New Firefly EV 2025 review: Nio city car has a small price and huge potential

Verdict

The Firefly EV looks chic and is smartly designed; a dwarf on the outside and a giant on the inside – but above all, it's a lot of fun to drive. Of course, it's nowhere near as ambitious as its bigger Nio-branded cousins, but it's also barely half the price. With Firefly, Nio could finally capture the imagination of hard-to-please Europeans.

Some of the new cars coming from China blend in facelessly with the crowd, like the GWM Ora 03 or the BYD Dolphin, while others are content with their role of looking like a spartan piggy bank, such as the Leapmotor T03. Either way, the Chinese haven’t really shown a knack for small cars so far. But now, finally, a city car with some character is on the horizon.

Nio, the electric car giant and innovator of battery-swapping technology, revealed its ‘Firefly’ sub-brand late last year and will be launching its characterful four-door, four-meter-long supermini in certain parts of Europe this summer, as part of a charm offensive and effort to challenge the European competition – the Renault 5 in particular.

But just because the Firefly is small and cute, don't be fooled; it’s got a lot of tricks up its sleeves. It’s as lively as any electric car, smartly tuned with a tiny turning circle thanks to the rear-wheel drive layout – something that’s quite unusual for this class.

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Driving the rear wheels is a 141bhp electric motor, which, with 200Nm of torque, makes the 1,500kg car feel much more lively than one might expect, given its official 0-62mph time of 8.1 seconds. From traffic light starts, to quick lane changes, within Shanghai’s city limits, the Firefly is a hero.

Only on the many elevated ring roads around the city do things get a bit tougher, and once you leave the urban sprawl, the fun eventually stops because the Firefly maxes out at 93mph. And with a relatively small 42.1kWh battery – average for this class, admittedly – the maximum range stands at just 205 miles. At least that’s according to the stricter WLTP cycle, and not China’s more lax CLTC standard. 

The Firefly is well suited to the city, but it’s also surprisingly spacious. Taller adults can sit comfortably in the front seats; the sofa-like bench seat is separated by a centre console, featuring a slide-out storage bin and a single cup-holder. The rear seat space is comfortable too, and not just for short trips. 

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Furthermore, the 404-litre boot is larger than that of many compact cars. The Renault 5, for instance, offers 326 litres. In fact, even the much larger Volkswagen ID.3 only has a 385-litre boot. As if that weren't enough, the Firefly boasts a huge 92-litre frunk plus, depending on the trim level, two compartments under the seats for either hiding valuables or dirty running shoes. Total cargo space, when the rear seats are folded down, adds up to a very impressive 1,345 litres. 

The interior overall is somber but not bare, simple but not spartan; material quality feels good. It’s surprising to see heated, ventilated and messaging seats in such an affordable electric car – there’s even an electric tailgate. 

Nio’s cars get a small circular display atop the dashboard solely for the googly-eyed avatar for their own virtual assistant, Nomi. The Firefly does without that (featuring an on-board virtual assistant powered by ChatGPT) and instead has a simple tablet mounted onto the dashboard, with another small display behind the steering wheel.

It’s a pretty clever set-up. For starters, there’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which even range-topping Nio models still don’t get yet. There aren’t any physical buttons, but by holding two fingers on the central screen, you can adjust the temperature, fan speed and media volume. 

The 11kW AC and 100kW DC rapid-charging capacities are on par with the R5, MINI Cooper Electric and Fiat 500e. The Firefly has been designed to allow for battery swapping, which would give it an advantage over those retro-inspired rivals, but due to the significantly smaller batteries compared to Nio’s models, it can’t use the brand’s ‘Power Swap Stations’ found in China and Europe. As such, Firefly will require its own network.

The starting price of the Firefly is equivalent to around £13,000 in China, but in Europe, the figure is likely to hit €30,000 – around £25k at the current exchange rate. That’s after all of Brussels’ punitive tariffs have been paid. By the time it’s ready to export – there are no confirmed UK plans as yet – it’s hoped the city car will have met the five-star Euro NCAP plus European comfort standards.

But Nio doesn't want Firefly to compete with cars like the Citroen e-C3 or the upcoming Renault Twingo. It feels quite comfortable in the environment of the Renault 5 and Hyundai Inster, plus the Volkswagen ID.2 that’s due later this year. But above all, it’s got its eye on the MINI Cooper, which is currently available from just under £27k.

It's no coincidence that Nio chose the MINI as the main rival for the Firefly. After all, the two small cars not only have a similar target audience and compete within the same segment of the market, but they also have (almost) the same origin story: Both are built in China, and both were born in Munich – one in BMW's research and development centre, the other in Nio's European design HQ.

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