Zeekr 001 FR: pure muscles with 1.234 horsepower quad motors

At the beginning of August, Chinese Zeekr, the sister brand of Lynk & Co, announced that it would launch a hypercar version of its Zeekr 001, shooting brake at around one million Chinese yuan or 140.000 dollars.

Now the curtain is lifted, it turns out to be pure muscles with 1 265 horsepower (943 kW) out of four silicon carbide electric motors utilizing torque vectoring technologies to push maximum power adjusted in milliseconds. It is to challenge Tesla’s Model S Plaid with accelerations from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.07 seconds “in a rolling start scenario.”

Quickest accelerating EVs today

The Tesla Model S Plaid is claimed to be one of the quickest accelerating EVs today, with 1.99 seconds needed for 0-60 mph with a one-foot rollout subtracted. ‘Rollout’ is the distance a vehicle travels before the timing lights on a drag strip are triggered.

This means that this first foot would be captured as part of the test, and the time from this would be included in the final result, which could mean a difference of 0.3 seconds. Actually, who would feel that difference? It’s blazing fast, anyway.

Unique sporty exterior

The Zeekr 001 FR is derived from the standard Zeekr 001, which costs three times less. The company says the FR has a unique exterior and interior design with a strong focus on weight reduction. Lightweight carbon fiber components improve aerodynamic performance and add downforce for increased performance.

You’ll recognize the FR from its roof spoiler, a fixed rear wing at the back, a more aggressive front, a front splitter, more oversized air intakes, side skirts, and bigger wheels with performance tires.

Satellite communications

Nice to have is what Zeekr claims to be a satellite communications pack, the first ever to be built into a production vehicle, allowing for total communications in the most remote spots, effectively eliminating cellular network blackspots while on road trips.

The battery in the FR is the 100kWh CATL Qilin battery pack already used elsewhere in the Zeekr model. It can charge 10 to 80% in just 15 minutes. Zeekr does not specify range figures for this muscle car.

800 kW super-chargers

In China, Zeekr is building a network with 450 new ultra-fast high-energy charging stations, introducing a new V3 charging pile with a maximum output of 800kW and maximum output voltage of 1000V (max output current of 800A).

Zeekr says it will build 99 FRs monthly, with deliveries starting in October 2023. Zeekr 001 FR owners will be offered personalized training sessions to become accustomed to high-performance race cars. At 140 000 dollars (€129 640), the Zeekr 001 FR is intended to break the monopoly of traditional luxury supercar manufacturers depending on price levels ten times higher.