Image: Riz Akhtar
One of the most highly anticipated premium SUVs in 2025, with fast-charging speeds like no other passenger car, was unveiled last month at an event in Sydney.
The Zeekr 7X, a mid-sized premium SUV, has styling and tech to turn heads, and we had the opportunity to get a taste of what it’s like on a closed racetrack, followed by an off-road track in South Australia last week.
The internationally renowned Motorsport Park, known as The Bend in the town of Tailem Bend, about an hour and 15 minutes drive from Adelaide CBD, has some of the best surfaces to put the car through some extreme paces. That was ideal with no traffic lights, no speed cameras, and no other distractions, just the three variants of the 7X.
Zeekr is targeting the premium segment with this car, and the 7X is set to rival the likes of the Tesla Model Y, BYD Sealion 7 and even in the more premium segments, the Polestar 4. And it’s price is super competitive, starting from under $58,000.
As befitting a design team based in Gothenburg – it is majority owned by Geely, the owner of Volvo and Polestar – it is sleek, modern and has European styling vibes, with features such as flush door handles, frameless windows, a minimal but luxurious interior with a large screen, and overall a high-end feel.
Pretty much everything is controlled through the 16-inch touch screen, driven by the high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295 chip, from the air conditioning to the drive modes. It’s a lot to take in at first, but the interface feels logical and is also quite customisable.
The Nappa leather seats, which provide amazing support, the quality of the materials and the 21-speaker audio system deliver an interior that feels way above the car’s price tag.
The 7X Performance AWD claims to do the 0-100 km/h sprint in 3.8 seconds and it felt very real, especially on the main straight where we hit a speed of 150 km/h before slowing down through the regen.
The 800V architecture also helps when delivering constant power, with no lag, making it a fun car to live with.
Through the corners, the 7X feels surprisingly balanced given its almost 4.8 length. While it’s a mid-size SUV, the active air suspension and continuous damping control keep body roll under control, helping he driver feel very confident on the track.
Handling-wise, the steering is sharp and accurate, if a bit of light, providing a good connection to the road. That can of course be changed from the centre screen if you want it firmer via selecting the “Sport” mode.
While this is not something any race car drivers would want when setting their laptimes, which of course wasn’t the main point of the experience at The Bend, the regenerative braking performed well, and can be adjusted through the screen for those wanting less regen.
I was very pleased to see that there’s a one-pedal mode for those like me who prefer it, though you have to activate it, and it will stay on. It works as expected, and I found it a useful feature on the circuit.
By early afternoon and after a few hot laps, it was time to test it on the off-road course. The Zeekr 7X, with its adjustable air suspension, can raise its ride height by up to 45 mm in a dedicated off-road mode. This shifted the 7X from a road-focused SUV into a surprisingly capable all-rounder.
That was certainly helpful when going over some rocky terrain on the course. Speaking of which, tackling a series of steep, muddy inclines and rocky descents, the 7X’s off-road mode and instant torque to each wheel kept the car stable.
The electronic AWD system managed power to each wheel, finding grip where many ICE cars might struggle. The car smoothly and confidently crawled over many of the uneven areas and larger dips, which showcased the engineering that went into its SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) platform.
Given that off-roading (even light softroading) isn’t something I do often, the experienced instructor in the passenger seat certainly helped too.
It was quite unique to see a sleek, premium electric SUV covered in mud, but the 7X did it all on the day, without any dramas, including dealing with my off-roading inexperience.
This also showcased that the Zeekr 7X isn’t just a city SUV with a high riding position. It has relatively good soft and off-roading capability that could be a massive selling point for some local buyers.
This experience at The Bend was quite a deal, but it’s only a taste of what the car is capable of. A racetrack and an off-road course are designed to showcase extreme ends of this car’s performance. They don’t necessarily tell you what it’s like to live with, every day.
For some Australian buyers, the real questions on what it is like to live with in the real-world still remain. These are the likes of the car’s real-world WLTP range on freeways, and how does the 800 V charging system handle our ever-growing charging network? What’s the ride quality like over our many patchy roads and the potholes that seem to keep coming out of nowhere?
We’ll have to wait for a full, local review by The Driven to answer that. For now, the Zeekr 7X has ticked many boxes which I didn’t think a car of its size and family focus would.
It’s quite a beast on the track and surprisingly capable on an off-road course. The future of EVs in Australia just got a lot more interesting, and with this taste, I can’t wait to see what it’d be like to live with, because there are atleast current 2,000 pre-order holders who want to know.
Zeekr 7X Key features include:
Pricing & Availability
The Zeekr 7X is available for pre-order in Australia:
*(All prices exclude on-road costs)
Zeekr 7X Servicing Schedule and Pricing- First 5 Years (MSRP)
Zeekr Australia is pleased to announce the manufacturer’s recommended servicing schedule and MSRP for the first five (5) years of ownership of the Zeekr 7X.
Service intervals: every 2 years / 40,000km (whichever occurs first).
The first year / 20,000km service will be offered free of charge to customers.
Optional health checks: every 1 year / 20,000km (whichever occurs first)
| 20,000km | 40,000km | 60,000km | 80,000km | 100,000km |
| 1st Year (optional) |
2nd Year
(recommended) |
3rd Year
(optional) |
4th Year
(recommended) |
5th Year
(optional) |
| FREE | $605.00 | $330.00 | $1,150.00 | $300.00 |
To provide further context, the table below outlines the scheduled service inclusions, in addition to standard vehicle checks and any relevant software updates not captured during an OTA cycle.
| Parts Name | 20,000km
1st Year |
40,000km
2nd Year |
60,000km
3rd Year |
80,000km
4th Year |
100,000km
5th Year |
| A/C Filter (12m 20,000km) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Brake fluid (24m) | 1 | 1 | |||
| Coolant (48m) | 4 | ||||
| Lubricant of reducer (40,000km) | 1 | 1 |
Extended pre-order offer, available until 30 September 2025.
Included with the extended pre-order offer:
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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