Zeekr 001 2022 first drive

After owning Volvo for a decade and making numerous global investments in the automotive market, Chinese firm Geely should by now need no introductions.

Zeekr, however does. It's Geely's new all-electric brand, spun out from Lynk&Co, a nascent maker itself. Unsurprisingly, given the name, the 001 is Zeekr's first model.

It rides on Geely’s brand new Sustainable Electric Architecture (SEA) platform, which will also underpin the forthcoming Smart electric SUV and future Polestar models.

Billed as the world’s first electric shooting brake, the 001 aims to cash in on the growth in demand for performance EVs. And there's certainly performance here: in the range-topping AWD model, 536bhp is generated by two electric motors – one per axle – and a 0-62mph time of 3.8sec makes it a match for the new BMW i4 M50. 

The 001 also uses air suspension that can set the ground clearance between 117mm and 205mm and two batteries are offered, with 86kWh and 100kWh.

It's the latter pack that we have here, which is claimed to give 377 miles (NEDC) of range in the AWD model but up to 443 miles in the RWD one.

Charging rates can be as high as 360kW, says Zeekr.

There's no doubt that the 001 is a head-turner, even in the rather nondescript purple colour of our test car. Utilising the SEA platform, Zeekr has minimised overhangs, and the car has a three-metre wheelbase – a generous figure that matches that of the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The roofline also slopes down steeply at the rear, helping achieve the 001’s slippery drag coefficient of 0.23Cd.

Where this doesn’t help so much is with rear head  room, which is adequate for six-footers but nobody taller. However, leg room, as you might expect, given the 001's wheelbase, is very good.

The rear seats are also electrically adjustable via buttons on the fold-down armrests and on the back of the centre console.

Doors appear to be the new battleground of EV marketers, and with Zeekr, the tactic is to gently press the button space on the handle to make the door electrically open. Once in, you gently pull the handle and the door electrically closes. The doors can also be opened and closed via the central infotainment touchscreen. There's even a batten-down-the-hatches mode to close them all at once.