Onvo L60 the Model Y killer from Nio launches priced from 21,200 USD with battery-as-a-service

On September 19, Nio officially launched the Onvo L60, the first model from its more mass market-oriented brand Onvo. The launch event was a very video-heavy event, complete with catchy tunes highlighting the car’s features. There are two versions of the new car with 60 kWh and 85 kWh battery packs.

Prices start at 149,900 yuan (21,200 USD) with BaaS (battery as a service) or priced 206,900 to 235,900 yuan (29,250 – 33,350 USD) complete with battery purchase. Dual motor versions start at 226,900 yuan and go up to 255,900 yuan (32,200 – 36,300 USD). The most surprising thing is the option of a 52-liter Midea fridge. The buying options are as follows:

It should be noted that in China, the Tesla Model Y (see specs) prices start at 249,900 yuan (35,280 USD). This means that not only is the most expensive rear-wheel drive Onvo L60 cheaper than the Model Y by 5.6%, but the version with BaaS is 100,000 yuan (14,150 USD) cheaper, meaning 40% less.

Since early spy shots of the car, we have known that the Onvo L60 is seen as a Tesla Model Y competitor. Test cars were seen with a sticker saying, “Better than a Model Y.” Since pre-sales, we have known that NIO intends to out-compete Tesla on price, but thanks to the launch and the full specifications, we also now know that the company hopes to out-compete the Model Y in performance.

Former Bentley designer Raul Pires acted as lead designer for the Onvo L60 (see specs). Style-wise the L60 is quite close to the Model Y in that both cars are not really true SUVs but more a cross between a hatchback and an SUV with a general bubble-type look about both cars.

The Onvo L60, though, takes a more-for-less approach to competition. First off, the drag coefficient is lower at Cd 0.229, outperforming the Tesla Model Y’s Cd 0.236. This helps reduce energy consumption in the L60 to as low as 12.1 kWh/100 km for the single-motor version and 12.7 kWh/100 km for the dual-motor version.

At the front, the Onvo L60 has an enclosed front grille with a crease line that splits the light clusters into two. There are also strong crease lines on the hood, and at the sides of the license plates are two C-shaped deflector plates. Rounding off the bottom of the fender is a trapezoidal air intake.

Unlike the latest generation of Nio cars the Onvo brand does not use Lidar. However, there are still several protrusions for sensors around the car. These are most noticeable in the form of the two cameras above the windshield and the ones on the front wings. From the side, the car has a fairly simple sculpted look with an S-shaped curve running from the front light cluster to the rear light cluster. This helps create a very unified look.

At the back, the L60 keeps this simple but elegant aesthetic, with the only real deviation from this the quite pronounced ducktail ending to the tailgate. Surrounding the bottom of the car, and perhaps most noticeable from the rear, is the cladding, which forms a skid plate at the back. This helps reduce some of the car’s bulk.

Overall, the Onvo L60 is slightly larger than the Model Y, and where that counts most is the wheelbase, which is 2950 mm, significantly longer than the Tesla’s 2890 mm. This translates into increased internal space for the occupants over the Model Y. The other dimensions for the Onvo L60 are 4828, 1930, and 1616 mm (l/w/h), all of which show an increase, bar the height. The car is available in a choice of seven colors: Dawn Orange, Coastal Blue, Starry Black, Polar Silver, Snow Peak White, Distant Mountain Blue, and Yunxia Purple.

At first glance, the Onvo L60 appears to take a Tesla Model Y approach to the interior. There is just the one screen in the front and unlike with Nio cars the infotainment screen is mounted horizontally. It is a 3K screen with a 16:10 ratio and an ultra-thin bezel of only 5.35 mm wide, making the screen-to-body ratio 91.5%. Also, in a move away from the style of Nio, the drive selector is moved from the center console to a steering wheel column-mounted stalk as in Teslas.

The center console has two sloped mobile phone charging pads with another storage space directly in front. Behind are two cup holders along with a split opening cubbyhole. In a move away from Tesla-like minimalism the Onvo L60 does feature a 13-inch head-up display which takes the onus away from the center screen to display everything. The car has a three-spoke steering wheel with two scroll wheel controls on it, and there is also a driver fatigue monitoring system.

Notably, the backs of the front seats can fold down to provide a flat, continuous surface with the thigh supports of the rear bench. Onvo has published a number of usage pictures of how this space can be utilized for relaxation. Both front and rear seats gain heating, and the front passenger seat has an extra-long movable calf support, which is also heated.

The materials for the seats themselves have been developed in house and use what Onvo calls Caretech material. Skin-friendly, non-allergenic, and antibacterial it has passed OEKO-TEX 100 maternal and infant level 1 certification. In addition, the seats have a 10-layer ergonomic composite structure and utilize a 15 mm thickness composite surface, which Nio alleges can help avoid fatigue over long journeys. At the launch, the interior was described as a “city oasis” emphasizing health and comfort.

Rear occupants get an 8-inch screen mounted on the back of the center console for entertainment. A mobile app can help achieve the rapid heating of the cockpit from 0 to 20 degrees in just 30 seconds. Along with filtering out PM 2.5 the car has a multilayer filtering system which can also work on activated carbon gas and bacteria.

A 1.9 square meter panoramic roof can block 99.99% of ultraviolet rays. Trunk space Nio says it is sufficient to hold two 28-inch suitcases, two 24-inch suitcases and one 20-inch suitcase – enough supposedly for a family of five. Buyers have four interior colors to choose from: soft white, elegant black, warm brown, lilac purple.

The Onvo L60 comes with an 18-speaker 1020W sound system with Dolby Atmos. Of course, the car also has a karaoke function. Powering the cockpit is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P chipset. This provides 60 TOPS AI computing power, and the car has 256GB storage. Perhaps, though, the biggest surprise is the 52-liter Midea fridge that you can put under the trunk floor.

All versions of the Onvo L60 use a TZ188S001 240 kW electric motor on the rear axle which can deliver up to 305 Nm of torque. Boasting a 92.3% CLTC efficiency it can propel the car up to a maximum speed of 200 km/h, and the acceleration time is 5.9 seconds. Dual motor versions retain this motor and add an additional 100 kW YS198S001 electric motor to the front axle. Speed for this version is capped at 203 km/h and the 0-100 km/h acceleration time is 4.6 seconds.

Three ranges are offered by the Onvo L60 namely 555 km, 730 km and 1000+ km. Priority is being placed on the first two. For the lower range there is what Onvo call a 60 kWh pack, but as its true size is 60.6 kWh, it should more correctly be referred to as a 61 kWh. It uses a lithium iron phosphate blade battery from BYD subsidiary FinDreams.

CLTC range for the single-motor version is either 555 or 525 km, and for the dual-motor version range, it is either 525 or 501 km. Meanwhile, the 85 kWh battery pack offers up to 730 km range for the single-motor L60 and 700km for the dual-motor. According to the press conference, the 1000 km range battery pack will be offered in the future. Buyers have the option of BaaS (battery as a service) where the rental for the 60 kWh pack is 599 yuan (85 USD) a month and for the 85 kWh pack 899 yuan (125 USD) a month.

Onvo does not have its own swap stations, but it is compatible with all Nio fourth-generation stations and with third-generation stations that have been suitably modified. At launch, this means around 1000 stations, and Onvo promises countrywide coverage of 2,500 compatible stations by the end of 2025.

At the launch, it was revealed that the intelligent driving software of the Onvo L60 is one generation newer than that of Nio and that the Nio software will be updated to this level later by OTA. AEB for frontal collisions works at up to 120 km/h. There are claimed to be 45 active safety systems as standard.

It should be remembered that the Onvo is not equipped with Lidar and uses a vision-based system. Onvo’s smart driving system is known as OSD (Onvo Smart Driving). Despite being a vision-based system, NOA works on 99.9% of roads according to Onvo, and a video showed it in operation on various road conditions, including urban and avoiding irregularly stopped vehicles. Also supported is driverless parking.

Computer power for OSD comes from a single Nvidia Orin X chip with 254 TOPS . Sensors consist of seven 8MP HD cameras with a maximum forward detection range fo 687 meters. There is also a 4D imaging millimeter-wave radar with a maximum detection range of 370 meters.

Editor’s note

Little was said about the 85 kWh battery pack at the launch. This, though, is likely to be an NCM battery rather than lithium iron phosphate. Although Onvo made a big fuss about the fridge, no price was announced for this option.

Update This article was updated to include information about the all-wheel drive version which became known after initial publication.