Kiwi driver Tom Blomqvist will partner Oliver Turvey in the second NIO 333 Formula E seat for the 2021 season.
An ex-pat New Zealander, Blomqvist joins the struggling NIO outfit with limited experience after only making a handful of appearances in the all-electric formula.
Last season he was drafted by Jaguar Racing for the final two races at Berlin to replace the outgoing James Calado.
Before that, Blomqvist contested six races with Andretti Autosport with a best result of eighth on debut in Marrakesh.
Blomqvist will race under the Union Jack next year, but he was raised in New Zealand from the age of six. He would go on to claim multiple karting championships before returning to Europe aged 15 to accelerate his motorsport career further.
He then spent three seasons racing for BMW in DTM before a short-lived IMSA stint with the works GT Le Mans BMW squad.
Next season Blomqvist will join Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy as the trio of New Zealanders represented on the grid.
He will replace Daniel Abt at Nio, a team which last year failed to score a single point in what was their worst performance to date.
However, the team have opted to homologate a new power train for the start of the 2021 season, which is scheduled to begin with the Santiago E-Prix in January.
The team have also witnessed a significant restructure of its team management following a mutual parting of ways with engineering partner QEV Technologies.
“To be back in Formula E full-time is fantastic as the series has gone from strength to strength over the years and I feel very proud to be back on the grid for season seven,” said Blomqvist.
“It has been great to get to know the team recently and build those relationships – together we are all highly motivated for the season ahead and the positive atmosphere is brilliant to be a part of.”
Nio have already begun testing of its 2021 challenger with Turvey completing over 400-miles of running at Abingdon Airfield earlier in the year.
Blomqvist later joined his British teammate with the two putting the NIO FE-006 through almost 1700-miles of testing.
“Tom returns to the FIA Formula E Championship with a wealth of motorsport experience behind him, including recent outings in 2020 endurance racing,” said NIO Team principal Christian Silk.
“We have a quick and experienced driving pairing now, with Oliver [Turvey] continuing with us for his sixth consecutive full season, and I am confident that the pairing shall be a successful one.”
