If you want to understand the areas where Chinese electric vehicles shine, look no further than the Zeekr 7X. It is designed in Europe and tailored to European tastes, but it's built in China by one of the world's largest automakers. It's good enough that the established players on the continent should be really worried.
The 7X is a midsize SUV with a total length of 190 inches (4.82 meters) and a long 115-inch (2.92-meter) wheelbase, meaning it’s marginally larger than a Tesla Model Y. It looks smaller than it actually is, and Zeekr’s designers, who work out of Gothenburg, Sweden, did a great job masking this car’s actual size under a taut body that appears to have been shrink-wrapped around the key mechanical hardpoints.
It’s only when you step inside the 7X that you realize just how big it is. I’m a six-footer, and with the driving position set for myself, I had limo levels of rear legroom behind the driver’s seat. Being aboard the 7X is quite a premium experience, with good materials all around and plenty of toys for all the tech-savvy types out there.
And that’s just one reason of many that the 7X is due to put BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Tesla on notice.
(Full Disclosure: We were invited to Portugal by Zeekr a couple of weeks back to try out the 7X. Zeekr covered flights and lodging.)
What’s A Zeekr?
Chinese automotive conglomerate Geely Group has some 14 brands under its umbrella, but it’s Zeekr that has the clearest European focus.
Zeekr was founded in 2021, so it’s a new brand even by Chinese standards, and it’s pitched as a premium and tech-packed vehicle with “the power of a giant” (Geely) behind it. Last year, Zeekr also gained a controlling 51% share in another Europe-bound Geely brand, Lynk&Co, essentially taking over the reins, and having its own brand that it controls.
It currently has three models on offer: the X, which is equivalent to the Volvo EX30, with which it’s also mechanically related. The 001 is a Tesla Model 3-rivaling sporty fastback. Then there’s the 7X SUV, which is trying to muscle its way into the competitive performance midsize electric crossover segment.
In China, it also offers a 7X-sized sedan called the 007, which will also gain a more practical wagon body. The 007 will likely be offered in Europe, since all Zeekrs are designed to appeal to Euro buyers, and that’s yet another threat to the established order.
What’s Under The Skin?
The Zeekr 7X rides on a version of the Geely SEA platform, which means it’s an 800-volt vehicle. Zeekr says it’s the quickest-charging EV currently on sale in Europe, with a peak charging rate of 360 kilowatts that allows it to go from 10 to 80% in just 13 minutes. That’s quicker than other 800-volt vehicles, like the revised Kia EV6, which needs 18 minutes for its 84 kWh battery or the 100 kWh Porsche Macan EV, which does it in over 20 minutes.
Zeekr says both the base LFP and optional NMC batteries have been designed to take up to 420 kW of charging power, which would cut the 10-80% time to just 10 and a half minutes (for 75 kWh) cars.
The WLTP range ratings for the 7X are competitive but not class-leading. The base 75 kWh car should be good for up to 298 miles (480 km), with the 100 kWh pack boosting that to 382 miles (615 km). Adding the front motor drops the range to 337 miles (542 km), less than a Model Y Long Range Dual Motor, which has a claimed range of 364 miles (586 km).
The 7X’s closest Geely stablemate is the Smart #5, which rides on the same variant of the SEA platform (called PMA2+), and it has the same 100 kWh battery and power output in dual-motor guise. Looking at them, you wouldn’t know they’re related, but under the skin, they are actually very similar—even if the 7X has a marginally larger footprint.
It features either one permanent magnet synchronous motor driving the rear wheels with an additional one powering the front wheels in all-wheel-drive vehicles. The single-motor 7X has 420 hp, giving it a respectable claimed acceleration time to 62 mph (100 km/h) of 5.8 seconds, whichever battery pack it has. Interestingly, there’s hardly any weight difference between a 7X with the 75 kWh battery compared to 100 kWh-equipped examples. The difference is just 44 lbs (20 kg).
The dual-motor 7X has 630 hp combined from its two motors, and it slashes the sprint time to 3.8 seconds. This is the only variant we tried at the first drive event organized by Zeekr in Portugal, and it felt quite quick, although not as quick as you might think given its output. The fact that it weighs 5,290 lbs (2,400 kg) hampers its ability to launch off the line. It felt about as quick as the Tesla Model Y dual-motor that we tried last month, which, on paper, is around one second slower to sprint.
How Does It Drive?
The 7X has no intention to feel sporty or encourage you to drive it spiritedly. It’s soft and quite floaty-feeling, and it does a great job of ironing out road imperfections. We didn’t get to try a 7X without air suspension, but the one we tested was really smooth and plush with a clear emphasis on comfort.
Even though some have criticized the 7X’s steering, I actually found it pretty good. I set the steering weight to its heaviest setting, and it was precise enough to instill some confidence during brisk cornering. There’s no road feel making its way through the rim into your fingertips, but, overall, the steering is on par with most rivals, even ones from established premium automakers.
The tuning and calibration of the suspension felt like it was nine-tenths ready in the vehicle we tried. While it did a good job over most bumps, some sent a strong jolt through the chassis and into your seat, which was surprising and unsettling in an otherwise smooth and serene vehicle.
Show the 7X a corner, and it holds the line without fuss. I did stick the traction and stability aids into their sport setting, which allows for a bit of wheel spin and slip, and I goaded the car into a touch of oversteer on corner exit. However, bringing it back under control felt more difficult than it had to be, enough to make me want to get all of the nannies back online to ensure I returned the tester back to Zeekr in one piece.
Driving it around twisty Portuguese roads (part of the route included an old rally stage), it was pretty clear that while it looks as sporty as a Porsche Macan EV, its road manners and the level of driver enjoyment are not in the same league. The 7X feels in its element on more open roads and highways, eating up the miles with impressive ease.
You also feel the 7X’s weight through the corners more so than you do in, say, a similar European electric SUV like a BMW iX. The BMW is even heavier with its biggest battery pack, yet it manages to feel smaller and more nimble than it really is. Zeekr couldn't accomplish this task. Despite feeling planted, it also comes across as slightly lethargic and cumbersome at times.
Does It Look Good?
While it doesn’t have any bold details to get people talking, the 7X is subtly muscular in a very tasteful way. It Iooks sporty, elegant and understated at the same time and it blends nicely on European roads. It doesn’t look like a Chinese vehicle, which clearly was one of Zeekr's design goals.
What looks a bit strange is the gloss black panel that wraps around the front of the car, under which you find the daytime running lights and headlights. It’s as if the designers changed their minds about the design of the front clusters after the bodies were already stamped.
This part has light-up elements in Chinese-market 7Xs (which my colleague Kevin Williams drove last year), and one reason it’s not on the Euro-spec model could be EU regulations. Chinese-spec Zeekrs get a panel that even allows you to write messages, so that’s either not allowed in Europe or Zeekr decided to save a few yuan.
Some design highlights include the swooping hood (hiding a 2.3 cubic-foot frunk that complements the 19 cubic-foot trunk) and hidden side window lower trim pieces. Zeekr’s design boss told me this was done for maximum aero efficiency. I’m not sure how much more slippery the car is because of it, but it sure looks good with the frameless windows (which are quite rare on crossovers and SUVs).
Special attention was paid to the shape of the 7X’s rear flanks, which make the vehicle appear wide and planted, but they aren’t as overtly aggressive as on some other similar vehicles. They flow nicely into the tiny rear decklid, creating a subtle spoiler along the upper part of the rear light clusters.
Is It Really Luxurious?
Zeekr made pretty much all surfaces (even lower down) in the cabin soft-touch, and this instantly makes the 7X feel fancy inside. While vehicles that feel this plush inside are coming in from China, premium European manufacturers are putting more and more hard plastic in their cars. The new BMW X3, for instance, doesn’t have any soft materials inside, and it doesn’t feel as good as the Zeekr (or a revised Model Y, which has a similar approach to materials).
There’s a massive 16-inch screen in the middle of the dashboard that seems to reflect Chinese rather than European tastes. It feels almost too big to be in a car, but Zeekr put a row of five physical switches under the screen to control some functions of the car, including opening the hatch, opening the glovebox and pausing the entertainment.
There’s also a button to control the drive mode, but this only changes the powertrain setting and doesn’t change the steering, suspension or any other setting. Since it’s there, Zeekr could tweak it to change all of these settings at once so that you don’t have to go into the infotainment to adjust things manually.
The driver gets a very slim 13-inch screen that displays all important driving information. However, you don’t look down at it that much since the car has a very good head-up display projected onto the windshield. The HUD has an augmented reality feature that allows it to overlay information over what you’re seeing through the glass. It works really well, and it makes the car feel quite futuristic.
It also reminded me that the Tesla Model Y gets neither a driver’s display nor a HUD, a bit of tech I believe is missing in that application.
The 7X has powered doors that open and close on their own. This is apparently a more common feature in China than in Europe, where we only previously experienced it in the BMW 7 Series (which was also designed to appeal to Chinese tastes, so it got automatic doors and that front fascia that we still haven’t grown accustomed to).
The powered doors in the 7X worked better and were less temperamental than the ones in the 7 Series. They were more consistent in how wide they opened, and while in the BMW their inconsistency started to become annoying, I didn’t get any of that in the Zeekr. Unlike in the BMW, which had visible ultrasonic sensors on the doors (to tell them how far to open), the sensors were hidden in the 7X, making for a much cleaner look.
The massive panoramic glass roof also deserves a shout-out, even though no part of it opens. But it is so big and it lets in so much light that it is one of the highlights of the interior. It also doesn’t eat into rear headroom, and I still had plenty of space while sitting in the back. I could probably still fit even while wearing a medium-sized fedora.
Seat comfort was also very good in the 7X, especially in the rear, where you can electrically recline the backrests. Front occupants get cooled seats and a massage function that is more powerful than I experienced in some fancy German cars. If Zeekr also made the headrests powered, it would truly be an uber-luxurious experience.
Should You Buy One?
I arrived at the Zeekr event with no expectations and an open mind, and I left impressed by how good-looking, luxurious and smooth-driving the 7X was. It’s clearly a vehicle designed to appeal to Europeans, but its software and gadget focus shows its Chinese roots. In a good way.
Gallery: Zeekr 7X
It has a starting price in Europe of €52,990 ($55,650). If you want the big battery it goes up to €55,990 ($58,800) for the long-range battery. That seems like a good deal if you want something that looks and feels posh and isn’t a common sight on the road (for now, at least). If you want the more powerful dual-motor, the price goes up to €62,990 ($66,100) and a fully loaded example, like the one I drove, costs around €70,000 ($77,650). That’s quite a bit more than a Model Y, but it seems justified by its more luxurious feel, plus the market is full of electric buyers looking to upgrade in size and style.
It’s definitely worthy of making premium electric crossover buyers’ shortlists, and it has what it takes to become a big seller in Europe. My short first contact with the car was very positive, even if it’s not the kind of vehicle I would get myself, but it’s clear that a lot of thought and effort has been put into making it.
The premium car establishment in Europe should be worried.
