- Olga Kokorina
- Translated by Olga Apetenok
- Ru Fr Ar He
Zeekr. The Secret of the Zero Emission Era
Zeekr is a new Chinese electric vehicle brand owned by Geely. The company was founded in March 2021 to produce premium vehicles designed to compete with Nio and Tesla. The new brand has big ambitions and huge plans: releasing two new models every year, building robot taxis by 2024, including all-electric autonomous vehicles for the US. By 2025, the annual export volume of Zeekr electric vehicles should reach 100,000 units. The company is clearly hinting that it has managed to reveal the secret of the ‘Zero Emission Era’, assuring us that Chinese electric vehicles will conquer the world (but no one knows that for sure)…
In keeping with Eastern cultures, the brand’s name is a real puzzle: the first two letters are formed from the words “Zero Emission”, the third letter encodes three words “Electric Evolution Era”, and the final “kr” is the designation of krypton, a noble colorless, tasteless and odorless gas. The name of the gas is translated from Greek as "secret". All of this roughly means "Secret Era of Zero Emissions".
Present
Using the money of the great ‘mother’ Geely that owns a huge number of brands, starting with Lotus and Polestar (jointly with Volvo), a separate division, Zeekr Smart Technology Co., was created. The first production model, the Zeekr 001, went on sale in October 2021. In Geely’s hierarchy, the “Secret Era of Zero Emissions” ranks higher than Polestar and other brands.
In December 2021, Geely announced Zeekr’s collaboration with Waymo (USA), formerly known as “Google”s autonomous vehicle project’. The companies have managed to develop an electric autonomous vehicle for the United States of America, releasing the first shuttle without a steering wheel and pedals. However, a full-fledged commercial launch of level 3, 4 and 5 autonomous drones according to the SAE classification requires approval from the authorities and relevant legislation. The development of regulatory laws is a very complex and time-consuming task.
In general, Geely’s portfolio has more brands than Volkswagen Group. The company owns Volvo Cars, Polestar, Proton, Lotus, Geometry, Link&Co, EV Taxi Company and probably a few more that we don't even know about.
In January 2022, Zeekr announced its collaboration with Mobileye, an Israeli global company involved in autonomous vehicles. Their goal is to introduce a level 4 autonomous vehicle by 2024. So far, this also looks like an overly optimistic statement, since there are slightly fewer problems with the legalization of level 4 autonomous drones than with the legalization of the level 5 autonomous driving.
In 2022, the Zeekr brand should produce 70,000 electric vehicles. The company intends to enter the markets of Europe and the USA, but for now, it has started delivering its Zeekr 001 liftback to Russia and Uzbekistan. In October 2022, the second model, the 009 minivan, was presented. By 2025, the model range should expand to 7 vehicles, the majority of which will be SUVs. And all of them will be based on the SEA platform, which is going to be provided to other manufacturers. A smart factory is already being built in Ningbo, with a designed capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year.
Model range
Zeekr 001
The Zeekr 001 liftback, the brand’s first model is based on the SEA platform. The car is based on the Zero Concept presented under the Lynk&Co brand in September 2020. A total of over 6,000 units were sold in China in its first year of sales, but that record has already been beaten in some months of 2022. The Zeekr 001 is an expensive and well-equipped, 4,970 mm long liftback with 22-inch wheels. The drag coefficient of a beautiful aerodynamic body is 0.23. It offers a luxurious interior, air suspension and three modifications:
- A rear-wheel drive ‘long-range’ version with one electric motor with a capacity of 272 hp and a traction battery with a capacity of 100 kWh;
- An all-wheel drive version with two motors with a total output of 544 hp, providing a driving range of over 500 km and accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds;
- A top-end all-wheel drive liftback with a high-capacity battery that allows you to travel up to 606 km.
Zeekr 009
The Zeekr 009 minivan is the brand’s second model, released a year after the first one. It has a catchy and futuristic design. A large 5.2 m long, 6-seater minivan will be all-wheel drive: a pair of motors on the front and rear axles together develop 544 hp. The battery provides a driving range of up to 700 km (according to the outdated NEDC cycle). Like its fellow 001, the vehicle has an air suspension and offers rich equipment.
