NIO Resurrects Its 2015 Formula E Title in Hardware: ET5, ET5T and EC6 Champion Edition Add Drift Mode and an 11-Stage Damper Module

Chinese premium-EV maker NIO has used the Formula E championship its racing squad won in the 2014–15 inaugural season as the conceptual frame for a genuinely engineering-driven special edition. The ET5 sedan, ET5T touring wagon and EC6 coupe-SUV Champion Editions arrived on June 15, 2026 from 313,000 RMB on cash purchase (roughly 43,200 USD at 7.25 RMB per USD) — or 205,000 RMB under NIO’s BaaS battery-leasing plan, a 15,000 RMB premium over standard trims.

What separates the Champion Edition from the usual cosmetic Chinese-market special run is that the chassis itself has been revised. NIO’s vehicle dynamics team upsized the front anti-roll bar from 30 mm to 33 mm and the rear from 20 mm to 22 mm, lifted lower-arm bushing stiffness by 11 percent up front and 43 percent at the rear, and stiffened body torsional rigidity by 6 percent through additional sub-frame bracing. Roll gradient is now controlled to within 3 degrees per g of lateral acceleration — territory normally reserved for a Honda Civic Type R.

EP Mode: Five Driving Presets Including a Genuine Drift Map

The 43 percent rear bushing stiffness gain is the prerequisite for the headline software feature. EP Mode (Enthusiast Pack Mode) is a new top-level menu that gates five chassis-and-powertrain calibrations: Daily, Mountain Road, Track, Drift and Launch. Each preset commands an 11-stage independent damper setting front and rear, a unique torque-vectoring map and tunable traction-control thresholds. Drift Mode shifts torque to the rear axle and unlocks adjustable yaw allowance, letting non-track-trained drivers experience controlled rotation within a defined safety envelope.

The Mountain Road preset is the most original feature in the package. NIO’s onboard navigation switches to a curved-road UI that lays out direction prompts by curve radius rather than at intersections, with oncoming-traffic and accident warnings layered on top. Combined with the dual-motor ET5T’s 4-second 0–100 km/h time and the strengthened chassis, the Champion Edition becomes the first mass-production Chinese touring wagon to ship with a hill-climb (Pao Shan) calibration as a factory driving mode.

Cosmetics, Heritage Cues and the J.D. Power Halo

Visually the Champion Editions adopt a Deep Space Black main color with Moon Glow Silver alternative, Competition Green high-performance brake calipers and 20-inch five-spoke Yao Hei alloy wheels. Inside, an Alcantara-faux-suede steering wheel, microfiber sport seats with green stitching and a “Champion Edition 2015” badge embossed on the rear quarter panel reference the 333 squad’s title with Nelson Piquet Jr. NIO May 2026 deliveries hit 37,705 units across NIO, Onvo and Firefly, and the standard ET5 / ET5T family contributes roughly 6,000 of those a month — solid baseline for a niche-but-credible enthusiast push. Specifications, BaaS math and the chassis-engineering deep-dive are detailed at iEVChina’s NIO Champion Edition launch coverage.