NIO Firefly: Compact Car with Advanced Safety Features

At 3 p.m. on March 24th, Beijing time, Daniel Jin, VP of NIO and President of the Firefly sub-brand, posted a video on his personal Weibo account revealing information about the Firefly.

In the video, he announced for the first time that the Firefly would hold its launch event on April 19th. He also invited Tina Wang, the head of Firefly product experience, and Zhao Liang, the head of vehicle engineering, to participate in a video interview program. They disclosed the original intention behind the creation of Firefly’s first model, as well as the design details and key parameters of the car in terms of safety, space, and intelligence.

About six days earlier, ChinaEVHome was invited to a very small-scale secret test drive of the Firefly in Tonglu, Zhejiang.

9 Airbags, 2,000 MPa Strength

While ingenuity is a standout feature of the Firefly, in China, due to its a 4.7-meter turning radius and the fact that it is a 4-meter compact car with the interior space of a Class B vehicle, the Firefly will be a typical family car. Therefore, safety was a particular focus when designing this vehicle.

During the Tonglu Workshop, Tina Wang stated that safety is the cornerstone of the Firefly. When defining it from scratch, the goal was to match the standards of flagship large vehicles.

The entire Firefly series is equipped with nine standard airbags. Compared to the six airbags typically found in most vehicles, the additional three are a far-side airbag between the front driver and passenger seats, as well as two extra airbags in the rear seats. Moreover, when the Firefly’s side curtain airbags deploy, they can fully cover the area from the A-pillar to the C-pillar.

Additionally, the rear overhang of this vehicle is relatively small, and considering that children often sit in the back seat, they have specifically reinforced the rear safety. The rear bumper uses 2000 MPa materials, which are typically found on submarines. The design standard requires the vehicle to withstand a rear collision at 90 km/h, with post-collision compression deformation exceeding the minimum requirements for a 50 km/h rear collision under both Chinese and European regulations.

Today in the video, Tina Wang stated that in terms of safety, the Firefly truly matches the flagship models in every aspect. It has enhanced safety features at the front, rear, sides, and top. This has led to the vehicle’s cost being 30% higher than that of vehicles in the same class.

Small Footprint, Big Surprises

In Daniel Jin’s video, he disclosed for the first time that the car is just over 4 meters in length and provided detailed information about the front trunk, including its size and features such as a total capacity of 92 liters, which is larger than that of the Model S, separate compartments for dry and wet items, and configurable and layered dividers.

To add, the term “just over 4 meters” refers precisely to 4003 mm. Why this specific size? According to the European NCAP safety standard classification, vehicles over 4 meters are subject to the “passenger car” standard, while those under 4 meters must comply with the “microcar” standard.

For example, the electric version of the BMW MINI Cooper, which is under 4 meters, is evaluated under the “microcar” standard and does not need to participate in the following safety performance assessments:

• Frontal rigid barrier collision tests at 56 km/h
• Cylinder side impact tests at 32 km/h
• Rear passenger protection assessments
• Child and pedestrian safety evaluations”

The Firefly, on the other hand, needs to participate in all of the above safety performance assessments. The so-called dual five-star rating in China and Europe is determined according to the passenger car standards.

Tina Wang explained that this was set up this way because when they conducted research in Europe, they found that small cars are often parked on the street and come with their own charging cables. These charging cables, once exposed to wind and rain, get covered in mud and are dragged around. If there is a front trunk that supports dry and wet separation, it would be much more convenient and can even be hosed down. Of course, in China, it can also be used to store durians without the smell spreading easily.

By “washable,” you can refer to the image below. The Firefly’s front trunk has a detachable drain plug at the bottom. And in both China and Europe, fishing is a popular hobby for many people.

As for our personal experience, the space in both the front and rear seats indeed meets the standards of a Class B vehicle. The two front seats are particularly spacious and offer good support. The central storage space is designed to be relatively low and supports wireless charging for one mobile phone. The distance between the driver and passenger seats is just right for intimate interaction.

From a personal perspective, the legroom in the rear seats does not feel cramped and provides sufficient support.

Additionally, the rear seats can be folded down to create a flat space with the trunk, with a maximum capacity of up to 1250L. Of course, the rear seats can also be folded forward, but the space formed with the trunk is not flat and has an angle of about 30 degrees.

Wide Screen, Fluid Flow

In the video released by Daniel Jin, it is clear that the Firefly’s center console screen is a large horizontal screen. In terms of size, it is slightly smaller than that of the ONVO L60. For comparison, the ONVO L60 has a center console screen size of 17.2 inches, which is a 3K resolution floating screen.

In terms of interaction, this screen is completely different from all the current models under the NIO Group. As revealed in the video, it supports two-finger blind operation. Swiping up and down on the left side of the screen controls the temperature; swiping up and down on the right side controls the volume; and swiping left and right controls the air flow.

On the 18th, we got to experience it firsthand and indeed, we could complete blind operations without looking at the center console screen. It was quite responsive. This is also the first time that a model under the NIO Group has adopted such an interaction method.

In addition, the graphic design inside the car extensively uses circular elements similar to those of the front and rear headlights. It has a kind of… well, a big circle enclosing a small circle feel. The color scheme overall opts for bright colors, which are vivid, highly saturated, visually striking, and capable of evoking positive emotions.

Driving control

Finally, let’s talk about the driving experience.

Firstly, the style. At the workshop, Daniel Jin revealed that the Firefly was tuned by a European team that had previously worked on Mercedes-AMG models. To be precise, it was jointly tuned by Multimatic, “maximizing the potential of the rear-mounted electric drive and five-link suspension configuration,” and two different styles were set for Europe and China.

We test-drove the Chinese style, which felt quite fun overall. The chassis feedback was substantial and resilient, while still offering driving pleasure. A well-known Chinese automotive journalist who was in the car with us judged that it leaned towards the Italian small car tuning style.

Our personal feeling is that the steering wheel for the Chinese style could be made a bit lighter. Currently, there is not much difference in the steering feel between the “Comfort” and “Sport” driving modes.

What is particularly notable is that the actual acceleration of the car feels much better than what the motor specifications suggest. It has a quick start and very strong mid-range acceleration, making it a vehicle that doesn’t fear anyone in the first 100 meters.

The editor-in-chief of ChinaEVHome has also placed an order for this car, with safety being his top concern, as it will be used for family purposes. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that when the Firefly is launched in China on April 19th, the final pricing may come as a pleasant surprise. Currently, its pre-sale price starts at RMB 148,800.