Chinese car maker Nio has unveiled the first car from its new Europe-bound Firefly brand that will focus on small budget electric cars.

Dubbed the “small smart, high end electric car”, the EV – currently only known as Firefly – is positioned as a rival to the BYD Dolphin and Renault 5 in the growing electric hatch segment.

It will initially launch in the brand’s home market in April, with a European launch to follow soon after – although Nio has yet to officially confirm a date. Firefly could follow Nio’s Onvo L60 in being offered in the UK first because, unlike the EU, it doesn't apply import tariffs to Chinese-built EVs.

Pricing in China starts from the equivalent of £16,000; while it will likely cost more in the UK and Europe, it could still be one of the cheapest EV's on the market.

The car has been designed to stand out from rivals, said design director Kris Tomasson, with a “unique” tri-circular headlight and rear lamp design. “All good things come in threes,” said the American, formerly of BMW and Ford.

Elsewhere, Firefly has, like rivals in the class, short overhangs and a slightly raked roofline to maximise range. Details on trim levels are still under wraps, but images show that the car offers a leatherette-clad interior (similar looking to the Smart #1) focussed around a central screen. Electrically adjustable seats will also be offered, images show. It also gets blind-spot cameras.

Speaking about the design, Tomasson said: “We started with something that was simple yet iconic: a firefly. Firefly is small, electric and buzzing with energy and totally mesmerising. It became the foundation of our design DNA.”

Elsewhere, Firefly has a huge split-level 92-litre frunk, one of the biggest offered by any car in any class; for comparison this is 5 litres more than Tesla offers in the Model 3. What’s more, it has a drainage function meaning, Nio chairman William Li jokingly proclaimed, fish can even be stored in it. Rear boot space has yet to be confirmed but can go up to 1250 litres with the rear seats folded. With seats up, expect it to be similar to the 5’s 277 litres.

Further technical details, such as power, range and battery pack size have yet to be announced, but it is thought Firefly could feature swappable battery packs as Nio previously confirmed it was developing a new version of its battery swapping platform to be able to accept smaller batteries. But while that is a key feature of Nio models, the challenges of creating a network of swap stations has been a key reason for the brand's relatively slow rollout across Europe, and it is unknown if the technology will be as key to Firefly. 

Nio did confirm the car has a 4.7m turning radius as a way of showcasing the car’s focus on agility and inner-city usability.

Speaking at the annual Nio Day, Li said the Firefly brand “is a way for Nio to serve a wider audience” and bring new customers to the 10-year-old car maker.

He envisioned the brand to “spark curiosity like fireflies”, adding: “You can see fireflies everywhere; we want to build the finest small cars for the global community."