Smart vehicles enhanced by AI-integrated physics simulation to enhance performance, energy efficiency
BOSTON, April 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Flexcompute is proud to unveil its groundbreaking partnership with NIO, a global leader in smart electric vehicles, at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) World Congress. This collaboration is set to redefine the future of electric mobility by combining Flexcompute’s GPU-native solvers with NIO’s cutting-edge engineering to push the limits of aerodynamic optimization, enhancing vehicle performance and sustainability.
NIO, driven by its mission “Blue Sky Coming, shaping a sustainable and brighter future together,” is committed to build green and low-carbon smart electric vehicle products with its partners. By leveraging Flexcompute’s Flow360 high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) platform, NIO is optimizing airflow and reducing drag to improve both vehicle performance and energy efficiency.
“After extensive validation, I am very impressed by the speed and accuracy of Flow360.The CFD solver has produced consistently accurate results vs our Wind Tunnel experiments on a variety of vehicle types from small sedans to large SUVs,” said Principal Chief Engineer and Head of Advanced Technologies at NIO Danilo Teobaldi. “What used to take hours or days to solve is now done in minutes. Flow360 is becoming an integral part of our future product development plans.”
Key Results:
NIO has fully validated more than 60 cases spanning sedans and SUVs, using Flexcompute’s Flow360.
- Industry-Leading Accuracy: More than 94% of simulation cases deviate by less than 3% compared to wind tunnel data.
- Significant Speed Improvements: 10-100x faster than traditional CFD, completing simulations in under an hour on an 8L20 system and just 10 minutes on an 8 H200 system.
- Cost Efficiency: Flow360’s scalable performance allows NIO to achieve 60% lower cost per simulation run, while reducing physical prototyping needs and accelerating development timelines.
- Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics in One Platform: Flow360’s built-in Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings (FWH) acoustic modeling to accurately predict wind noise at the source. Recent validations show strong agreement with physical tests on driver-side window pressure, helping engineers design quieter, more refined EV cabins.
“We’re thrilled to support NIO’s bold vision,” Vera Yang President and Co-Founder of Flexcompute said. “By combining our GPU-native solvers and Physics AI technologies, we’re enabling NIO to design smarter and move faster—setting new benchmarks in performance and sustainable mobility.”
This partnership represents the future of EV innovation—where high-fidelity simulation and intelligent prediction converge to deliver cleaner, smarter transportation.
About Flexcompute:
At Flexcompute, innovation is not just a principle—it’s the foundation of everything we do. Born from the minds of engineers at MIT and Stanford, we push the boundaries of what’s possible in simulation technology. With our GPU-native technology, seamlessly integrated into existing workflows, we enable teams to innovate faster, reduce costs, and minimize risks—bringing better products to market in less time. Our mission is to make hardware innovation as easy as software through physics intelligence. Learn more at flexcompute.com.
About NIO:
NIO is a global smart electric vehicle company founded in November 2014. Dedicated to shaping a sustainable and brighter future together by providing high-performance smart electric vehicles and exceptional user experiences, NIO is the first car company listed on the NYSE, HKEX and SGX. NIO currently has three major brands under its umbrella: NIO, ONVO and firefly.
Media Contact:
Stephanie McGuirk
Interdependence PR
(845) 269-8868
SOURCE Flexcompute
