Takeaways
- The Firefly’s OTA‑delivered motor upgrade to 120 kW is provided at no cost to all existing owners, requiring no hardware changes.
- Firefly has reached 50,000 cumulative deliveries globally and is expanding across European markets with fifth‑generation battery swap stations planned for mid‑2026.
According to CnEVPost, Nio’s sub-brand Firefly launched a refreshed model on 7 April 2026. Peak motor power increases from 105 kW to 120 kW, shortening the 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time to 7.9 seconds. The starting price remains unchanged at 119,800 yuan (approximately €15,050).
All existing Firefly owners will receive the power boost at no cost via an over-the-air (OTA) software update scheduled for mid‑May, requiring no hardware changes.
OTA-Delivered Performance as a Competitive Tool
The OTA update positions software‑defined vehicle ownership as a standard promise at Firefly’s price point.
New features include a tire pressure monitoring system, automatic mirror tilt‑down with memory functions, Nintendo Switch screen casting, tracking reverse over 100 metres, and false acceleration suppression assist. Firefly reached 50,000 cumulative deliveries globally in late March, 11 months after launch.
European Market Expansion and Battery Swap Infrastructure
The Firefly is already on sale in Europe. According to EV.com, the starting price is €29,900 in the Netherlands and €23,500 in Norway.
The compact EV features a 41.2 kWh LFP battery with 330 km WLTP range and 100 kW DC fast charging. Nio plans to introduce Firefly to additional EU markets including Austria, Hungary, Belgium, and Poland in 2026.
For battery swap, CnEVPost reports that Nio plans to build five to 10 fifth‑generation pioneer stations between May and June 2026, featuring a redesigned architecture to support Firefly vehicles.
The Open Question
At €29,900, the Firefly sits above the Kia EV2 Air Long Range (€33,490) in price but below it in range.
The open question is whether Nio’s OTA commitment continues beyond the first model year, and whether European buyers will value software‑defined performance improvements over traditional metrics of range and price.
