Review: Zeekr 7X AWD Performance

If there’s one car traditional luxury brands need to worry about, it’s the Zeekr 7X.

The Zeekr has restrained style.

The Zeekr 7X’s features list is like the model essay of a top Raffles Institution student - everything is a ‘tick’, with hardly anything amiss, if at all. Built on the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) that also underpins other cars in the Geely Group like the Smart #5, it benefits from having strong European influence while incorporating the best of Chinese EV technology. This is, I reckon, pretty important for stalwart Continental luxury fans who are thinking of trying out a Chinese car. 

The Zeekr 7X's logo at the back is normally illuminated - but not for the Singapore-bound cars.

The 7X is described as a mid-sized SUV, but in reality, it competes in the BMW X5/Porsche Cayenne segment. It looks handsome with typical Nordic restraint, which is very welcome in this world of ‘look at me’ cars. For maximum cool factor but with subtlety, the Stargate feature integrated into the front headlights is a must as it plays its start-up and shut-down sequence, or its ability to display various LED designs. It’s an $8k option though, even for the top-of-the-line Performance variant (it is included in this press car). 

You'd want to hang around for the start-up sequence.

Another novel feature is the automatic opening and closing doors, but honestly, I’d do without this. It causes more consternation than joy as the doors don’t always open as wide as they could, and neither do they respond very quickly. The flushed door handles are also a constant source of confusion for people who realise they aren’t very user-friendly except in emergencies. They stay hidden and you need to pry them out if you really wanted to use them. 

Automatic doors are a bit of a pain.

Luxury abounds in the 7X, even in the most affordable variant where you get reclinable rear seats by up to 10 degrees, laser-engraved water ripple panels with ambient lighting, 12 high-definition exterior cameras, an Occupant Monitoring System (OMS) for rear passengers and autonomous parking. However, OMS is in my opinion somewhat of a gimmick; how difficult is it to look at your rear passengers by turning your head back? When I tried to get the car to park itself, it could do it… But with not much more skill than a pimply 20-something year old who just got his driving licence. Maybe future software upgrades will improve this, given what Zeekrs are capable of in China. 

A camera facing rear passengers - privacy much?

Pay slightly more for the RWD Long Range model and you get massage (6 modes) and ventilated front seats. The Performance variant as tested here has that, and also genuine Nappa leather (quite rare in this day and age of vegan leather), adaptive air suspension, a fridge good for -15C to 50C and a 21-speaker premium sound system, which include headrest-integrated speakers for the driver. The ride comfort does feel very premium, but it isn’t as pillowy as you might imagine. Some undulations can still upset it. The sound system, which is in-house developed, isn’t particularly impressive either off the bat. I’m told you need to tweak the settings to bring out its best side. 

A plush cabin that's hard to fault.

No matter which 7X variant you choose, you get 800V architecture which allows a phenomenal DC charging speed of up to 480 kW and class-leading AC charging speed of up to 22 kW. As you’d expect from a car that has to perform well with European safety regulations, there is a three-layer battery tray design to minimise overheating, and unusually even a single-piece die-cast aluminium plate integrated into the rear seat backrests to fortify the rear body structure. 

The seatbacks also have stitched leather.

The Performance variant has a 100 kWh battery, which gives around 540 km of claimed range. With 637 bhp and 710 Nm, it demolishes the 0-100 km/h sprint in 3.9 seconds, which frankly, is too fast. You just don’t need so much power, and pay so much road tax while at it too. The character of the car is more laid-back, preferring to cruise rather than bruise. Because of that, I reckon the RWD variants might feel more balanced overall. 

A proper luxury product to take the fight to the Europeans.

But as a luxury product, the 7X is hard to argue against. It’s very refined, it makes you feel good and it’s built to a fault. It feels as luxurious as the aforementioned X5 or Cayenne, although it is far happier pleasing passengers than the driver. You’ll save hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process. Why not? No wonder the 7X has been selling in droves. I have a feeling it is the car that is giving the European luxury car manufacturers the most furrowed brows. 

Photos by James Wong