Quirky Firefly electric hatch from China’s Nio nears Australian launch

The Firefly electric hatchback from Nio has been approved for sale in Australia, but we don’t yet know who will distribute it or when it will launch.

Unusually, Australian Design Rule certification documents have been published for the Firefly by the Australian Government before a local launch has even been announced.

This follows local trademark filings made for the Firefly brand over the past couple of years, as well as confirmation from Nio earlier this year that it would launch the brand in the right-hand drive Singaporean market in 2026.

Firefly is a spinoff brand of Nio and has just one model for now, the eponymous hatchback. It’s being pitched as a premium small-car brand, aimed at the likes of BMW’s Mini and Geely and Mercedes-Benz’s Smart.

There’s just one powertrain that’s been approved for sale in Australia, across two variants. This comprises a single electric motor producing 105kW of power, sending drive to the rear wheels.

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The Firefly measures 4003mm long, 1781mm wide and 1557mm tall on a 2615mm wheelbase.

That makes it significantly shorter than other small electric hatchbacks, including the BYD Dolphin which measures 4290mm long. The Firefly, however, is 11mm wider and rides a wheelbase just 85mm shorter.

However, it’s 53mm longer and 86mm wider than a Toyota Yaris on a 65mm longer wheelbase.

It rides on 18-inch alloy wheels.

While specification details are limited in government approval documents, we can look to the European market – specifically the Dutch and Norwegian markets – for more details.

In the Netherlands, the Firefly range opens at €29,900 (~A$53,300) for the First Edition.

There’s only a 105kW/200Nm electric motor available, powered by a 41.2kWh battery with up to 330km of WLTP electric range.

Energy consumption is 14.5kWh/100km, also under the WLTP cycle, while it can be charged at up to 11kW on AC power and 100kW using DC power.

There’s also 3.68kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) charging capability, allowing you to power appliances, as well as a one-pedal drive mode.

The Firefly features MacPherson strut front and five-link rear suspension.

The exterior lighting is quirky, with three circular lights on either side of the vehicle, both front and rear. The headlights are LED and feature adaptive high-beam.

Inside, there’s a 6.0-inch digital instrument cluster and a 13.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

There’s 256-colour ambient lighting, a digital rear-view mirror, semi-autonomous parking assist, and a 14-speaker 640W sound system with Dolby Atmos.

The seats and door panels are finished in 100 per cent recycled polyester, with the front seats featuring heating as standard.

The top grade also adds ventilated, massaging and power-adjustable front seats as well as microfibre upholstery.

It also receives a panoramic glass roof, power-folding exterior mirrors, a fragrance system, wireless phone charger and a power tailgate.

Standard safety equipment includes autonomous emergency braking (forward and reverse), blind-spot monitoring including a camera view, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, safe exit warning and traffic sign recognition.

There’s 404 litres of cargo space at the back, expanding to 1253L with the rear seats dropped. There’s also 92L of storage under the bonnet.

Firefly isn’t the only spinoff brand of Nio. In addition to debuting Firefly last year, it also launched Onvo, a more affordable, family-focused counterpart to Nio’s namesake brand with a focus on the European market.

It’s unclear whether Nio plans to introduce its so-called battery-as-a-service (BaaS) offering, which sees owners effectively lease battery access and have the ability to drive to a battery swapping station.