A visitor to the e-Salon accidentally drove off with a Chinese electric car. He was only stopped by a utility vehicle – SMARTmania.cz

• At the e-Salon 2023, one of the visitors crashed the Nio ET5 Touring car on display
• It was the first chance for the general public to see and touch this manufacturer’s electric station wagon

This year’s edition of the trade fair for passenger and commercial vehicles with alternative drive e-Salon at Prague’s Letňany fairground was spiced up by a bizarre incident. One of the visitors crashed the very first car of the Chinese brand Nio in the Czech Republic. Moreover, it happened right inside the exhibition hall.

Nio hacked right on the fairgrounds

In the premises of hall 5 PVA Expo in Letňany, right next to the exhibition area of ​​Iveco cars, a solid unique item was on display. For the very first time, an electric car from the Chinese brand Nio was presented in the Czech Republic, namely the ET5 Touring station wagon model. The project manager took care of its importation to the Czech Republic and the subsequent planned sale to end customers https://twitter.com/Nor7211/status/1712837824553132543.

Journalists were able to see the exotic car at the end of October as part of a special event. At the e-Salon, however, it was shown to the general public for the first time. The car could only be viewed from the outside, or fans could experience the interior for themselves. However, it was not possible to run test drives with the car parked. Nevertheless, one of the fair’s visitors tried to do so.

On Friday, shortly before noon, Lukáš Hataš, president of the Association for Electromobility of the Czech Republic, reported on the X network that someone drove forward with the exhibition electric car and crashed it. From the attached photos, it can be seen that the hooded man (probable driver) knocked over a flower pot, an inflatable arch and stopped next to an Iveco van while driving through the fairgrounds.

“He shifted into gear and drove off. Negative advertising, also advertising,” stated on the X Hataš network, however, he subsequently deleted his post. According to the available information, none of the visitors present came to harm, but it is clear that both the van and the Nio ET5 Touring itself will take away several scars from this bizarre situation.

According to commenters on social networks, this is the first hacked Nio in the Czech Republic. The amount of damage is not known at the moment, at least the further display of this electric car as part of the e-Salon 2023 festival is at risk. It will run in Letňany until Sunday, November 12.

We thank our reader Roman M. for the article tip.