Following the reveal of the Zeekr 8X – a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) – in January this year, the brand’s new SUV that slots in below the flagship 9X has now made its public debut at the ongoing Auto China (also known as Auto Beijing).
Unlike its larger sibling, the 8X is built on the SEA-S platform that was previously referred to as the Electric Premium Architcture (EPA). The ‘S’ version of the Sustainable Experience Architecture differs from the SEA-R used for the 9X.
Another way the 8X differentiates itself from the 9X is in terms of styling. Where the latter more than bears a resemblance to the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, the 8X cuts down on the simpler, upright surfaces for a curvier, sportier look.
Even so, both share a few design cues like a massive front grille flanked by C-shaped LED headlamps that have starlight lighting elements and horizontal daytime running light strips – additional projectors sit below.
Elsewhere, the C-pillars are less flamboyant than the thick and silver-painted ones on the 9X, while the full-width taillights get the same twin-bar graphic, albeit cut short in the middle to make room for the Zeekr script and number plate recess. Pull-type door handles are used here instead of flush pop-out ones, and the doors themselves can be closed at a touch of a button.
On the inside, the dashboard is dominated by dual 16-inch, 3.5K OLED touchscreens, one of which is for the front passenger. There’s also a 13.02-inch digital instrument cluster and 44-inch augmented reality-enabled head-up display, with certain variants also getting a screen where a traditional rear-view mirror would be that shows the video feed from a rear camera.
The toys don’t end there, as rear passengers have access to an eight-inch touchscreen to control comfort and accessibility functions. They also get a 17-inch, 3K OLED screen fitted to the ceiling, tray tables, a refrigerator and a 29-speaker Naim sound system with Dolby Atmos. Depending on the variant, the 8X gets either a single or dual Qualcomm 8295 chipset to handle all smart cockpit functions, including Zeekr’s latest AI Eva smart assistant.
If that isn’t enough premium features, both front- and second-row seats are powered with heating, ventilation and massage functions. The seats themselves can be trimmed in a combination of Nappa leather and Alcantara, while the cabin gets a suede headliner, wood veneer trim, crystal-like textured buttons and an ambient lighting system with 16.8 million colour options.
G-ASD (Geely Afari Smart Driving), which is Geely’s newest intelligent driving system, is here too, powered by Nvidia Drive Thor-U chips that is linked to a suite of sensors, including a roof-mounted LiDAR that is standard across the range.
As you’d expect, a comprehensive list of ADAS functions are available, including all-speed adaptive cruise control, active lane change assist, automatic parking assist, remote parking, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and assist, blind spot monitoring, front and rear cross traffic alert as well as Navigation Zeekr Pilot (NZP) that allows for Level 3 self-driving (you still need to keep your hands on the capactive steering wheel).
Pricing for the 8X starts from 356,800 yuan (about RM207k) and goes all the way up to 426,800 yuan (RM248k) across the Max, Ultra and Ultra+ variants. There’s also a very fancy Dawn variant at 500,800 yuan (RM290k), but we’ll get to that later.
The first three variants mentioned can be had with either five or six seats, the latter making the 8X a three-row SUV. Additionally, the entire line-up receives a 900-volt PHEV architecture that supports 6C fast charging and come with a nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery.
Also identical for the Max, Ultra and Ultra+ is a dual-motor setup rated at 897 PS (885 hp or 660 kW) and 935 Nm of torque, which is good for a 0-100 km/h time of 3.7 seconds and top speed of 220 km/h.
The engineportion of the system is a 2.0 litre turbocharged inline-four petrol engine making 279 PS (275 hp or 205 kW), and this is used for feed either a 55- or 70-kWh battery. With the smaller battery, the WLTP range when running on pure electricity is up to 257 km (320 km CLTC), while the WLTP combined hybrid driving range is up to 1,152 km (1,362 km CLTC).
Go with the larger battery and the EV-only range goes up to 328 km (WLTP; 410 km CLTC) and so too does the combined hybrid range to 1,205 km (WLTP; 1,416 km CLTC). The added features on the Ultra and Ultra+ do see a reduction to these figures, albeit by a very small amount (about or less than five km). For charging, Zeekr lists nine minutes for the battery to get from 20-80% using a DC input.
A 60-kW vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and six-kW vehicle-to-load (V2L) system comes standard, as does dual-chamber air suspension with a continuous control damping (CCD) system that is either single- or dual-valved.
The top-spec Dawn is unique from the rest of the line-up as it gets an even sportier exterior featuring a more aggressive front bumper, side rocker panels and a rear diffuser element, all accentuated by black accents.
It’s not purely aesthetics though, as the Dawn is billed as the most capable version of the 8X with off-road-focused features such as water wading sensors and even infrared night vision.
By far the most impressive thing about the Dawn is its tri-motor setup (two motors at the rear and one at the front) that serves up an eye-watering 1,400 PS (1,381 hp or 1,030 kW) and 1,410 Nm. With these figures, the 0-100 km/h sprint time is slashed to 2.96 seconds and the top speed is bumped up to 230 km/h.
The 70-kWh battery and 2.0 litre turbo engine are the same with lesser variants, and the EV-only range is 268 km while the combined hybrid range is just 1,037 km. The Dawn also gets forged wheels and Brembo brakes with six-piston calipers, both of which are not offered, even as an option, for other variants.
It isn’t known if Zeekr Malaysia plans to bring in the 8X, as the model only recently went on sale in China and availability in markets outside China hasn’t been confirmed, at least for our part of the world. Would you be interested?
