- NIO ES9 wins 2026 China Top-10 Chassis and Best Intelligence Award for its SkyRide 48V fully-active suspension.
- SkyRide’s 40Hz, 40-adjustments-per-second system uses body and wheel sensors to preemptively suppress pitch, roll, and vertical motion.
- ES9’s tech scaling and strong sales lift NIO’s average transaction price above Mercedes, BMW, and Audi.
NIO ES9 claims the 2026 China Top-10 Chassis Awards; secures Best Intelligence Award for its SkyRide Integrated Fully-Active Suspension. NIO announced the award Aug. 28.
The program was organized by CATARC Information Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. with industry organizations. The expert judging committee includes more than 20 Chinese and overseas automotive chassis experts.
SkyRide’s core is a 48V electrical architecture paired with fully-active suspension.
The system hits 40Hz; ramps 40 active adjustments per second. Combining body and wheel sensor data, it calculates required control force for each wheel in real time; suppresses pitch, roll, vertical motion on large SUVs.
The true ceiling of full-active suspension lies in its coordination with overall vehicle intelligence. Nio’s in-house Vehicle Motion Control (VMC) serves as the central hub. It takes road perception and spatial understanding from the driver-assistance system; coordinates steer-by-wire, full-active suspension, rear-wheel steering, braking systems.
This architecture alters the chassis’ working logic. A conventional chassis absorbs bumps after the tires hit them; the smart chassis sees road ahead through cameras and radar; calculates response in advance; adjusts suspension before the wheels reach the obstacle.
Simply put, like a human: see first, sense next, confirm, act; thereby broadening the operating range of the smart chassis.
Core hardware comes from ClearMotion. NIO Capital led a $39 million financing round in 2022; started deep joint development. The tech debuted on the flagship ET9; now scales to the ES9.
Beyond Nio’s 48V system, Li Auto and AITO’s flagship SUVs feature 800V fully-active suspension. Last year’s Best Intelligent Award went to Denza N9 with the Yi-San-Fang system.
Competition in high-end chassis has moved well beyond the old formula of air suspension, CDC; it is now a battle of global scheduling capabilities over actuators within the underlying electrical architecture.
ES9 is Nio’s highest-positioned SUV; starts at RMB 498K ($74.1K); hit 20K deliveries 73 days after launch.
July retail sales hit 6,311 units, ranking sixth among full-size SUVs in China. In the RMB 500K-plus ($74.4K-plus) pure-electric SUV segment, ES9 ranked first in sales for two straight months.
This performance lifted Nio’s brand-level average transaction price. Nio Vice President Ma Lin said the average transaction price reached RMB 434.6K ($64.7K) in July 2026, above Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi.
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