Zeekr X Standard RWD Review: It Pays to be Different

What we like:

Proper luxury execution

Amazing Yamaha sound system

Fabulous ride comfort

RWD is quick enough

What we dislike:

Manual passenger seat is not quite luxurious

Panoramic sunroof gets too hot

Fridge is noisy and emits heat when operating

Interior may be too minimalist for some

Zeekr and XPeng are the two new brands to the Premium Automobiles (PA) stable - a timely addition as Audi announced only very recently that they will sell cars directly to customers and therefore bypassing PA. So it is evident now that the success of PA’s new brands will be integral to its future.

Thankfully, I think they picked well with Zeekr (as for XPeng, I will know soon after driving the G6). Zeekr is probably the most premium ‘new’ Chinese brand that has landed on our shores so far, and it’s got the substance to back it up.

Why do you say so?

For one, its clean and sophisticated showroom is tastefully designed with wide open spaces, brushed metal surfaces and artistic decor. It can easily match up to the retail spaces of any luxury manufacturer. And it’s not even completed yet.

The other reason is Zeekr’s very own product. The X is the first model to be introduced to Singapore, and my word, it’s impressive.

Hold your horses. Or neutrons. Why does the Zeekr X look so avant-garde?

OK, I have to admit I am not a huge fan of its exterior design, and I am still trying to get used to it now. Despite Zeekr claiming to use the ‘golden ratio’ drawn from the architecture and art world to design the X, I still think the car looks a little awkward. But, it sure does stand out with its frameless windows, concealed window seals and door handles that look more like cut-outs on the doors. At the rear, 229 LEDs are incorporated into lightweight glass that spans the width of the car, with the Zeekr logo right in the middle. All this fancifulness is not just for show though; the X boasts a Cd value of 0.28 which explains its exceptional refinement.

Refined you say? How comfortable is the Zeekr X?

At speed, the X is beautifully hushed and damped for a cosseting ride. With multi-link rear suspension and fluid-filled rear subframe bushes, the X definitely ranks as one of the best riding BEVs in its price range. I could go over rough surfaces all day and feel sheltered from most of the harshness and sharp intrusions into the cabin. I’m guessing the smaller 18-inch rims of the RWD helps too, and I can’t help but be curious what it would ride like with 19s.

I’m guessing the brilliant suspension works hand-in-hand with the exceptionally stiff chassis, which is built out of 73% high-strength steel. The safety cell is so strong, the roof can withstand a weight of nine tonnes. For the side impact anti-collision beams, Zeekr has engineered a complex eight-tune, multi-layer structure that can withstand an impact of 636 kilonewtons.

How fast is the RWD Zeekr X?

You’d think with all of that safety, the car would be heavy. But at 1,855 kg, it’s average versus its competitors and yet offers scintillating performance even as a single-motor RWD model. With 268 hp and 343 Nm, the car has an extremely respectable 0-100 km/h sprint time of 5.6 seconds. It actually feels quite quick; there is no need for an AWD variant when it comes to performance.

Zap me with some stats of the Zeekr X’s battery.

With the same battery capacity of 66 kWh as the AWD model, the RWD model manages 20 km more range officially too, although AC charging is a little slower at 7.2 kW (instead of 11 kW in the AWD model). DC charging speeds, thankfully, are the same for both models at 150 kW. At the fastest possible DC charging speed, replenishing the battery from 10% to 80% takes less than 30 minutes.

In real world testing, we achieved 14.5 kWh/100km, which is rather respectable and better than the official 17.3 kWh/100km figure. The battery is not the usual lithium-ion ones, but nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) cells from CATL (the largest EV battery manufacturer in the world). Paired with third-generation silicon-carbide inverter technology, I really enjoyed the way the X accelerates and regenerates. It is more natural and less of the instantaneous surge that may cause dizziness or nausea.

How is the Zeekr X’s interior?

On the inside, the X continues to impress. I love the leather on the doors and seats, although I later learnt that they are vegan-friendly polyurethane leather. Not that I could really tell the difference though. The panoramic sunroof, usefully deflecting 99.9% of UV rays but unfortunately only 82% of IR rays, is impressive but practically does not really work well for Singapore as it heats up the interior pretty quickly. Zeekr is able to provide a screen to cover it, though.

The 8.8-inch HD instrument cluster and ‘floating’ 14.6-inch HD touchscreen are very high-resolution and the latter almost Tesla-like in operation. It’s not the most intuitive of user interfaces around, especially when whatever buttons there are in the interior are also confusing to use (like the electric window switches). But they look sleek and modern.

What else should I know about the Zeekr X?

There are other curiosities to the X too, like operating the screen to play a cat ‘meow’ or a horse ‘neigh’ as an external sound. Not sure when this would ever be used, but the external speakers are perhaps useful for a picnic. More impressive is the centre console fridge, which is powerful enough to keep ice-cream frozen or even to keep food warm. It can even be taken out of the car and plugged in to be used as a mobile fridge. However, the drawback of having the fridge in a prominent location in the interior is that it can be quite distracting with an audible hum in the background while operating. It too dissipates quite a lot of heat, enough to be felt by the driver and front passenger.

Now onto the best parts of the Zeekr X - and perhaps why you should be looking at the X more keenly now than later. The 13-speaker Yamaha sound system is probably the best one I’ve heard in the $200k or so price bracket. We don’t often see Yamaha sound systems in cars, and being the first one I’ve encountered I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, I was truly and deeply won over. Now, the Yamaha system typically isn’t standard on the RWD variant - but for limited units, it will be thrown in free, along with the eye-catching ambient lighting that glows from the door leathers.

If I were to be picky, I’d really like the front passenger seat to be electrically adjustable too (manual on RWD). But as it stands, this might be the best time to pick up a RWD Zeekr X. You heard it here first.

Photos by James Wong

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