Good looks,
high equipment levels and performance to match make this Chinese car one to
watch for Europe
OPEN GALLERY
What is it?
After owning Volvo for a decade and making numerous global
investments in the automotive market, Chinese firm Geely should by now
need no introductions.
Zeekr, however does. It's
Geely's new all-electric brand, spun out from Lynk&Co, a nascent maker itself. Unsurprisingly,
given the name, the 001 is Zeekr's first model.
It rides on Geely’s brand new
Sustainable Electric Architecture (SEA) platform, which will also underpin
the forthcoming
Smart electric SUV and future Polestar models.
Billed as the world’s first electric
shooting brake, the 001 aims to cash in on the growth in demand for
performance EVs. And there's certainly performance here: in the
range-topping AWD model, 536bhp is generated by two electric motors – one per
axle – and a 0-62mph time of 3.8sec makes it a
match for the new BMW i4 M50.
The 001 also uses air suspension that can set the ground clearance
between 117mm and 205mm and two batteries are offered,
with 86kWh and 100kWh.
It's the latter pack that we have here, which is claimed to give
377 miles (NEDC) of range in the AWD model but up to 443 miles in the RWD
one.
Charging rates can be as high as 360kW, says Zeekr.
What's it like?
There's no doubt that the 001 is a
head-turner, even in the rather nondescript purple colour of our test car.
Utilising the SEA platform, Zeekr has minimised overhangs, and the
car has a three-metre wheelbase – a generous figure that matches that of
the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The roofline also slopes down steeply at the rear,
helping achieve the 001’s slippery drag coefficient of 0.23Cd.
Where this doesn’t help so much is with rear
head room, which is adequate for six-footers but nobody taller. However,
leg room, as you might expect, given the 001's wheelbase, is very
good.
The rear seats are also electrically adjustable via buttons on the
fold-down armrests and on the back of the centre console.
Doors appear to be the new battleground of EV marketers, and with Zeekr,
the tactic is to gently press the button space on the handle to make the
door electrically open. Once in, you gently pull the handle and the door
electrically closes. The doors can also be opened and closed via the
central infotainment touchscreen. There's even a batten-down-the-hatches
mode to close them all at once.
In the main, the interior materials and finish are
impressive and the architecture quite pleasing, with the layered dashboard
and driver-orientated centre console notable highlights.
Equipment levels are also high, and interestingly
the 001 is the first production car to feature a Yamaha
sound-system.
The 15.4in touchscreen controls most functions and won't be to all
tastes. It dominates the cabin, Tesla-style, although not in quite as stark
fashion, thanks to the Zeekr's dedicated instrument display and some other
physical switchgear.
Zeekr's desire to give the 001 some level of sportiness is evident
on the road, and the steering is decently accurate and responsive, with
more life in the motion than we've come to expect from inert EV racks.
There's also a Dynamic driving mode, which in contrast to Comfort
weights up the steering and cuts from slack from the air suspension. The
other modes include Eco, Snow and Off-Road, which raises the ride height.
The 4WD version of course has very brisk acceleration and happily
tolerates being put down more challenging roads, although it's
no sports car.
There's breadth here, though: Comfort mode has the air suspension
soaking up bumps nicely.
True one-pedal driving is possible via a selection on the menu, but
speed only really rapidly bleeds off below about 30mph.
A head-up display aids your situational awareness.
Source: Autocar.
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