Zeekr 009 2024 Review – International

With the imminent launch of the 2024 Zeekr 009 just around the corner, we don’t have long to wait to find out just how aggressively priced it’s going to be.

One thing’s for sure, there are really only two direct competitors to the 009 at present, the van-based Mercedes-Benz V-Class – including the new EQV – and the purpose-built Lexus LM.

While the combustion-engined V-Class starts at $112,816 plus on-road costs, the fully-electric EQV starts at $157,450 plus ORCs. The hybrid-based LM opens at $160,888 plus ORCs.

Zeekr, which is part of the Geely Auto empire and a sister brand of sorts to Polestar (and others), is unlikely to go head-to-head on price with the likes of Lexus and Benz.

But we’d be surprised if it didn’t shrug off its other local rival – the more affordable LDV MIFA 9 (from $104,000) – and pitch the 009 below $140K.

In China, the only current market for the 009, prices range between $100,000 and $120,000.

We don’t yet know if Zeekr will bring both standard variants of the dual-motor 009 to Australia, nor the super-luxurious Glory Edition four-seater, but the two standard trims are pretty much only separated by battery size, either the 116kWh WE or 140kWh ME.

Zeekr is expected to launch a 2025 model of the 009 later this year so we can’t say for certain exactly how it will look when it lands on Australian shores, but in the 2024 Zeekr 009 we drove there’s certainly no shortage of equipment on hand.

Outside, all versions of the 009 come with a decidedly brash chrome ‘waterfall’ grille on the nose complete with animated lighting strips. It’s a bit of a Marmite feature but, thankfully for some, if flashy isn’t your thing it can be specified to match the body colour.

At the back, things are quite a bit more restrained with an attractive ‘ice-block’ tail-light graphic, while wheels come in two designs, 19-inch as standard and 20-inch as options.

But, as you might expect, the interior is really where it’s all going on with six seats spread across three rows, with individual captain’s chairs in the middle row.

Nappa leather is standard on all models and covers just about every surface you can find, including the drive selector, and there’s Ultrasuede for the headliner.

Both front seats come equipped with 12-way adjustability as well as heating, ventilation, and pneumatic massage functions, so your chauffeur needn’t miss out on the action. Twin panoramic windows across the front and rear seats, with electronic sun blinds included, let plenty of light into the cabin.

In the centre you’ll find a 15.4-inch screen powered by the Snapdragon 8155 chip. It’s every bit as slick and attractive as you’d hope, populated in China at least with a bunch of native social media and streaming apps, as well as a functional 3D model of the car which can be rotated and clicked on to open and close doors and windows and the like.

We’ll have to wait a little longer to find out details of the Australian specification, as well as warranty and servicing arrangements.

The 2024 Zeekr 009 comes with a one-piece die-casted aluminium rear-end and something Zeekr calls a ‘10-chamber’ side impact beam to protect the battery.

The 009 has not been officially tested by either the Chinese or European safety authorities, but all other models on Geely’s SEA platform – including the Zeekr X – have achieved maximum five-star ratings so far, so you’d very much expect the same here.

There’s a full suite of airbags, including two front and two front side airbags, plus two 70-litre front-to-rear air curtains which stay 100 per cent inflated for six seconds in case of a rollover or secondary collision.

The 009 also comes with the usual package of ESP, ABS, EBD, hill start assist and hill descent control, plus an anti-rollover system.

In theory, it should be a pretty difficult car to lose control of, with cornering brake control, intelligent anti-skid-distributed traction control and intelligent brake assist all on board, and in practice it’s exactly that.

In addition to our road test, we also recently had the chance to let loose on the Ningbo International Race circuit and, somewhat surprisingly, the 009 was perhaps the most stable of all the Zeekr EVs we drove on the day in wet conditions, offering bags of confidence.

There’s also a bunch of other intelligent assistance features, including adaptive cruise control, lane centring control, automatic lane change assist, front and rear collision mitigation and warning systems, and blind spot assist as well.

In short, you’re pretty much covered all ends up.

In addition to the 15.4-inch infotainment screen at the front, the 2024 Zeekr 009 features a 15.6-inch screen that folds down from the roof in the back.

It’s either touch-screen or can be operated by a small remote control and provides the full entertainment package you’ll find in the front.

Support comes from an excellent 20-speaker Yamaha sound system, with 14-speakers dotted around the car, plus two each in the driver’s seat and second row head restraints.

For easy parking there’s a 360-degree camera function with transparent chassis, and the high-level rearward facing camera can also be used as a rear-view mirror to mitigate some of the 5.2-metre length of the 009.

The 009 also comes equipped with a pair of Mobileye EyeQ5H 7nm chips, seven eight-megapixel HD cameras, four two-megapixel surround-view cameras and a 250-metre ultra-long-range millimetre-wave radar for autonomous highway driving on designated roads in China.

When it comes to power, the 2024 Zeekr 009 leaves every one of its rivals quite firmly in the dust with a 200kW electric motor on each axle, each with 343Nm of torque.

That’s enough to send the dual-motor/AWD 009 from 0-100km/h in just 4.5 seconds, and while that’s not exactly the point of people-movers, it’s certainly something to swing about in front of your golf buddies.

For comparison, the EQV 300 relies on a single e-motor that produces 150kW/365Nm, while the MIFA 9 musters 180kW/350Nm, also from a single-motor EV powertrain.

So there’s more than double the power in the 009.

If you’re under constant surveillance from the mafia, you know which one you’ll want to be whisked away in.

The 2024 Zeekr 009 comes with a choice of two pretty sizeable batteries, the smallest of which is a 116kWh ternary lithium pack capable of travelling 702km on a single charge, albeit on China’s CLTC cycle.

As such, it won’t achieve anything like that in reality so we’ll have to wait for more accurate WLTP figures when it lands here.

The larger battery pack is CATL’s Kirin unit, which at a whopping 140kWh will likely make it the largest battery available in Australia.

With a claimed range of 822km, again on CLTC, it comes about as close as anything on these shores to replicating the range of a petrol-powered equivalent.

We don’t have charging times for the larger of the two batteries but the smaller pack will recharge from 10-80 per cent in a claimed 28 minutes using a DC fast-charger. Not the fastest out there but then it is a bit of a unit.

Bear in mind, the 2025 Zeekr 009 will likely see an upgrade to an 800-volt electrical system, so if we do end up with that one, these numbers should improve significantly.

Magic carpet is a term often reserved for the likes of a Rolls-Royce or Bentley, yet the 2024 Zeekr 009 more than lives up to that description.

Boasting dual-chamber air suspension on each corner, the 009 glides over just about anything you can throw at it, even really broken roads, which comes with upsides and downsides.

The upside is that no matter what seat you choose, and let’s be honest you’ll more likely than not be in the back, you’re in for one of the most plush and comfortable experiences available in any car, period.

On the flipside, much like a magic carpet tends to float about, so too does the 009, so if your driver is a little spirited on those hairpin bends, you may find it a little too much.

That’s something you’ll feel much more in those glorious captain’s chairs in the rear than from the driver’s seat, because up front the 009 is a genuinely pleasing car to drive.

At just under three tonnes it’s a hefty beast, but you wouldn’t guess that from the way it drives.

While it shifts faster than anything else like it, the 009 does not have the aggressively sharp acceleration you find in many electric cars.

Equally, the steering is light enough to negate the weight of the car without being completely anonymous, and thanks to the balance of power across the axles and a few assistance systems to boot, it never feels anything less than rooted to the tarmac even under spirited driving.

Cavernous, plush and really rather lovely, particularly when decked out in the white leather and grey Ultrasuede headlining, which gives the 2024 Zeekr 009 an air of Scandinavian chic.

That makes sense since it was designed in Gothenburg, but it doesn’t share the same minimalism of a Swedish living room.

Instead, in every seat you’re graced with some tech, switches or screens to play with.

Sure, there’s the screens on the dash and hanging down from the roof, but there are a couple more in each sliding door. What at first glance appears to be a digital clock instead turns into ventilation controls for the rear occupants with a swipe up or down.

No, it’s not quite the four-zone climate control of a Lexus LM, but it’s a neat way to change the temperature and fan speed. Alongside these, you have capacitive controls for the rear windows, both sides included on each door, and one for the rear electric sun blind, too.

We could write a whole section about the captain’s chairs on their own, but in short they’re essentially first-class ‘Sofaro’ seats, complete with 12 layers of cushioning, heating, ventilation and 10-point backrest massage functions.

Plus, there are fold-out Nappa leather-coated tray tables in the middle arm rests.

Slide back the outer arm rest and you’ll find controls to activate all of the above comfort functions, plus one-touch controls to go into upright or fully reclined modes complete with extending leg rests.

One thing we are missing is wireless chargers, but each seat gets a pair of cup holders, another bottle holder and a 60W USB-C socket for your phone.

The front seats, in contrast, get a single 15W wireless charger without ventilation between them, which is a bit of a letdown.

And of course we can’t forget the third row. Those second-row captain’s chairs come on 1.1-metre-long rails, which means getting into the third row is a doddle as they gracefully slide forward to reveal a large entry.

Once inside, there’s plenty of shoulder-room since this is only a six-seater, decent enough legroom and foot space, and you can fold the backrests down totally flat, not that you’ll want to.

There’s also USB-C sockets and a phone holder back there, plus a button to adjust the roof-mounted vent angle.

The 009 has double glazing all around, including the third-row windows, so it’s whisper-quiet on the move.

For afters, there’s also a small frunk and a large enough cargo area out back for a glut of suitcases, though no exact figures with all the seats up.

As far as premium people-movers go, the 2024 Zeekr 009 fits the bill. Not only is it fully electric for a beautifully quiet ride, it’s stupendously quick should you need it, glides over any surface you can throw at it and is absolutely wonderful to spend time in.

If the price is right, it’s going to be an enormous thorn in the side of the LM and EQV. Sure, it’ll take some people a bit of convincing to believe anything coming out of China could be this luxurious, but those concerns will soon go away once you experience it.

Bear in mind, it’s got a chassis developed by an ex-Volvo and Saab guy and was designed by a team of more than 30 nationalities in Sweden.

For some, it’ll come down to looks and it’s fair to say that’s a divisive topic, even though the LM and the MIFA 9 have the same issue.

One thing’s for sure, the Zeekr 009 will stand out in the car park and your friends won’t much fancy getting out once they’ve got in.

A curious launch car it may be for the unknown Zeekr brand Down Under, but it sets one hell of a tone.

2024 Zeekr 009 at a glance:
Price: $135,000 est (plus on-road costs)
Available: Second half 2024
Powertrain: Two asynchronous electric motors
Output: 400kW (front motor: 200kW/343Nm; rear: 200kW/343Nm)
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 116kWh/140kWh lithium-ion
Range: 702/822km (CLTC)
Energy consumption: To be confirmed
Safety rating: Not tested