Zeekr, a Chinese EV brand with deep European roots, is aiming for global domination with its new Zeekr 7X crossover. This handsome, practical, and surprisingly luxurious SUV is poised to challenge established players in the compact to midsized crossover market.
Last year was a good year for Zeekr . Despite growing anti-China tensions, a softening Chinese economy, and overall weirdness in the EV market, it’s been largely nothing but net for the Sino-Swedish brand. It doesn’t even sell cars in America but it still stole the show at CES, while announcing that it’s sold more than 15,000 units since it started selling cars outside of China en masse.
That’s not bad, considering the fact it’s a new brand with oddly shaped, oddly named models that are hellbent on straddling traditional sedan or crossover segments. The not-quite-a-subcompact Zeekr X and Polestar-4-with-a-rear-window Zeekr 001 “shooting brake” are generally good cars, but they’re not really direct competitors to the Model Ys or BMW X3s of the world. This thing, however, is. Meet the Zeekr 7X, and it may be the poster boy for the Geely Group’s plans for world domination—um, er, a global increase in sales. That plan means it needs to make things that normal people want and can identify with. The Zeekr 7X looks might be the brand’s most traditional offering yet: a midsized (or compact if you’re American) crossover aimed right at the heart of the market. When I was in China late last year, Zeekr’s representatives snatched a base model 7X from a Shanghai-area dealership and let me tootle around town for a little over an hour. My time may have been short, but make no mistake, folks: This crossover is poised to put a real hurt on some of the biggest names in the compact to midsized crossover market. (Full Disclosure: Zeekr gave me the keys to a 7x from a random Shanghai Zeekr dealer while on a trip to China.) What Is the Zeekr 7X? By now, I’d hope that over the dozens of articles we’ve written here at InsideEVs (many of them by me), you’d be pretty familiar with Zeekr. Zeekr is another Chinese brand with deep European roots brand under the Geely umbrella. It does a lot of technical development for all of Geely’s brands, including some platform sharing with Volvo and Polestar. Zeekr is a premium brand with luxury aspirations, sitting adjacent to and sometimes slightly above Tesla. Currently, the brand makes a gaggle of full EV models, including a luxury van, compact crossover, sporty sedan, and station wagon (aka a shooting brake.) The 7X is Zeekr’s first attempt at a traditional upright SUV or crossover in one of the most popular segments across the world. Underneath, it’s closely related to the very good Zeekr 007 sedan. Both use the same variant of the Volvo-Geely SEA chassis, both cars have Zeekr’s 75 kWh Golden Battery that can sprint to 80% in as little as 10 and a half minutes, and both have the same single or dual motor setup good for up to 636 horsepower. It’s state-of-the-art for modern EVs with an 800-volt electrical architecture boasting a maximum charging speed of more than 500 kW in China. Charging time does increase slightly to 10-80% sprint in 13 minutes on Europe’s fastest DC fast charger, 360 kW. Oh, and like the Mix and 007 sedan, the 7X has the same optional “Stargate” panel that can display custom messages and greetings right on the front of the car. Zeekr itself says the 7X is meant for families, so it resisted the urge to coupe-ify the roofline in the name of aesthetics. This is meant to be a practical luxury crossover, folks. As a whole, the Zeekr 7X is handsome, even if it looks like probably the least interesting vehicle from the brand. It’s a well-proportioned car, there’s very little front overhang, the glass is upright, and it avoids falling into the coupe-like trap of other crossover SUVs where they try and pretend like they aren’t as tall or big as they really are. It feels unmistakably like an SUV, although the clean styling and tasteful side surfacing don’t let it feel like a huge, bulky thing. Technically at 190 inches (4860 mm) long it’s bigger than cars like the Mercedes Benz GLC or BMW X3, but like the Nio ES6, I think most Americans would consider this an entry-level compact crossover. It’s nice, but compared to the out-there designs of the X, Mix and 001, the 7X feels kind of pedestrian. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s just a thing. Inside, the Zeekr 7X’s interior is downright sumptuous. Perhaps it’s the ivory and gold interior that’s doing a lot of heavy lifting, I love cream-colored leather interiors, but it’s just so damn nice. Like other Zeekr products, the brand shows attention to detail that I haven’t seen from so-called aspirationally premium manufacturers for a very long time.
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