Zeekr 009 Launched — 822-Kilometer (511-Mile) Luxurious Beast
I just wrote about Zeekr’s strong sales surge in the past few months, after just a year on the market. The Chinese EV startup has relied on the Zeekr 001 up till now, but parent company Geely stated at launch that it would introduce a new electric vehicle each year through 2025, and it’s time for the second Zeekr to arrive. That would be the Zeekr 009.
'Luxury at Ease'- Intelligent living room with digital TV ecosystem and multimedia suite. #ZEEKR009 pic.twitter.com/RBIzcqK8lE
— ZEEKR (@ZEEKRGlobal) November 2, 2022
Such large vehicles are not for everyone (myself included, for example), but they are quite popular — in China and elsewhere. Large, blocky vehicles don’t have the best aerodynamics, but the Zeekr 009 MPV has a giant 140 kWh battery pack and thus has 822 km (511 miles) of range on a full charge, according to the CLTC rating system. It uses CATL’s new Qilin battery. It is actually the first EV in the world to use this battery. (The Zeekr 001 will later on incorporate the ultra-long-range version of the Qilin battery, which is supposed to provide 1,000 kilometers of range!)
Zeekr CEO An Chunghui notes that the 009 has more range on a full charge than 99% of the fossil fuel vehicles on the market!
The Zeekr 009 trim with the smaller battery has a 116 kWh pack with 702 km (436) miles of driving range on a full charge. This version does not use CATL’s new Qilin battery.
The shorter-range Zeekr 009 is the WE trim and the longer-range 009 is the ME trim.
No More Dull MPVs, the #ZEEKR 009 Has Arrived! pic.twitter.com/h2r8Dm3Tfb
— ZEEKR (@ZEEKRGlobal) November 1, 2022
Naturally, this luxurious and large MPV is not cheap. It comes with a price tag of RMB 499,000 ($68,340) on the low end and RMB 588,000 ($80,530) on the high end. Well, that’s cheaper than a Tesla Model X at least!
With dual motors, each rated at 400 kW | 686 Nm of torque, this beast is quick too. It goes from 0 to 100 km/h in only 4.5 seconds. A vehicle that looks like that shouldn’t be able to move that quickly.
Is the grille too much? Yes. Is it gross? Yes. But I’m sure others will think it’s beautiful, luxurious, and perfect. Thousands of those people will find that this is the best vehicle on the market. But that raises the question: what is the actual market potential for the Zeekr 009?
Deliveries of the Zeekr 009 will begin in January 2023, and deliveries of the ME version with the Qilic battery will begin sometime in the 1st quarter. (The Zeekr 001 with the ultra-long-range version of the Qilin battery will start being delivered in the second quarter of 2023.)
Some other details or features of the Zeekr 009 include:
- two 7nm process-based Mobileye EyeQ5H chips
- seven 8-megapixel HD cameras
- four 2-megapixel surround-view cameras
- 1 ultra-long-range millimeter wave radar
- 12 short-range ultrasonic radars.
Zeekr sold 10,119 vehicles in October, by far its best month ever. Then again, Zeekr has only been delivering cars since October 2021. To be at a production and sales run rate of more than 120,000 vehicles a year certainly seems like a notable accomplishment. Well done, Zeekr. And we’ll see what the Zeekr 009 does for the company’s sales in 2023!
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