Nio's Firefly to get 60-kWh battery, 560 km range, on Oct. 23

A Firefly with a 42.1-kWh battery drives 420 km on China's CLTC test cycle, the standardised range figure used for Chinese cars. From October 23, Nio will offer the same small car with a 60-kWh pack, rated at 560 km. The battery is a long-life unit from CATL, the Chinese battery maker, and it will be sold to new buyers and to owners who already have a Firefly.

The announcement came from Pu Yang, Firefly's head of brand marketing, at a user gathering in Zhengzhou, in Henan province, on a Friday in mid-October. Details are to be given at the launch event. Reports also say the new pack is expected to use a ternary lithium chemistry, while the current one is lithium iron phosphate (LFP): the same dimensions, more energy stored. The sources present this as expected, so it should be checked against the official specifications on launch day.

For Firefly's owners, the question is simple: how far can the car go before it needs a charge or a swap? A car built for urban commuting becomes a car for weekend trips, and the 560 km figure is the one that makes that plausible on paper. The 560 km figure is a CLTC rating, not a real-world measurement, and the first owners' results are still to come. For Nio, every owner who upgrades is a sale of a battery on a car it already sold, which CnEVPost notes could also generate additional revenue for Nio.

The upgrade also fits into the swap network. Firefly was locked out of Nio's fourth-generation stations; the fifth generation, running in seven cities since August 7, lets Nio, Onvo and Firefly share the same facilities, with wheelbases up to 3.5 metres. A driver who swaps batteries and one who charges at home now both sit inside the same system.

As of now, the 60-kWh pack exists in the announcements, not yet on the road. What the October 23 event is expected to detail is the upgrade's terms; the first owners' real-world range is still to come.