Chinese electric vehicle company Zeekr says pricing for its new Zeekr X compact luxury electric SUV will start at under $60,000 before on-road costs for the base rear-wheel drive variant and under $70,000 before on-road costs for the dual-motor all-wheel drive variant.
The X is the first electric vehicle Zeekr will offer in Australia. Zeekr is an emerging brand owned by Geely – whose brand names also include Polestar, Volvo and Smart – and the first of three electric vehicles Zeekr will manufacture. The people mover 009 is due to launch later this year and a mid-size SUV called the 7X is due to launch in 2025.
The X was officially unveiled in Sydney on Thursday, giving media the opportunity to get a closer look at the vehicle, which is scheduled to go on sale in September and begin deliveries in October.
Both variants of the X use the same usable 66 kWh NMC battery from CATL and offer a WLTP range of up to 446 km in the RWD variant and 425 km in the AWD variant. The maximum DC fast charging speed of 150 kW charges the battery from 10 to 80% in 30 minutes.
The rear-wheel drive Zeekr X variants can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.6 seconds with their 200 kW/343 Nm powertrain, while the all-wheel drive has a combined 315 kW/543 Nm dual motor that reaches 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds.
The Zeekr X is based on parent company Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform, which it shares with other electric vehicles under the Geely umbrella, including the Volvo EX30, Polestar 4, Smart #1 and #3. In terms of size, the Zeekr X is slightly larger than a Volvo EX30, measuring 4432 mm long, 2025 mm wide, 1566 mm high and a wheelbase of 2750 mm.
The Driven had the opportunity to sit in the Zeekr X and try it out even though the cars weren’t yet road legal, so stay tuned for our thoughts on the driving experience in a future article.
Overall, the first impression of the vehicle was positive. From the outside, the Zeekr X is a stylish and elegant SUV with a two-tone paint job, frameless side mirrors and uniquely shaped LED daytime running lights. The interior also feels luxurious with soft, comfortable seats and a minimalist, aesthetically pleasing cabin with rose gold accents.
A 14.6-inch central landscape infotainment screen is paired with an 8.8-inch driver display, along with a 23.4-inch augmented reality head-up display (HUD) for vehicles with that option. The touchscreen was responsive and seemed intuitive with easy-to-understand icons and clear text.
When the Zeekr X launches, Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) with power up to 3kW will be available, although Zeekr representatives could not confirm whether Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) or Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) will be available in the future.
The first test drives of the Zeekr X in Australia will take place in October 2024 at the SXSW Sydney Festival, and deliveries to customers should begin in October.
Zeekr will operate in Australia through a franchise dealer network, initially targeting nine locations across the country. The Zeekr X comes with a 5-year, unlimited mileage factory warranty and 8 years/160,000km on the high voltage battery.
Hot on the heels of the Zeekr X, Zeekr will launch its 009 luxury electric people carrier in Australia later this year. Next up will be the Zeekr 7X mid-size SUV, which is slated to launch locally sometime in 2025.
Tim has 20 years’ experience in the IT industry, including 14 years as a Network Engineer and Site Reliability Engineer at Google Australia. He is an electric vehicle and renewable energy enthusiast who is passionate about helping people understand and adopt these technologies.
