amazing

[@velavanlaack9134]

It has the Wondering Earth's UEG logo on the swapping station

[@madev_channel]

NIce video.👏 One more thing, NIO is going to built 1000 more 3rd gen battery swap stations in 2023, and maybe 2000 in 2024.

[@ashtonkee5868]

Kudos to you for your courage in undertaking this task.

[@reginald7214]

Great video

[@DWREV]

Thanks

[@rededwards3479]

75% of NIO invrstors have NEVER SEEN in person, TOUCHED or DRIVEN a NIO. NIO needs to do a ROADSHOW tour of the United States soon or the stock will continue to FLOUNDER!

[@nehcooahnait7827]

Not the US. It’s a Chinese car so it will try its best to avoid the US and its bitterness. Let’s hope no more Chinese American getting killed just because they don’t like East Asian cars entering the US market (yeah that happened before)

[@Birdylockso]

I doubt it is possible, given the current geopolitical climate.

[@ALWH1314]

NIO es7 was road tested in California. Hope politics doesn’t block her US entrance.

[@dpc316]

I think the battery charging stations is the key for NIO, as said on this video it's as fast as pumping fuel. Go NIO !

[@TB-up4xi]

Well it has plusses and minuses. In China you had to make a call when you purchased the car whether to buy the battery or not (buying after was not an option and this is still the model outside of China), you rent the battery whether you swap or not. After 5 1/2 to 6 Years you have paid the same as buying the battery upfront. Electricity is charged at the time of swap (in v out kwh). Many people in China demanded the option to swap their model from rent to buy and eventually NIO gave in - so there must be more than a handful of people that don't want the swap system. If on average the battery lasts longer than 6 years you end up paying more and your (first battery swap could be an older degraded battery with less range (you have no choice). You need more than 1 battery per car using the swap system - it's less environmentally friendly. I wonder long term how all that bolting in and unbolting messes with the body structure / tightness.

[@petervan7372]

after 1500km it's still in the same province, china was even large before the russkis seized a piece of land as large as ukraine a hundred years back

[@Elsa-we3gz]

Hopefully we can get at least Primorsky Krai back in the future, so Dongbei will have direct sea access

[@julienckjm7430]

You want war?

[@ronniebouchar9484]

brave guy, without a doubt.

[@yeetian2774]

This doesn’t sound like DW. Usually they will say this British is being followed by Chinese secret police😌

[@SaianaKrishnaMehrotra-fr4qt]

nice looking car my next car will be NIO.

[@user-nw3bj4yh5u]

DJI is one of drone that works even in extreme conditions like NIO

[@jianyang6281]

DJI had its test in Russia-Ukraine war, or so called SMO.

[@ALWH1314]

@@jianyang6281DJI stopped sale in Russia and Ukraine after war started and that war is in Ukraine which is not even close to the coldness in this video.

[@ricardosy5247]

This channel should be titled "Beautiful China".

[@IsaacGbornor_gv]

Sir you said Nio is ready to conquer the world 🌎🌍🌍 ,I like that Amazing EV 🚗

[@user-nf7og9bg6b]

Impressive. But still scary.😳

[@danieledwards9856]

Thinking about doing Shanghai-Changchun in an ES8 soon. Should be fun!

[@rolandsmid8299]

Great video!

[@DWREV]

Thanks Roland!

[@terracecar1]

really enjoy watching the video ❤❤

[@ko667]

Quite a beautiful video!!

[@hkhaled9119]

Nice work great video

[@LaowaiDaveJCP]

"Only 32 million" people? There are many countries that don't have such population 🤣

[@DWREV]

haha very true!

[@HTeo-og1lg]

In everything, context matters, so it is a miniscule 32 millions out of 1,400 millions. Or, in other words, just ~ 2% of the total population of the country!

[@markuc]

Also it's a huge province, 20 to 30% bigger than entire Germany.

[@yanchan9711]

almost same size as FR and half of their population

[@user-zh3ow4nh3p]

Nice video. Enjoyed the music too

[@ZixianTao]

Nice video!

[@DWREV]

Thanks

[@shantou]

Harbin looks like Winterfell of GoT.

[@StantonRich]

Fantastic episode, please produce more like this! What type of drone did DW use for the aerial footage?

[@__OniZuka]

beautiful

[@rededwards3479]

MAn you guys are making NIO look MASSIVE...Well done video. ..Did DW purchase it from you. ..if so how much did they pay? Great job

[@vognmandpedersen8144]

Agreed! I am disappointed that Deutsche Welle and Elliott will put their names on this

[@seanoneill9130]

@@vognmandpedersen8144 Cry harder.

[@jojutla27]

Wow..!!!

[@catamarancentershanghai4507]

would be interesting how many hours took the whole trip including the 8 charges . Further what has been the real range in this temperatures ? Charging all 180 km is not very inviting to switch to an EV

[@userwest626]

what happen when it run out of battery in middle of woods ? no place to charge it?

[@stevenpang38]

hope to purchse ES8 soon

[@PatLadsChan99]

Cool video. Only question is what's a battery swapping station? Why does the battery need swapping?

[@lluow]

Hi there it’s an alternate for Ev charging. In stead of plugging in, as it’s shown in the video you can swap the used battery out for a new one in about 4 or 5 minutes. The battery swapping stations are the place where you swap the batteries. NIO is the only company at the moment that uses this technology.

[@yudogcome5901]

​@@lluow不是唯一，除了蔚来，还有上汽旗下的飞凡R7，吉利和力帆合资的睿蓝汽车，红旗EQM5。另外在欧洲有个中国厂商悠遥科技的微型电动车最近爆红，甚至可以自己扛着电池更换😂

[@harrypothead4575]

When is Nio coming to Nepal 🇳🇵😢?

[@Random.Adventures.]

nio is the way to go

[@jiali3353]

Dongbei!!

[@peacefulasian8279]

Do are review for XPENG also

[@memostothefuture]

The Xpeng P7 is very interesting. I will talk with them at the coming Shanghai Auto Show. Would be cool to do a film.

[@florentinaghinea18]

Nio much better

[@DWREV]

Thanks for the tip!

[@balkanleopard9728]

If I'm hearing you correctly. you needed 9 charges (intial + 8 en-route) to do 1500 km. If we assume your last charge got you to the finish line with little remaining charge, then you got about 150 km per charge. That's a bit short of the 500 km rated range old mate. What you've proven is that current ev batteries are dreadful in the cold. The next battery killer is constant vehicle speed on the motorway where you get little or no regeneration. Here rolling resistance and aerodynamic drag are the big enemies. All things equal, heavy ev's have greater rolling resistance but, given that you hardly have any parasitic cooling drag, aerodynamic drag will be less - but remember aerodynamic drag varies as the square of the speed so steady motorway high speed will be a killer. I have an ev. I'm unconvinced.

[@user-wz8hp2ix9f]

My ICE car drop 20%-30% range when outside temperature is 20 below zero.

[@michaelsaldivar4901]

I have read reports where the Tesla vehicle heating system breaks down in extreme temperatures. Drivers freezing their butts off in the Tesla. Did you have any issues with the heating system in the NIO EL7 ?

[@osuan9]

Nice

[@Steve0815R]

Interesting trip. Just one little detail: when charging the battery you are not filling it with electrons 😉

[@honesty_-no9he]

China has nearly 4 million chargers they added 2 million in one year.

[@victorsun2664]

Let’s look at the dark side, how long does this road trip take? Cheers🎉

[@memostothefuture]

You don't want to know how much time I spent freezing outside filming while Elliot was sitting in the toasty, warm car ;-)

[@victorsun2664]

@@memostothefutureyour hard work is appreciated😁

[@ALWH1314]

@@memostothefuture what camera did u use to record this film? Did u have to place the camera batteries inside your cloth to keep them warm?

[@yeetonykp4569]

I always doubt, how to keep battery working under sub zero environment?

[@kittyflier8338]

Elliot!

[@sr-lv8ks]

I will buy it when it comes to US

[@thierry-le-frippon]

Look so much better than a tesla, body wise.

[@karttu1]

Great video! Thanks for it. However why charging 8 times on 1500 km journey, less than 200 km/charge. Thank you for the comment.

[@lsj4528]

Wow，you can speak Chinese, that's really cool!

[@haitygeraldo8071]

I whoud like to stay there, iam from Angola

[@yudogcome5901]

I bet you'll regret it in a week, it's so cold

[@Athrunwong]

What??? There's an ice sculpture festival? i missed my opportunity to build a Neo Armstrong Jet Cyclone Cannon.

[@alanOHALAN]

So the full range is 200km in extreme cold.

[@user-wm1bu8gl7g]

在中国🇨🇳穿越东北的无人区和308川藏公路是无数男孩子认为人生必做的事情❤

[@yanchan9711]

是我们大新疆没有牌面吗？🙃

[@amos325]

北京人表示开个2环就够够的了

[@dullumullu]

Emblematic last frames of the video at 21:32 with the big smoke chimneys in the background. Maybe they should have double checked that in the editing phases.

[@bennyraichu]

And why would they do that? 😂

[@TB-up4xi]

That's almost certainly steam not smoke.

[@dullumullu]

@@TB-up4xi uh no, that’s the Mohe coal fired power and thermal station . Used for electric production and heating . They don’t have any Nuclear plants in Helionjiang. It’s not steam.

[@mgmgayechan5409]

US prize ?

[@MMLL369]

I hope one day, we could all find a way to standardize batteries into simpler small / medium / large, then we would all be swapping batteries like going to gas stations. If any country could achieve that, I reckon China would be the first because of it could only be done with centralized policies / legislations and the vast market.

[@Birdylockso]

The car says it is a ES7, but the tester calls it EL7. What's the difference?

[@aannddrroommaann]

It's called the EL7 in Europe because ES7 was too similar to AUDI S7 and they filled a copyright case

[@Birdylockso]

@@aannddrroommaann OK, right. Thanks!

[@jianyang6281]

@@aannddrroommaann if I was the boss is Nio, I would call it ES70AUDIEATSSHIT.

[@oberstleutnant787]

Another great thing Made in China.

[@user-ts2pk4ox8t]

Great I am very happy with china ev car railly smoke free so happy to enjoy the life😂

[@xiaomeinv7]

nio是中国均价最高的汽车品牌，比奥迪高，比宝马高，均价仅次于奔驰。

[@jianyang6281]

高合

[@xiaomeinv7]

@@jianyang6281 是的，但这个牌子销量少

[@wendowsxplala]

its hard for me to believe this. i always think dw is a media of anti-china. i hope this bro not lose his job... hahaha nice video, i love the nature and the friendly chinese in north china. thank you.

[@adanphu4325]

I want to buy a Chinese EV in the US but the US banned so many of Chinese great products

[@yummytummy88]

It might destroy our US EV company as we can not produce these great product at the lower price. Even if it's great for the supposed climate goal, out economic and hegemonic war with China forbid any Chinese made EV in US.

[@adanphu4325]

@@yummytummy88 Very true, the US is a very hedgemonic country and it causes a lot of damages

[@cms9902]

Great video, but electricity used was just as likely from coal.

[@ayni2723]

Chinese EV 👍🏼 🕊️🇨🇳

[@hashack7243]

Advertisement 😮

[@caesarsuper5770]

Batterietausch dauert Minimum 5 Minuten😳

[@DWREV]

quicker than charging 😉

[@TB-up4xi]

@@DWREV Sometimes - and only in perfect circumstances - add the time you have to travel out off your route to find one, wait in line for your turn, and re-join the route you were on .....I bet on average the "swap" takes far longer than high speed charging, which is often on the route you are on already. Today you can add 200 miles range in less than 15min and with 800v and 1kw+ systems coming supercharging will take 1/2 as long again. Plus you need more than 1 battery per car and all the lifting, bolting and unbolting of the batteries constantly must be very bad for rigidity / tightness of the car in the long run.

[@VX2hugo]

EL7? Do you mean ES7? Oh yeah, you're German and allowing Audi to do that tantrum suit.

[@kmind5378]

Unfortunately, US thinks the VINFAST from Vietnam is a better ev to import, lol

[@DWREV]

Have you watched our review of the Vinfast VF8? It might not be perfect, but our tester was quite impressed with it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJvOZqCoocqIqc0

[@LastDance007]

Chinese monley fire bombs

[@amingost3613]

Amazing

[@DWREV]

Thanks 🙏

[@honesty_-no9he]

NIO not Nio

[@mrmcgraw3706]

😂😂😂😂