NIO has had its ups and downs in the past couple of years for sure, but it seems to have weathered the stormy waters and is looking forward to better days. Last night at NIO's annual "NIO Day" event, CEO William Li, made a few announcements that had the crowd of about 10,000 excited about the future of the brand.

The first piece of good news is that, for the second time in two years, NIO is increasing the capacity of its battery packs without changing the physical dimensions. That's important because NIO offers battery swap stations for its customers, so all of its packs must be the same physical size for its customers to be able to use the service. When NIO first introduced the ES8 luxury SUV in 2018, it came with a 74 kWh battery pack. Then, in 2019, it offered an upgraded pack as an option, which had an 80 kWh capacity.

In 2020, the ES8 will be offered with a 100 kWh pack. The ES8 is not inexpensive here in China and competes with luxury electric SUVs like the Tesla Model X, Audi e-Tron, and the Mercedes EQC. The ES8 price ranges from about $67,000 to $90,000 US. NIO is positioned to be more of a luxury electric brand than say, BYD or Xpeng Motors.

NIO's ES8 is refreshed for 2020 and now has an available 100 kWh battery pack

The even better news is that existing ES8 owners can upgrade their 74 kWh pack to a new 100 kWh pack for a little under $5,000 US, or lease the new pack for about $100 per month. That announcement brought about a roar of applause from the crowd, the majority of which are NIO owners.

The ES8 is a luxury SUV, priced at the high-end in the Chinese market and competes with Tesla, Audi, BMW, Mercedes

NIO also announced a redesigned ES8 for 2020 as well as a new 20 kW DC fast charger made for home use. In China, it's not as difficult to access higher-powered electricity supply in residential complexes as it is in the US, so getting the power supply needed for a DC fast charger at home isn't a big problem. NIO believes many customers will opt for this high-speed charger for home charging if they have one of its vehicles with the 100 kWh battery pack.

NIO CEO William Li on stage at NIO Day 2019 as he introduces the 2020 EC6 electric crossover

Perhaps the biggest news of the evening was the introduction of NIO's third car (well, it's technically its fourth if you count the EP9 supercar that it sold six copies of) the EC6 crossover.

NIO will begin selling the EC6 in mid-2020 and it will come equipped with the new 100 kWh battery pack. NIO claims the EC6's range will be 381 miles per charge, but that's using the liberal NEDC range rating. Still, that should convert to an approximate EPA range rating of 280-300 miles. That would give the EC6 an all-electric range advantage over all its electric competitors except the Tesla Model Y, of which it would be basically tied.

The 2020 NIO EC6 looks to be a direct Tesla Model Y competitor for the Chinese market

NIO claims a 0-62-mph time of 4.7 seconds for the EC6, and that sounds reasonable considering the EC6 will most likely have the same AWD powertrain as the heavier ES6 SUV that delivers a combined 430 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. Pricing and other details for the EC6 will be revealed closer to the vehicle's launch.