Zeekr, an Australian-bound EV brand from China, has just launched its new electric SUV, the 7X, to the world at the Chengdu Auto Show 2024.
Pre-sales of Zeekr’s mass-market mid-sized SUV, which has a starting price of RMB 239,000, less than $A50,000, have already begun in China as the brand aims to deliver its first customer vehicles by the end of September, and release them in international markets, including Australia, in 2025.
The 7X will also feature the latest technology included in the company’s flagship sedan, the Zeekr 007, which was launched last year and has just been upgraded with blistering fast charging speeds.
The new Zeekr 7X’s LFP battery pack has been developed by Zeekr engineers in-house and has the world’s fastest charging capabilities, charging from 10-80% in just 10 minutes. That’s thanks to the 800 Volt electrical system architecture. This is nearly twice as fast as some of the other fast-charging SUVs in the Australian market today.
Th 7X will be 4,825 mm in length, making it longer than the Tesla Model Y, and comes with two drivetrains.
According to Zeekr, the new 7X comes with blistering acceleration and in the dual-motor top trim model can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds.
Powering this will be two battery pack variations with the standard range variant being offered with a 75 kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) pack which will deliver up to 605 km of CLTC range.
An extended-range version with 100 kWh of Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) battery is also available delivering up to 780 km of CLTC range.
The WLTP range figures are currently unknown but are expected to be over 500 km for both battery packs.
There is a single rear-mounted motor, producing up to 310 kW of power. There are also dual-motor variants that produce up to an impressive 470 kW.
The new SUV features an infotainment system powered by Qualcomm 8295 chipset offering a seamless in-car experience for drive and occupants.
It also has dual Nvidia Orin-X chips, lidar, cameras and radars as part of its sensor suite for Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) features.
The 7X is targeted towards families and offers 32 storage compartments along with 616 litres of boot space.
Along with focusing on providing space, the car comes with some clever rear-passenger features such as an air-plane-like tray table as well as a rear infotainment screen.
Deliveries of the new Zeekr 7X are expected to begin in China by the end of September. Following that, the car is destined for international markets like ours in Australia in 2025.
Having seen and experienced the Zeekr 007 sedan in China earlier this year, the new 7X will very likely set a benchmark in the premium family electric SUV space.
In the meantime though, the recently launched Zeekr X test-drives and deliveries in Australia are expected to begin by next month.
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.