Onvo L90 arrives with $25,000 starting price

Nio's new electric car brand, Onvo, has officially just launched the L90, a full-size electric SUV designed for larger families. New electric cars are announced almost weekly, but the L90 stands out for one major reason: its price. With a battery rental plan, the L90 starts at just RMB 179,800, which is roughly $25,000. That's less than the Renault 5 costs in Europe.

The Onvo L90 is not a small vehicle. It is a proper full-size SUV, measuring 202.6 inches long, 78.7 inches wide, and 70.3 inches tall, with a 122.4 inches wheelbase. These dimensions translate into a spacious cabin available in either six or seven-seat layouts.

The design features the brand's signature split headlights and a sleek shape that helps it achieve a drag coefficient of 0.25, which is quite good for a large SUV and helps with overall efficiency. Onvo is clearly targeting buyers who need space, practicality, and modern technology without a luxury price tag.

One of the L90's most talked-about features is its practicality, starting with the front trunk, or "frunk." Onvo dedicated a significant part of its marketing to this 240-liter space. The company claims it's large enough to hold two 20-inch suitcases along with a child's bag, or even a single 30-inch suitcase.

For daily use, it can supposedly swallow a week's worth of groceries for a family. In the back, the main trunk offers 430 liters of storage, which includes a hidden 106-liter compartment under the floor. This focus on usable space shows that Onvo understands the needs of its target audience for these types of electric cars.

Inside, the focus on family comfort continues. The front seats feature 12-way power adjustment. The second-row passengers are treated to optional zero-gravity seats with 10-way power adjustment and large, aviation-style headrests designed to increase comfort on long trips. Even the third row, often an afterthought in SUVs, offers a respectable 37.9 inches of vertical height and backrests that can recline up to 38 degrees.

To keep everyone happy, the L90 comes with a small refrigerator installed in the cabin, capable of holding a dozen soda cans and maintaining temperatures between 0 and 50 degrees Celsius. For entertainment, a large 17.3-inch 3K screen folds down from the ceiling, supplemented by an 8-inch screen for rear passengers. The sound system is a 23-speaker, 2,048-watt setup with Dolby Atmos certification.

The Onvo L90 is built on an advanced 900-volt electrical architecture that allows for extremely fast charging. Paired with a standard 85 kWh battery pack, the L90 can recharge from 10% to 80% in just 25 minutes.

The rear-wheel-drive version offers a CLTC-rated range of 376 miles, while the all-wheel-drive model is rated for 354 miles. The L90 uses the same powerful and compact rear electric motor as Nio's flagship ET9 sedan. This motor produces 340 kW (456 horsepower), allowing the RWD version to accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 5.9 seconds. The AWD model adds a 100 kW (134 hp) front motor, cutting that acceleration time down to just 4.7 seconds.

This combination of size, features, and performance at such a low price point puts direct pressure on competitors. The Li Auto i8 was recently launched with a starting price of RMB 321,800, or about $44,830, while the Onvo L90 with the battery pack included starts at RMB 265,800 ($37,000).

The market's reaction to the i8's price was pretty much immediate, with Li Auto's stock price taking a hit after its release. In stark contrast, even the most expensive, fully-loaded version of the Onvo L90 costs less than the base model of the Li Auto i8.

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