POWER TRIPS: A day on the coast

Saturday morning is always an interesting time of the week at our house. Sometimes it’s a mad scramble, just like every other day, as we have so many commitments crammed into the weekend that it feels like we don’t get time to rest after a hectic week at work.

And then there’s today, where we have nothing on our plate except the smashed avo and poached eggs in front of us. It’s a nice feeling, just chilling out with my partner Kris over breakfast and a coffee, both of us scrolling through the news on our phones.

Our comfortable silence is suddenly broken, however, as Kris drops his phone and exclaims with a sense of teenage enthusiasm: “Hey, you know what we should do today?” he asks rhetorically, not giving me even one second to reply. “We should head down the coast and have lunch at Lorne or somewhere... You’ve got that new Zeekr X out the front, and we should see what it’s like on a decent road trip.”

He then jumps up to get ready, clearly not offering me a chance to respond. But no-one knows me better, and I already had a similar thought earlier in the week. He just beat me to saying it out load.

I wanted to get more time behind the wheel of the Zeekr that has already impressed me with its inner-city smarts and charm. Besides, a trip down the coast will also give me a chance to assess those hurdles that most EV sceptics maintain in terms of driving range, charging time and accessibility to the public charging network outside of the city.

And who doesn’t love a drive along the Great Ocean Road, with a leisurely lunch overlooking the spectacular blue waters of Bass Straight and the Southern Ocean? It’s a win-win situation for me.

It doesn’t take long before I unplug the Zeekr from our home charger – ensuring it has a full battery - then jump into the luxurious and spacious cabin and hit the road, charging our way directly towards the quickest route out of Melbourne. As it has been all week, our top of the range Zeekr X AWD, with its dual-motor configuration that generates an impressive 315kW of power, makes light work of heavy traffic.

I do remind myself that being in too much of a hurry will ultimately have an impact on how far we can travel before needing to find a charger. So, I back out of the next traffic light grand prix, then merge onto the freeway and immediately activate the car’s adaptive cruise control.

This being one of the key pillars in the comprehensive suite of advanced safety features in the Zeekr X takes any stress out of bumper-to-bumper traffic by automatically maintaining a set speed as well as a safe distance to the vehicle in front. It’s perfect on busy freeways like the Western Ring Road and the M1 that links Melbourne to the port city of Geelong, which is also the gateway to Victoria’s famous surf coast.

The Zeekr X is a beautiful car to drive, with comfortable and compliant suspension, sure-footed handling, well-weighted steering and excellent vision through its extensive glass house. It’s also whisper quiet, with great insulation from the outside world.

That attribute is amplified – pardon the pun – even more by the quality of its Yamaha sound system. As we cruise through Geelong, Kris is in charge of managing the playlist on the 14.3-inch central infotainment display which is linked to my phone via wireless Apple CarPlay. Both of us agree the quality from its 13-speaker surround sound set-up, with a 442W external amplifier, is crystal clear across the volume spectrum, no matter whether it’s a podcast or any genre of music.

On a road trip towards the Great Ocean Road, there is no place better to make your first stop than the legendary Bells Beach, home to one of Australia’s most iconic surf breaks. I am not a surfer by any stretch of the imagination, but anytime I come down here I always stop at the Bells Beach carpark to stretch the legs and marvel at the power of the ocean from the lookout. It’s mesmerising, intimidating and beautiful all at the same time.

It's so hypnotic, in fact, that I don’t know how long we’ve been stopped for. But, as Kris and I get back into the Zeekr, I am pleasantly surprised to see we still have more than 75 percent charge left in the 66kWh lithium-ion battery. There’s a neat map on the central screen that clearly shows how far we can go before needing to recharge, and with an estimated 470km of range I realise there’s no excuses for taking the Zeekr X on a long drive out of town every weekend.

And so, we carry on and officially join the Great Ocean Road on the way into the quaint seaside town of Anglesea where we stop at the General Store for a quick coffee. As we get back in the car, I notice the Zeekr X's Sentry Mode function in the infotainment system. It uses the car's exterior cameras to record any suspicious activity around the vehicle while it's parked.

Interestingly, you can also use this feature with the smartphone app and the vehicle’s array of cameras to take selfies. So, with the picturesque Anglesea River in front of us, Kris and I jump out and get the front camera to take a happy snap of us on our road trip. How cool is that?

The Great Ocean Road has a gentle start to its flow, caressing the coastline and providing an uninterrupted view of the ocean. But moments after we pass under the iconic Memorial Arch the road stars to get interesting from the aptly named Devil’s Elbow lookout.

From here, the Great Ocean Road twists and turns and rises and falls like a two-lane tarmac serpent. The speed limit is mostly 60km/h, and the traffic can be quite busy on a sunny weekend day like today. But amazingly, I find a free patch of space that lets me explore the handling and precision of the Zeekr X through the endless series of hairpins.

And what an impressive machine it is. The steering is light and fluid and follows my directions with almost telepathic connection, the power delivery is immense and immediate with great traction and sure-footed stability thanks to its all-wheel drive configuration, and the regenerative braking feels intuitive and smooth. Even though the speed is relatively mundane, the Zeekr X is fun and engaging to drive.

As we pull into Lorne, I search through the Zeekr’s native sat nav for all the public chargers in the area. Kris and I debate whether we really need it, as the battery still has just over 50 per cent charge, moreover there is a range projection built-in the sat nav that shows you how much distant you could cover with the battery. Besides, we’re about to sit down for an hour or so over a seaside Saturday lunch so why not use the time productively for both us and the car.

Conveniently, there’s a public charging station at the Lorne Visitor’s Centre right in the heart of town.  When I plug the car into the charger, the small LED display on the B-pillar lights up with a message indicating how much time it estimates until the battery is full again. What a simple yet ingenious little feature that I now wish was on all electric vehicles.

The battery has a maximum charging rate of 150kW on a DC fast charger, which fills the battery from between 10-80 percent in less than 30 minutes. The AWD variant also has an 11kW AC inverter that means it only takes around seven-and-a-half hours to fully re-fill the battery at home. That’s an easy overnight charge.

Kris and I leave the Zeekr at the charger and wander around the corner onto the main street of Lorne. It’s busy today, as it probably is on any sunny Saturday, and we eventually choose Ipsos for lunch, a modern Australian take on the Greek taverna. It’s renowned as a culinary institution in Lorne that traces its roots as far back as 1976, and has scored a prestigious one hat rating from The Age Good Food Guide, itself the bible of good eating in and around Melbourne.

It's got such a good vibe, and the food is heavenly. Kris and I share the grilled king prawns with tomato XO sauce and grilled feta and then the slow-cooked lamb shoulder with smoked hummus and pligouri, a traditional Greek version of cracked wheat, similar to polenta.

As we mop up the last of the lamb’s sauce with the crusty sourdough, Kris asks me what I think of the Zeekr X. “I love it,” is my immediate – and simple – assessment while slouching back into the comfy cushions under a haze of food coma.

I really do, and think the Zeekr X is certainly one of the most impressive arrivals among the plethora of new EVs that have launched in Australia over the last 12 months. It looks fantastic on the outside and feels luxurious on the inside, it’s the right size for Australian families, and it offers exceptional value with a long list of standard features, safety equipment and new technologies. The Zeekr X have also recently received the highest accolade for ANCAP Safety Rating, making it the safest EV in the market.

It drives better than most of its direct rivals too, and the cabin is a real standout for its quality materials, comfort and space.

It certainly has enough battery capacity for a long-distance day trip like we’re on today without inducing range anxiety, and recharges quick enough that you can top it up over lunch or while taking a walk to stretch the legs.

And, with all of that in mind, I look forward to jumping back behind the wheel and heading home exactly the same way we came.

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