FIREFLY
TESTED 25.9.25, NORTH JUTLAND, DENMARK DELIVERIES SPRING
Characterful supermini embodies new Nio EV brand
TESTER’S NOTE
Those chunky-looking wheels are actually aerodynamic wheel trims. They hide alloy wheels – just not very pretty ones. IV
What if Honda had stuck with the E? It was a delightful piece of design and was great to drive, but it needed a bigger battery and a lower price. We will never know for sure, because the E is dead and buried, but the Firefly might be a decent consolation prize.
This new supermini is made by Chinese EV firm Nio, but Firefly is its own brand. There’s no model name, like when BMW relaunched the Mini: it’s simply the Firefly. It has been sold in Europe for a few months and is now confirmed to be coming to the UK later this year.
And to my eyes, at least, it looks really cool. There’s a definite E vibe, but the triple lights on either side of the front and rear and the relatively big-wheeled stance mean that it’s distinctive and original enough to be its own thing.
The technical run-down also reminds a little of the quirky Honda. Nio wanted this to be a no-compromise, upmarket small car for Europe, so it has not only multi-link rear suspension (which the Mini Cooper E and Renault 5 also have) but rear-wheel drive too.