Zeekr shares specs of high performance EV with quad-motors

Zeekr, a premium Chinese electric car maker that shares the same parent company as Volvo Cars and Polestar, has just unveiled its mass-produced high-performance electric hypercar, the Zeekr 001 FR.

The new EV was officially put for sale on Friday last week with a starting price of 769,000 yuan in its local market, according to reports from cnevpost. That’s equivalent to $A165,000.

For this, owners can expect to get the Zeekr 001 FR from 0-100 km/h in 2.07 seconds which the brand claims is the “fastest-accelerating mass-produced all-electric vehicle”. 

This is thanks to a quad-motor powertrain which produces 1,265 horsepower or 930 kW. For comparison, the Tesla Model S plaid does the same sprint in 2.1 seconds and has been in production since 2021.

To develop this level of performance figures, Zeekr engineers worked closely with the company’s chief performance advisor, Kimi Räikkönen, who many in the racing industry know as having competed in Formula One racing.

According to the company, the car is equipped with “Räikkönen-mode” which offers a new set of features to drivers looking at pushing this high-performance electric hypercar to its limits.

To help with the charging and discharging, the EV is sitting on an in-house developed 800V architecture combined with four silicon carbide motors to deliver optimum power to the road.

The motors are fed by a 100 kWh battery pack developed by CATL which it describes as the “Qilin” battery. At the right high-powered charger, this pack can be charged from 10-80% in 15 minutes.

Zeekr is using the 001 FR as a halo car as the brand looks to expand internationally. Zeekr vehicles are now available in parts of Europe as of 2023 with plans for a further expansion into other markets in 2024.

The expansion will help the company deliver around 140,000 EVs globally in just 2023 with 2024 looking to push it well past that.

Zeekr 001 FR is a great example of the performance that can be offered in mass-produced electric cars. 

We look forward to seeing how this hypercar performs on the track and of course on the Nürburgring track where the Tesla Model S Plaid with the track pack has set benchmark times for a mass-produced electric hypercar.