I Played Nintendo Switch In A Chinese EV

• Firefly updated its in-car software via OTA update recently, adding features like Nintendo Switch casting and customizable lock and unlock sounds and animations.
• The Nintendo Switch streaming comes via a USB capture card, and a physical connection to the car. 
• Firefly’s game casting feature works with both generations of the Nintendo Switch.

Too many cars available in the U.S. take themselves too seriously. Luckily, elsewhere in the world, more whimsical minds have prevailed. While in China last month, I got some seat time with the Firefly, a cutesy little hatchback from Nio’s sub-brand of the same name. I’ve driven the Firefly before; it’s still great, especially with its retuned suspension and steering. But for 2026, the car has gotten an updated software system too, with some playful features you can’t find almost anywhere else. 

Nio sees the Firefly as a car for young people. To lean into that, the brand has added the ability to cast games to the car’s central infotainment screen, via your Nintendo Switch. Eat your heart out, Sony Afeela. That car wowed journalists in 2024 with its ability to stream PlayStation 5 games on its massive screen. But the project will never see the light of day. Sony planned to use its PS Remote Play service to stream games to the car from a running PS5, which could be miles away in a driver’s living room. 

The Firefly’s solution is a little different in that it requires a capture card (an adapter of sorts sold by the automaker or at most electronics stores) and a Nintendo Switch to be physically connected to the vehicle. Both the Switch 1 and the brand new Switch 2 are compatible. It’s also very simple to use; the capture card is plugged into the car’s two USB-C ports in the center console; one provides power, while the other streams data to the car’s screen. The other end plugs into the console itself. Then you click the “game casting” icon in the car’s infotainment screen, and you’re ready to play. For obvious reasons, this feature only works when the vehicle is in park. 

The end result is pretty spectacular. Car screens aren’t always made for gaming, with resolution and refresh rates that are often not suited for the fast motion of a video game. Yet the Firefly’s center screen performed flawlessly, with no visible latency. I’m not a super huge gamer, but it was nifty to play titles like Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, or Pokémon Pokopia in the interior of a cheery city car. Oh, and the feature worked with both the full-sized Nintendo Switch Controller and the integrated smaller Joy-Con controllers.

Of course, some readers may not get why any brand would integrate video game streaming into the car’s infotainment system. As impressed as I was, I too had questions. The Switch is already a handheld console, so gaming while charging, for example, could easily be done in the front seat without connecting to the car. Also, the Firefly’s batteries are swappable in a few minutes, so it’s not like you need to wait for half an hour at a DC fast charger. (Though Nio’s cars also can and do fast-charge.) It seems like this only makes sense for someone who’d want to use multiplayer games in the car while parked.

I reached out to Firefly’s PR department, and a spokesperson said it was added due to popular demand from Firefly’s current drivers.

The Nintendo Switch casting ability wasn’t the only feature added with the car’s OTA update, either. The update gave the car a whopping 20 extra horsepower, reducing the car’s 0-100 km/h time by about 0.2 seconds. It also added other fun things, like a series of new lock and unlock sounds and animations that are fully customizable. The car can play with its trio of front and rear lights, new sounds, or ones added by the user, to give the car personality.

On Chinese social media sites like Rednote, Firefly drivers are already having a ton of fun toying around with the possibilities. Do you want your car to flash its headlights and play the McDonald’s jingle when you lock the car? Well, someone in China has done just that.

On the one hand, playing video games, over-the-air performance upgrades, or customizable lock sounds aren’t super new in the EV world. Tesla famously has had this for a while, with some of its later models able to stream AAA-level games like Cyberpunk 2077 or The Witcher 3. Yet, other manufacturers have been hit or miss when it comes to emulating these features. Perhaps they don’t see the need. Or, perhaps they might not be able to; in-car gaming requires more powerful computer systems than what you’d find in most modern cars. Tesla’s AMD Ryzen system and Firefly’s Qualcomm 8155 make that possible.

Photo by: Kevin Williams/InsideEVs

Are video games a make-or-break feature for most car buyers? Probably not. Regardless, I think quirky, imaginative software features like those found on the Firefly and in Teslas allow people to bond with their vehicles and give cars personality. I have to admit, I’d probably be a bit more inclined to purchase a car if I knew it quacked like a duck and winked its headlights at me every time I wanted to go for a drive. 

Anyone up for a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament in the interior of a Firefly EV? I’m down.

Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com