Chinese innovation meets Swedish style with the ZEEKR X and ZEEKR 001 - and both cars are destined for European roads.
Who or what is a ZEEKR, we hear you ask?
Well, ZEEKR is a manufacturer of premium electric vehicles that’s owned by China’s Geely but which has a design hub in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Multinational heavyweights Geely oversees other respected brands like Polestar, Volvo and Lotus, so ZEEKR slots into that upmarket category.
This week ZEEKR officially announced that two of its cars - the ZEEKR X urban SUV and the ZEEKR 001 shooting brake - are definitely coming to Europe.
And while they’ll head to Sweden and the Netherlands initially, at the back end of this year, if all goes well they’ll be accelerating into Britain, too.
ZEEKR’s Global CEO Andy AN said:
“It’s been just two years since we revealed our first state-of-the-art electric vehicle – the ZEEKR 001. The response from customers to our brand has been incredible with over 93,000 units sold already. Our range has grown with the addition of the ZEEKR 009 and now with ZEEKR X, further unlocking our growth potential. After the last round of A-Series funding, which raised $750 million, ZEEKR was valued at $13 billion, and building on that success, we are excited to launch our brand in Europe as a key step in our global strategy.”
Here’s what you can look forward to:
ZEEKR X
This SUV-hatchback crossover is built on the same electric platform as the Smart #1 so should have similarly-compact proportions.
ZEEKR promises a range of up to 273 miles between charges, for the rear-wheel drive models.
And the all-wheel drive variant promises to be absolutely rapid, boasting power of 475 PS and a 0-62 mph acceleration time of just 3.7 seconds.
That makes it almost as quick as the Tesla Model Y Performance, which is no slouch either.
Inside the cabin you’ll find an interior that’s quintessentially Swedish - minimalist, clean and taut.
ZEEKR 001
The ZEEKR 001 is a ‘shooting brake’, or a sporty estate in other words. There’s a strong whiff of the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo about it, which is no bad thing at all.
The good people at ZEEKR suggest the 001 will have a range of up to 372 miles between charges.
And, like the ZEEKR X, the 001 won’t be lacking when it comes to power.
Peak output of 544 PS equates to a 3.8 second 0-62 mph acceleration time. To put that into perspective, it’s faster than the Porsche Taycan 4S and only marginally slower than the Taycan GTS.
The interior of the ZEEKR 001 should also be particularly plush, with a cabin ‘crafted for driving pleasure’, according to the manufacturer.
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