The Zeekr 7X is the result of Geely knowing how to efficiently allocate its resources to create a seemingly compromise-free product capable of slugging it out with the Europeans, Koreans and the Japanese.

Which is something that cannot be said for the vast majority of its Chinese EV compatriots. We’re now at a stage where the market is ready for, and willing to accept, Chinese cars. And for good reason too – there’s no denying that China is the most advanced EV car building nation on the planet right now.

With vast domestic resources and strong governmental support, tens of billions of dollars flow into EV R&D annually, allowing the Chinese to rapidly develop, design and manufacture their electric vehicles with the very latest tech in a significantly shorter timeframe than any other car building nation.

But whilst the base tech is solid, the Chinese tend to falter when it comes to the finer details of car design. The final 5 – 10% is something all other car building nations have perfecting over their many decades in the industry. Without that heritage, it can be difficult to sort this out. But with the right people, as is the case with the 7X, this is a problem that can be easily resolved.

Surprisingly Distinctive

Unlike most other EVs with their smooth, featureless designs, the 7X is muscular, sculpted and has genuine road presence. And yet it manages to do so without any particular design element looking or feeling out of place.

In fact, there’s little in this department to suggest that this is a Chinese car. Though that must have been by design, seeing Zeekr hired Stefan Sielaff, a German car designer who has spent most of his professional career at Ingolstad, to style its cars. Side note – other Zeekr cars he has worked on include the X and the 009.

Illuminated badge, a LED dot matrix front lightbar, and power doors all round all help to ensure it further stands out from the crowd. You will not find a physical Zeekr badge on the bootlid of the car. The inscription has been etched into the rear glass, something not very car makers have done.

20-inch alloy wheels wrap up the exterior design of the 7X. These wheels look great on the car – they are large enough to fill the wheel arches, and yet still have sufficient room for a decent sidewall. The orange brake calipers make for a nice finishing touch.

Properly Plush and Premium

The Chinese have mastered the art of building truly premium-feeling cars. But the 7X takes it to another level. There’s an understanding that true luxury doesn’t come from simply trimming absolutely every surface in some kind of leather.

Yes, materials do play a huge part in creating that sensation. But so too does ergonomics. With the Europeans at the design helm, the 7X doesn’t have a lot of the usability irritations that a lot of Chinese cars have.

Zeekr consistently has some of the best overall infotainment screens, with crystal clear graphics, a high-res screen and menus that are actually highly functional. This is also true of the instrument cluster, which can also be easily read at speed.

As this is no coupe SUV, there’s actually a good amount of headroom in the back. The seats all offer excellent overall support, and front occupants also have access to full massage/ventilation functionality.

The Drive

Our test car is the range-topping Performance variant. In all honesty it is perhaps a little too much for our roads. With 637bhp and 710Nm of instantaneous performance, there’s really very few cars that’d be capable of keeping up with it, especially from a complete standstill.

Keep your foot in for just four seconds and you’d soon exceed 100km/h – yes, the Zeekr 7X Performance is that quick. And yet it manages to remain calm and composed in the corners, without any major ride comfort sacrifice. Credit where it is due, the air suspension works really well in the car.

It has the same 100 kWh battery pack as its lesser “Long Range” stablemate, but as there’s an additional motor to sap electrons from, range drops to just 540 kilometres. And that quoted figure isn’t some grossly inflated CLTC result too – it’d actually do 540 kilometres in our hands. Or rather, it’d exceed its claimed range, as we got an efficiency rating of about 10% greater than its homologated 5km/kWh.

Should you need to recharge your 7X, you’d really not be stopping for long, as it will DC fast charge at up to 420kW. Our charging infrastructure has some major catching up to do. It will AC fast charge at 22kW, meaning a 0 – 100% charge should take about five hours. Or if you fiddle with the charge amperage, it’d charge from empty to full in about the same number of hours you’d spend overnight at home.

Premium, Powerful, and Surprisingly Polished

There’s really very little wrong with the car overall. However, we’d recommend you not option a fridge if you are shopping for a 7X. The unit in our presser managed to work its way loose on numerous occasions, and it takes quite some force to re-latch it back to its mounting points.

Also it also takes up quite a lot of space, depriving you of a good chunk of easy-to-access storage space. Otherwise, it is a fantastic all-rounder that blends comfort and daily usability into a stylish and classy package.

Though if you were to live with a 7X, you’d probably opt for one of the two lesser-powered variants!

Here‘s a more affordable Zeekr should you be looking at buying one!