The steering wheel is no longer directly connected to the wheels, the Chinese have invented wire control (5 photo)
The electric Nio ET9 will be the first production car in China with a Steer-by-Wire (SBW) system, i.e. "steering by wire" - there will be no mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the steered wheels. The company managed to certify this system for mass production, despite the lack of a national standard. In parallel with the announcement of certification, Nio spoke about the advantages and reliability of its development. 
By abandoning the traditional steering mechanism, it is possible not only to customize, but also quickly adjust both the steering sharpness and the level of feedback. In addition, the absence of a large number of mechanical components will make the driver's seat more spacious and comfortable - in particular, the level of road vibrations transmitted to the steering wheel will be reduced by 80%.
SBW technology will allow for a wider range of control to be delegated to electronics: according to Nio's plan, it will be used in subsequent flagship models with autonomy level 3 and higher.
As for reliability, the company believes that the developers have managed to create a safe and fault-tolerant system. This was achieved, in particular, by duplicating the main control units - according to Nio's calculations, SWB is 2.2 times more reliable than a conventional electric power steering.
The commercial version of Nio ET9 should be shown on December 21. In addition to SBW, the electric car chassis includes active shock absorbers and steerable rear wheels, the 900-volt architecture will provide fast charging, and the motors will be able to develop up to 700 horsepower. 
