Zeekr, the Chinese-Swedish sister brand of Volvo and Lynk & Co, has delivered its first electric car in Europe, an Electric Blue Zeekr 001 AWD Privilege, to a Dutch client in Amsterdam, where the company has its headquarters. It was European boss Spiros Fotinos who handed over the keys.

Pre-orders opened in the Netherlands and Sweden on 28 June, the first countries where the brand is present, with the first shipments leaving the ultra-modern factory in China in August. Zeekr intends to extend its European presence to six other countries in 2024 and eight countries by 2025. The first markets to follow are Norway, Germany, Denmark, and France.

Two models for Europe

Since Zeekr began delivering vehicles in October 2021, the brand has sold over 170 000 cars to date in China of three models currently available there: the Zeekr 001, Zeekr 009 MPV, and Zeekr X urban SUV, which is built on the same platform as the Smart #1 and Volvo EX30. The Zeekr X we had an opportunity to test-drive in Sweden can be ordered starting at €45 990 in the Netherlands.

Spiros Fotinos is the former director for Lexus Europe and EV planning who switched from a Japanese to a Chinese employer to introduce Zeekr in Europe as its new CEO. “We’ve recently opened our first European Zeekr Centers in Stockholm and Amsterdam in just a few days. We are happy to hand over our first vehicle internationally – in the Netherlands.”

“We are committed to making the transition to full electric simple, seamless, and effortless – not when e-mobility becomes an obligation, but right now so that we can all contribute to a more sustainable future.”

Targeting German premium competition

The very first European Zeekr customer car is the flagship model, a 001 AWD Privilege, which is, except for one hyper-sports version, currently the most expensive Zeekr available at €67 490 (VAT incl.).

That might not look like a bargain, but compared to German premium competitors, costing double that, it is a reasonable price. If you don’t need a brand’s prestige to show off your new car, that makes a difference, we concluded after test-driving the 001 in Sweden a few months ago. The basic 2WD version with a range of 620 km (WLTP) starts at €59 490 (incl. VAT) in the Netherlands.

‘Camouflaged’ sporty shooting brake

It might not be a jaw-dropping sports or luxury car, instead playing in the league of ‘camouflaged’ sporty berlines. Like Mercedes’ AMG or BMW’s M-series, maybe? The experience is ‘nearby’ without costing an arm and a leg.

The Zeekr 001 doesn’t look like a sports car. Still, with its low-drag profile and sophisticated electronically controlled suspension, it drives like one. It is blazing fast with its two electric motors generating 200 kW (272 hp) and 343 Nm of instant torque, each enabling rocket-fast acceleration from 0 to 100 km in merely 3,8 seconds without the need for launch control.

The ‘penalty’ in the range is reasonable: still, 580 km to go, poured from a 100 kWh lithium-ion NMC battery from CATL. That’s only 50 km less than the 2WD version if you keep it civilized on the road.

Challenging Tesla Model S Plaid

If that’s not convincing enough, there is a hypercar version of the Zeekr 001 called ‘FR,’ announced at around one million Chinese yuan or 129 000 euros. That one is pure muscle with 1 265 horsepower (943 kW) from 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/hour in 2,07 seconds “in a rolling start scenario”.