Driving Zeekr’s trump card in EV SUV D-segment: the 7X

It’s compact at 4,7 meters in length and sizeable, especially on the inside. It’s heavy with its 2.5 tonnes and yet still lightfooted, with its two electric motors offering 470 kW or 630 hp and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. Just what the average European family man needs for his weekday and weekend activities?

We drove Swedish-Chinese Zeekr’s latest trump card in a bet for a chunk of the profitable premium D-segment SUV market in Europe, which accounts for 62% of the total premium car market.

For the brand that has only existed for two years and is breaking out of its limited market boundaries of Sweden, the Netherlands, and Norway by entering Belgium now, it’s either swimming or sinking.

European design with European driving in mind, built to Chinese perfection and efficiency by motherhouse Geely, the same as Volvo’s, says Zeekr Europe’s Acting CEO, Lothar Schupet. But can it deliver?

On sale in Belgium from summer 2025

Although the first Zeekr has yet to be officially sold in Belgium starting this summer in a new dealership network to set up, all Zeekrs driving around so far have entered Europe via Zeebrugge. It’s not the first Zeekr we had the opportunity to test-drive. That was the 001 in 2023, and it turned out pretty impressive.

Eventually, it would become that other Swedish-Chinese Geely daughter, Lynk & Co’s first fully electric model. Still, after reconsideration, it was labeled ‘too good’ to resist the temptation to put it on the market as a new premium brand: the Zeekr 001.

Flexible platform, 800V

That one was followed by the Zeekr X, the twin brother of the much anticipated smallest Volvo EV, the EX30, which turned out to be a hit for the brand. The Zeekr 001 and X share the same Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform from Geely, as do the Volvo EX30, the Smart #1, and the first Lynk & Co BEV.

The latest one for Europe, the 7X, is no exception. The platform was developed in Gothenburg, Sweden, for Geely’s European cars, and one of its core values is its flexibility, which enables the building of all kinds of models on it, from a shooting brake to a compact and mid-size SUV.

However, the 7X is the first Zeekr model in Europe to feature an 800-volt electrical architecture and ultra-fast charging. Core models use Zeekr’s ‘Golden battery,’ which is also debuting in Europe. `The Zeekr 7DX is said to be ready to deliver 10 to 80% charging in 10.5 minutes at 480 kW DC as soon as public charging infrastructure allows.

This second generation of Zeekr’s Golden Battery, a 100 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, has a charging speed that has gone from 4.5C to 5.5C. It was first shown in the 007 sedan, which is only on sale in China currently. But it’s next on the export wish list for Europe, where it will be called somewhat less James-Bond style, as the Zeekr 7 GT.

Looking pretty much familiar

But let’s get a taste of the 7X first. At first sight, it’s no world-shocking design, as it looks pretty much like every mid-size D-segment SUV today, including the Lynk & Co 001 PHEV that we have seen touring in Belgium and the Netherlands in black and blue only for a few years now. At least the Zeekr 7X is offered in four distinctive colors: Crystal White, Tech Grey, Onyx Black, and Forest Green.

Getting in can be difficult for the first time, as there are no obvious door handles sticking out. You have to push a ‘hidden’ button on the black B or C-styles of the car for the front or rear doors to spring open electrically. The same goes for getting out: where is the handle?

Panicking to get out?

It’s push-button and electric on the inside, too. One could panic, wondering how to get out quickly in an emergency if there’s no power anymore. It turned out there is a manual lever hidden somewhere underneath the armrests in the doors, but better prepare to find it before you desperately need it.

However, the engineers did think of emergency situations like diving into a lake or canal in case of an accident. There is a mechanism built into the doors that can act as a sort of automatic ‘emergency hammer’ and smash the door window to smithereens when necessary. Don’t try this at home—it will cost you money!

Dead 12-volt battery

They even thought about what to do when the car’s 12 Volt battery is dead, which is still supposed to power most common electrical functions like the central locking system. And it happened as I once experienced myself when I found my then Lynk & Co 01 stone-dead in the parking lot of Schiphol Airport after a two-week holiday while the high-voltage battery was still full.

They learned by practice at Zeekr and Lynk & Co, which happened to share the same development facilities in Gotenburg, assures one of the engineers who helped to find a solution for the common problem at that time.

Now, the battery management system will feed the 12 Volt system with new ‘juice’ when levels are getting too low. In case of utmost emergency to get into the sealed car, there is a hidden tiny hatch somewhere in the front bumper, after which first responders can find a plus and minus 12-volt contact where you can connect an external power source to wake up the car.

High-quality finishing

But let’s drive first before worrying too much about accidents. As expected after previous Zeekr test drives, this 7X is no exception in terms of high-quality finishing and luxury for up to five occupants.

With fine materials and finishes such as charcoal Nappa leather, perforated with a houndstooth pattern, heated and ventilated front and passenger seats, and massage functions in the top version, it’s on par with the better premium German car brands. Without that level of price tag, as the car will be offered in the Netherlands starting at €52,990 (incl. VAT).

There is plenty of head and leg room, both in front and in the rear, and loads of storage space, with a 539-liter luggage compartment at the rear and up to 66 liters at the front, in the so-called ‘frunk.’

Dual motors or not?

We drove the ultimate ‘Prestige’ version, as it was the only one available at the Portuguese test drives. It has dual motors, with an all-new rear Electric Drive Unit (EDU) integrated into the rear axle (310kW of 421 hp and 440 Nm) and a second EDU integrated into the front axle, resulting in a combined output of 470kW (639) hp and 710Nm of instant torque.

That’s blazing fast. Honestly, do you really need that kind of power? Driving electric cars for some years now, which mostly all offer sports-car-like performance due to the instant torque available contrary to ICE cars, it’s something you will be tempted to show off to your passengers once and avoid in your everyday weekday driving afterward.

Even the 310 kW/421 hp of the rear-wheel drive basic and long-range versions are some kind of overkill, so why pay a surplus price for less range for a huge amount of power you’ll seldom use? However, with WLTP ranges of 480km for the basic version with a 75 kWh battery and 615km (100 kWh battery), respectively, you’ll be quite well served.

Some fine-tuning to do

The Privilege version we drove features air suspension and adaptive dampers. While these offer exemplary handling of the car, they lack the ultimate comfort you would expect, as this suspension still feels quite hard. There is still some fine-tuning to do, which is often a matter of software tuning nowadays.

As expected on that premium level, the Zeekr 7X comes with all thinkable and sometimes irritating Advanced Drive Aid Systems (ADAS), guarded by 11 cameras and 1 radar system.

Probably one of the first things you’ll want to do is find a way to silence the annoying carillon of driver alert chimes that (legally obligatory) turns on automatically each time you start the car.

Like on most cars today, that’s tucked away in the ultra-slim 16-inch HD center touchscreen settings that got a new software with fast start-up time and real-time graphics. Still, the engineers heard the critics of the journalists and said they would probably come up with a shortcut to deal with that shortly.

Based on customer feedback through Zeekr’s Co-Creation process, the company says there are physical controls beneath the touchscreen and real switches in the steering wheel instead of capacitive switches for those who like to get physical.

Mapbox navigation

The optional 32-inch wide augmented reality head-up display (HUD) projected on the windscreen before the driver’s nose is a pleasure to use. It also includes navigation from the center screen.

That’s newly co-developed in partnership with Mapbox. The latter is an American provider of custom online maps for websites and applications such as Foursquare, Lonely Planet, the Financial Times, The Weather Channel, Instacart, and Strava. 

According to Zeekr, it is delivering a location-based ecosystem that enhances the ownership experience through services such as charging, parking, and advertising. It also serves as “the foundation for smart ADAS, enabling intelligent decision-making through precise and real-time location data, and paves the way for advanced automated driving in the future.”

It will undoubtedly deliver for your average driver who wants to get from A to B in the fastest, most convenient way and without traffic jams, but honestly, we’d rather see Apple CarPlay or Android Auto offered, which aren’t.

Those allow you to choose from more (free) mapping systems, advanced routing like TomTom, Google Maps or Waze, and fast, up-to-date charts and software, which most in-car systems fail to deliver on time.

Loyal to e-mobility

So, what do you think? Is the Zeekr 7X something for you? Zeekr itself—doing its market research—is convinced it will appeal to people who love technology and EVs in particular and are rather “loyal to e-mobility and to the latest technology than to a particular brand.”

Or it will attract families that want lots of space in an ‘obligatory’ SUV with premium performance and luxury without the premium price. Whether it will convince the die-hard petrol head to trade in his (German) premium car for a Swedish-Chinese alternative for a lower price is questionable.

For most, the premium price is part of the prestige, even if this car is armed for the challenge without having to blush.