Endurance test Nio EL8: the mobile recording studio

Our car tester Rutger drives into the new year with the Nio EL8. A gigantic 6-seater electric SUV with interchangeable battery. Today we use the car as a recording studio for a podcast.

The Nio EL8 has four very spacious seats with heating, cooling and massage (and two slightly less spacious seats with only heating), it is very quiet inside and it has USB-C ports that can supply 60 Watts. Nice for the average laptop, but more than enough for the Rodecaster Pro (the mixer with which you can record a podcast). With the Top Everything Podcast I have it together with Sanne ten Wolde in Johannes Peetsma each episode about something different that we try to rank and this time it was about road trips. So ideal to be included in the Nio.

Connection is a breeze: USB plug on one side in the car, the other side in the Rodecaster and off you go. What I had not taken into account, however, was that when you walk away from the car, it automatically locks and turns off the power to the USB ports. Rodecaster stops, end of exercise. And more importantly: the battery swap that I also wanted to podcast live cannot be recorded either, because of course the power will also be cut off. It would therefore be smarter to connect a large power bank between the car and the Rodecaster as a kind of UPS. A tip that is of almost no use to anyone.

Massage chairs as a secret weapon

Back to information that is useful to the average user. Our conclusion in the podcast is that this car is not suitable for the ultimate road trip. You need an old barrel for that that can break. There must always be a threat to the idyll and this car is too comfortable and too new and reliable. It is a great cart for a comfortable long-distance trip, although the consumption is a bit on the high side. Despite the 90 kWh battery, I cannot reach 400 kilometers. While the official range is 510 kilometers.

Is that problematic? No, because you can drive for 2.5 hours on the highway and then swap or charge with 240 kW. And if you are with four people, you still have 810 liters of luggage space behind the seats. So no ski suitcase needed. The seats can be adjusted in all directions and have support for your calves and the passenger seat even has a footstool. With the push of a button you can put the chair (when you are standing still) in relaxation mode or zero gravity mode (think dentist chair without the light in your face). The massage function is also a luxury you didn’t know you needed. Cat tap, dynamic, lower back, hot stone, you name it, it’s there and yes, I use that. Daily. And I’m going to miss it when this car goes back.

Next week we will discuss the EL8’s competitors and draw conclusions.

Rutger tests a different car every month, follow it in the Bright Endurance Test.



Source: www.bright.nl