Nio's new video shows the phone making a tabletop soccer ball on the roof move by controlling the ET9's suspension. The second-generation Nio Phone is expected to be launched at the end of this month.

Nio (NYSE: NIO) showed off the chassis capabilities of its executive flagship sedan, the ET9, in a new video, and teased that the next-generation Nio Phone is coming soon.

A video shared by the electric vehicle (EV) maker on Weibo today shows the ET9's suspension system being quickly adjusted by the movement of a phone.

Nio calls it the ET9's new skill, the soccer maze, and shows how the phone can move a tabletop soccer ball on the roof by controlling the vehicle's suspension.

With the help of a built-in gyroscope, the phone can wirelessly control the SkyRide's fully active suspension via Bluetooth communication, enabling six-way movement of the body, the company said.

SkyRide has the industry's only active suspension electric drive unit with precise control and low latency and fast response, Nio said.

The video shows only a few details about a phone, though a Nio executive hinted that it's the second-generation Nio Phone.

"How does the Nio Phone look like when combined with the Nio SkyRide chassis? You can check out this video," Nio's vice president for hardware, Bai Jian, said in a Weibo post sharing the video.

"One More Thing... The new Nio Phone is coming!" said Bai.

CnEVPost learnt that Nio is expected to hold the Nio IN 2024 event in Shanghai in two weeks' time, where the second-generation Nio Phone could be launched.

Nio held its first Nio IN Innovation Day event on September 21, 2023, showcasing its research and development achievements, including its in-house developed LiDAR master chip Yangjian, and SkyOS electric vehicle operating system.

The company launched the first-generation Nio Phone, an Android-based flagship smartphone that brings refreshing interaction with vehicles, at last year's event.

Notably, the initial head of Nio's phone business, Yin Shuijun, left the company in January of this year, and his job was taken over by Bai.

Bai joined Nio in November 2020, having previously headed businesses including chips and hardware at Xiaomi and Oppo.

Nio had given away a free Nio Phone as one of the selling points for its vehicles during the fierce price war in China's auto market earlier this year.

On March 17, William Li, Nio's founder, chairman, and CEO, said at an owner meetup that the second-generation Nio Phone had completed development and entered the manufacturing phase.

The ET9 is Nio's flagship sedan unveiled in December 2023 on Nio Day 2023. The model has a pre-sale price of RMB 800,000 ($111,340) and deliveries are set to begin in the first quarter of 2025.

One of the biggest selling points is the ET9's SkyRide intelligent chassis system, which Nio said is the world's first integrated hydraulic fully active suspension that enables transient adjustment of stiffness, damping and height.

So far this year, Nio has released several videos demonstrating the capabilities of the ET9's chassis.

($1 = RMB 7.2504)

Nio showcases ET9's SkyRide chassis system's capabilities during winter test