SPY PICS: 2024 Zeekr X twins spotted in Sydney
Local testing and evaluation of Chinese electric SUV gets underway ahead of upcoming launchA pair of pre-production 2024 Zeekr X vehicles has arrived in Australia for market-specific evaluation work ahead of the small electric SUV’s local release in the coming months.
The two vehicles – one Palace Beige and one Pine Green – were spotted in Sydney last week without numberplates and still covered in dust from their sea voyage from China.
Odds are they are here to have their active safety systems and driver aids evaluated (and tuned if necessary) on local roads ahead of the Zeekr X’s official release later in the year, and we wouldn’t be surprised if these particular cars end up also being used for dealer and service staff training.
Sharing their underpinnings and powertrain with the Volvo EX30 as well as the inbound Smart electric SUV range, the Zeekr X will be offered Down Under with the choice of a 200kW/343Nm single-motor powertrain or a 315kW/543Nm dual-motor set-up as per its Volvo cousin.
Both systems are sustained by a 66kWh lithium-ion battery pack, providing the former with up to 446km of range and the latter up to 425km, with the battery itself able to be fast-charged at up to 150kW via DC power.
We expect the two development cars to be one of each – one single-motor, one dual-motor – even if both vehicles are rolling on the busy alloy wheels usually seen on the dual-motor as standard.
In other markets just two versions of the Zeekr are offered – the Long Range RWD and the Privilege AWD – and we expect the same arrangement in Australia.
For reference, three versions of the Volvo EX30 are available here, while Smart is looking to offer nearly half a dozen variants of the comparable #1 and five versions of the coupe-style #3.
The Zeekr X’s arrival in Australia comes just a week or so after the Chinese brand confirmed right-hand drive production and sales in Thailand.
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