CarBrandLogos archive · Zeekr · 2021

Zeekr001

A concept car sold almost unchanged, in the shape nobody else would build.

Photo: User3204 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Zeekr history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Zeekr 001, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The 001 began life as the Lynk & Co Zero Concept, shown in 2020, and Geely liked it enough to build a whole brand around it. Zeekr was launched in 2021 as the group's premium electric marque, and the production 001 kept the concept's proportions almost intact: a low five-door shooting brake, styled by Chris Chen, with frameless doors and a very long wheelbase — a body style the industry had generally decided was commercially hopeless.

Zeekr 001 · User3204 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

Underneath is Geely's Sustainable Experience Architecture, the same skateboard platform used by Polestar and Smart, with a rear motor or dual motors and, in the extreme 001 FR, four motors driving a wheel each with a tank-turn capability. Air suspension is standard on most versions, and later revisions moved the car to an 800-volt system with substantially faster charging.

Zeekr 001 interior · User3204 · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

Zeekr used the 001 to make two arguments at once: that a Chinese brand could sell at genuinely premium prices at home, and that it could build a car interesting enough to be worth exporting. It became the brand's volume model, went on sale across Europe and the Middle East, and its battery technology — including a self-developed pack and later CATL's fastest chemistry — has been the company's main technical calling card.

Zeekr 001 facelift 003 · JustAnotherCarDesigner · CC0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2021–present

Designer

Chris Chen

Body

5-door shooting brake

Technical specification

The 001, in detail.

Production: October 2021 – present
Class: Executive car (E)
Body style: 5-door shooting brake
Layout: Rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout; Rear-motor, rear-wheel drive ; Dual-motor, all-wheel-drive; Dual-motors, all-wheel-drive ; Dual-motor, all-wheel-drive; Quad-motors four-wheel drive, Individual wheel drive (001 FR)
Transmission: 1-speed direct-drive
Designer: Chris Chen
Assembly: China: Ningbo
Manufacturer: Zeekr (Geely Auto)