NIO ET7 & NIO ET5 Touring Win Green Design International Award – CleanTechnica

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

---

With the rise of Tesla and the EV market overall, one could think that every EV startup is just chasing money. And maybe that’s mostly right. However, some companies are more interested in being “green” leaders — seeming to have a genuine focus on protecting our climate, air, and water — while others just make that a sidenote in their story, and in their vehicles. I recently wrote about NIO getting a boosted ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) rating from MSCI, a leading international index provider. Now we also have news of NIO winning a green design award.

The World Green Design Organization has awarded the NIO ET7 and NIO ET5 Touring with a special honor, “2024 Green Design International Award,” for the vehicles’ innovative and particularly sustainable interior. The award was provided at the WGDO Annual Conference in Brussels.

Here are some more details on what made the cars’ interiors special:

• “In line with its sustainable interior-design philosophy, NIO uses ‘Clean+’ materials for the headliner, instrument and door panels in the NIO ET5 Touring, which are made from 100 percent recycled PET bottles.
• “Almost 95 percent of the aluminum used in the electric drive system is recycled.”
• “In the NIO ET7, NIO is the first automotive manufacturer to use particularly environmentally friendly materials as standard. Fourteen components of the premium electric saloon are made from sustainable rattan, which is a natural and sustainable alternative to plastic.”
• “Moreover, elements made from biodegradable materials are integrated into the interior design of both models (NIO ET5 Touring and NIO ET7).”

Of course, all of that is on top of trying to design super aerodynamic and efficient vehicles.

“The award recognizes NIO’s innovative approach to vehicle design, which takes sustainability aspects into account, right down to the smallest detail, and incorporates them into all design processes. By using innovative technologies, sustainable materials and intelligent design solutions, NIO is setting new standards in the automotive industry and underlining its commitment to a more environmentally friendly future,” NIO writes.

“Receiving the Green Design International Award is a great honor for NIO and proof of our commitment not only to develop vehicles that are emission-free, but also to make a contribution to our planet through sustainable design. With the NIO ET5 Touring and the NIO ET7, we have once again shown how innovation and responsibility can go hand in hand,” said Hui Zhang, Vice President of NIO Europe, who accepted the award on behalf of the company. “This award impressively underlines how NIO, as part of the European mobility transformation, consistently implements its sustainable vision ‘Blue Sky Coming’ through design. Managed from Munich, our design approach reflects sustainability at every stage: from design and material selection to production,” he added.

“The recognition of our environmentally friendly design demonstrates our self-imposed obligation to not only offer our users distinctive electric vehicles with high added value in everyday life, but also to consistently pursue the concept of sustainability in our design and look for the most environmentally friendly solution even in the smallest details,” Stephanie Waser, Head of CMF Design at NIO, noted.