It is the 9X: Zeekr's super-hybrid flagship is coming to Europe with 897 hp
The mystery Zeekr had a name after all, and Europe gets the lesser one
A few days ago Zeekr teased a new European flagship and would not say which car it was. Now we know: it is the 9X, a luxury SUV as long as a long-wheelbase Range Rover and, at around 2.9 tonnes, about as heavy as a small moon. It is confirmed for Europe with 897 hp, and there is one big catch: this is not the same monster China gets.
The powertrain
Europe gets Zeekr's Super Hybrid system on a 900V architecture, but in a twin-motor layout, one motor front, one rear, rather than the tri-motor setup sold in China. It pairs a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder with a 55.1 kWh battery for a combined 897 hp and 935 Nm, 0 to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds and a top speed just short of 240 km/h. Zeekr quotes an electric-only range of around 179 km and a combined range of roughly 737 km, with a 10 to 80 percent DC charge in 9.5 minutes. It will tow up to 2,000 kg.
Europe gets a very different number to China
This is the part worth dwelling on, because when we covered the teaser we cautioned that the Chinese 9X's headline figure of roughly 1,400 hp would not survive the trip to Europe. It has not, and the reason is mechanical rather than just a tune. China gets an absurd tri-motor version that hits 100 km/h in 3.1 seconds; Europe loses a motor and lands at 897 hp and 4.1 seconds. That is still enormous power for a luxury SUV, but it is a meaningfully tamer car, and a useful reminder to treat Chinese spec sheets with caution until a model is confirmed for a specific market.
The size, and the sea of screens
The 9X is vast, and the interior is where Zeekr is spending its ambition. It is a six-seater with adaptive air suspension and individual massaging, heated, ventilated and reclining chairs that Zeekr says turn the cabin into a private lounge. The screen count is almost comic: a 47-inch head-up display, a pair of large central OLEDs, and a 17-inch OLED that glides down from the ceiling to act as a cinema, all backed by a 32-speaker Naim audio system. There is Nordic Wood trim, Nappa leather, jewellery-grade faceting and, of course, a fridge.
How Zeekr is positioning it
Zeekr is presenting the 9X as a European product rather than a Chinese import, leaning on the fact it is designed in Gothenburg through Geely's Swedish design base. "Despite its commanding size, this car is extroverted and elegant simultaneously," said Zeekr Europe boss Lothar Schupet. The pitch is familiar: European design, Chinese engineering, aimed at buyers who would previously have defaulted to a German or British badge, and priced, Zeekr hopes, to make them think twice.
What is still to come
The specifications are described as preliminary pending final homologation, and the two things that matter most are still missing: the price, and a firm on-sale date. Zeekr is rolling out across Europe, including here through its network shared with Lotus, but it has not yet said when Belgian buyers can order one or what it will cost. Given the equipment, it will not be cheap, and the number is what will decide whether this is a genuine Range Rover rival or just an interesting outsider.
AutoNext Take
It says a lot about how fast things have moved that a Chinese brand can reveal a 897 hp, 737 km, six-seat luxury SUV with a ceiling cinema and a champagne fridge, and the reaction is measured curiosity rather than disbelief. On paper the 9X is convincing, and the fact that Europe gets a detuned twin-motor version actually helps its case, because it reads as a car engineered for our roads and rules rather than a spec-sheet stunt. The honest caveat is weight: 2.9 tonnes is an enormous mass to move and stop, and no amount of air suspension hides physics entirely. Everything else now hinges on price, and on whether the quality lives up to the screens. Those are the two questions a reveal never fully answers, and the two that will decide if Zeekr can really trouble the establishment.
