Zeekr aims to make the Zeekr 007, which comes standard with an 800 V electrical system and has a starting price of about $29,390, the benchmark in its segment.
(Image credit: Zeekr)
Zeekr has officially launched the Zeekr 007 electric sedan to target the mainstream electric vehicle (EV) market, a move that will also test its ability to gain acceptance in a market with more competition.
The premium EV subsidiary of Geely Holding Group officially rolled out the Zeekr 007 at a launch event on December 27 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, where it is headquartered.
The model, which comes standard with an 800 V electrical system, has a starting price of RMB 209,900 ($29,390), a RMB 20,000 reduction from the pre-sale price.
Based on Geely's SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture), the Zeekr 007 is a mid-sized sedan with a length, width and height of 4,865 mm, 1,900 mm and 1,450 mm and a wheelbase of 2,928 mm.
The sedan is Zeekr's first for the mainstream EV market, as its previous models on sale -- Zeekr 001, Zeekr 009, Zeekr X -- all aimed at niche markets.
Zeekr debuted the Zeekr 007 on the first day of the Guangzhou auto show on November 17 and began pre-sales of it at a starting price of RMB 229,900 yuan.
The Zeekr 007 has received 51,569 pre-orders in the past 40 days, the company's CEO Andy An said at the model's launch event.
Deliveries of the model will begin on January 1, 2024, and An told reporters in a post-launch interview that Zeekr's goal is for the Zeekr 007 to become a benchmark model in its segment.
"Several generations of Geely-developed sedans have been very successful and we are very confident about the Zeekr 007," An said in the interview.
Core specifications
Zeekr offers five different price variants of the Zeekr 007, including two single-motor versions and three dual-motor four-wheel drive versions.
They start at RMB 209,900, RMB 229,900, RMB 229,900, RMB 259,900, and RMB 299,900, perfectly covering the RMB 200,000 to RMB 300,000 range.
The two least expensive versions of the Zeekr 007 are the single-motor rear-wheel-drive versions, where the RMB 209,900 model does not come with LiDAR while the other one comes with the component. Zeekr refers to the LiDAR-equipped versions of the Zeekr 007 as the Smart Driving Editions.
Its two single-motor models each have motors with peak power of 310 kW and peak torque of 440 Nm, allowing it to sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.6 seconds.
The three dual-motor versions all have a combined peak motor power of 475 kW and peak torque of 710 Nm. The most expensive dual-motor version can sprint from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in 2.84 seconds, while the other two dual-motor variants all do so in 3.8 seconds.
The four least expensive versions of the Zeekr 007 are powered by Golden Battery packs with a capacity of 75 kWh, which provides a CLTC range of 688 kilometers on the single-motor model, and 616 kilometers for the dual-motor model.
Golden Battery is Zeekr's self-developed battery based on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, which was unveiled on December 14, and the Zeekr 007 is the first model to carry it.
The highest-priced version of the Zeekr 007 is powered by the Qilin Battery, supplied by CATL, which has a capacity of 100 kWh and provides a CLTC range of 660 kilometers.
Zeekr allows customers to upgrade the battery pack of the Golden Battery-equipped Zeekr 007 to the Qilin Battery for a fee, resulting in a CLTC range of up to 870 kilometers.
The model supports ultra-fast charging, with the Golden Battery-equipped versions getting 500 kilometers of CLTC range in 15 minutes, while the Qilin Battery-equipped versions can get 610 kilometers of CLTC range on a 15-minute charge.
The Zeekr 007's smart cockpit is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip that supports the Kr GPT AI, which enables system with smart features including searching news, doing translations and scheduling.
Its smart driving system is based on Nvidia's Drive Orin chip, with models with LiDAR equipped with 2 Orin chips with 508 Tops of computing power. Models without LiDAR come with just one Orin chip.
The Zeekr 007 will be the first car to feature Zeekr's own assisted driving system. The company's other models use Mobileye's smart driving chips and assisted driving systems based on it.
That doesn't mean that Zeekr is abandoning Mobileye's solution; the company will build and improve its intelligent driving systems based on both solutions in the future, An told reporters.
Highway Navigation Zeekr Pilot (NZP), a feature of the Zeekr AD driver-assistance system developed by the company's own teams, will be used in major cities in China upon delivery, it said.
The Zeekr 007 also supports external discharging of up to 60 kW, which can be used to charge other EV models.
Implications
Zeekr currently sells the Zeekr 001 shooting brake, the Zeekr 009 MPV, and the Zeekr X urban SUV, all of which target niche markets. In China, the mainstream choices for consumers are conventional sedans and SUVs.
Although the previous three models were all aimed at niche markets, the Zeekr 001 has been an unexpected success and has become Zeekr's current main seller.
Zeekr delivered a record 13,104 vehicles in November, up 19 percent year-on-year, though essentially flat from October's 13,077 units.
From January through November, Zeekr delivered 105,209 vehicles, up 73.60 percent year-on-year, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Zeekr has officially entered the mainstream EV market with the launch of the Zeekr 007, a model that could replace the Zeekr 001 as the new main seller and is expected to put pressure on their EV makers, especially Xiaomi, which is about to officially launch its first model.
Xiaomi's car-making arm, Xiaomi EV, will hold a tech launch on December 28. The company's founder, chairman, and CEO Lei Jun said on December 26 that the Xiaomi SU7 is in pilot production and will hit the domestic market in a few months.
Starting with the Zeekr 007, Zeekr is increasing its use of in-house developed technologies, something many other EV makers are doing to try to reduce costs and keep more technology in their hands.
The Zeekr 007 will feature Zeekr's in-house developed Golden Battery and assisted driving system, which are among the most costly areas in terms of hardware and software.
The model's one-piece, die-cast rear-end aluminum body gives it a torsional stiffness of 43,500 N-m/deg. The aluminum alloy used in the process was developed in-house by Zeekr, and the company said that the material is more fluid and has a yield strength increase of more than 10 percent.
In addition, the Zeekr 007 is equipped with Zeekr's in-house developed Zeekr Sound stereo.
Customers who order the Zeekr 007 between December 27 and January 31 will receive a free premium interior and exterior color combination valued at RMB 8,000 yuan.
Those customers can also upgrade their 75-kWh battery pack to a 100-kWh pack at a discounted price of RMB 20,000, Zeekr said, without disclosing the price of the battery upgrade after January 31.
Buyers of the LiDAR-equipped models will get free lifetime access to the ZAD assisted driving feature, while buyers of the remaining three models will get one year's free experience of the NZP highway pilot assist system.
Zeekr will begin public testing of its smart parking feature in March 2024 and the City NZP feature in June, it said.
($1 = RMB 7.1415)
Zeekr unveils in-house developed battery with over 500 km range on 15-minute charge
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