2026 Zeekr 7X Performance – What's The Catch?

It helps to know this brand hasn't really come out of nowhere, even if it feels like it has. Zeekr sits under the Geely umbrella, the same group that owns Volvo, Polestar and Lotus. That sophistication and know-how has clearly filtered through. You're not buying into something built from scratch — you're buying into an established base, with the same NZ dealer network that handles those other brands. That matters, and we'll come back to it.

EXTERIOR – A EUROPEAN-LOOKING CHINESE EV 

Styling is subjective, but the 7X is one of the more European-looking of the new wave of Chinese EVs — which makes sense, given it's designed and headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The standout feature up front is what we kept calling the "Robocop visor" — a piano-black strip that's a different colour to the body and gives the car a sort of robotic-police-officer face. It doesn't strictly need to be there, but it actually serves a purpose. In China it's part of a "Stargate" system, where you can adjust lights (and messages) along that black strip from inside the car. Over here, New Zealand's regulatory bodies said a firm no, so it's switched off. The visor then carries along the side into little clusters called "tech zones" where Zeekr groups the sensors and cameras.

The rear is our favourite angle — even though it's arguably the most generic. It's the now-familiar minimalist back end with a thin light bar, but Zeekr's particular execution of it works really well. The badging-as-logo up on the glass is subtle and understated, which sums up the whole car: not shouty, not garish, not over-styled. A nice mesh of subtle European luxury and Chinese tech.

The one styling gripe is rearward visibility — the overhang on the spoiler makes the view out the back window quite narrow.

But in terms of styling overall — no catch. So far, so good.

THE DOORS – LOVE IT AND HATE IT 

The automatic doors deserve their own section, because they're the most polarising thing about the car. When it works, it's lovely. Hold a toddler in one arm, press the button, and the rear door opens almost 90 degrees. Smooth. Quiet. Easy. What a dream. 

But you'll also get tripped up by it more often than you'd like. The doors will sometimes stop for no reason (especially on an incline). If you’re in a rush, waiting for them to open can be a pain.

Of course, you can take over and do it the ancient way at any moment — using your arms. And credit where it’s due, the sensors ensure the doors never hit anything. 

It's not a love-it-or-hate-it feature. It's a love-it-AND-hate-it feature — you'll have moments of both.

INTERIOR – SOFT, OPULENT, CLOUD-LIKE

Step inside and the theme continues — minimalist, big central screen, nothing fighting for your attention. But the materials are the story here. They're very high quality, everything feels solid, and nothing rattles or moves when you give it a shake. It's luxuriant in a way that makes you want to take a long road trip. Calm, inviting, relaxing — like being inside a cloud, helped along by the two-tone cream colourway from our tester.

This is a cabin you'd happily sit in while it's stationary. Charging for 20 or 30 minutes suddenly sounds quite pleasant.

The seats are massaging, heated, ventilated, and coated in soft nappa leather. The 21-speaker sound system is excellent. There's a kid-cam that's a great feature, with one caveat: it only works for front-facing children, so rear-facing babies and toddlers are out of luck. There are electric sunblinds in the rear. An electric sunblind for the panoramic sunroof. Bells and whistles galore.

Practicality is a strong suit too. Rear legroom is enormous, as-is headroom. A rear-facing toddler seat slotted straight in without needing to move the front passenger seat at all. The boot is good too, but not endless — a folded large stroller wouldn't quite fit lengthways. You can recline the rear seats, but you can't slide the whole row forward, which would've been a genuinely useful feature on that front. 

The only small nitpicks are that the A/C vents are tucked behind trim, which means controlling them has to be done via the screen. And although it has a few physical buttons under the screen, unfortunately none of them are for the climate control system.

The obvious comparison is the Tesla Model Y Performance, which lands at roughly the same ~$95k money. This is where Zeekr shines. Tesla's interiors have come a long way and are genuinely nice now, but the 7X feels a whole step up in terms of quality and ambience.

Again — on the inside, no real catch. Nothing here sets off alarm bells.

PERFORMANCE & DRIVING – PROPER, STOMACH-IN-YOUR-THROAT QUICK 

The headline party trick is the launch, and it delivers. We recorded 3.72 seconds to 100km/h — quicker than the claimed 3.8 — with two of us aboard. That's hurts-your-stomach fast. Almost more impressive is the 80–100km/h roll-on, which pins you back almost as hard as from a stop. With around 475kW on tap, this is a ton of power.

But straight-line shove is the easy part for any high-power EV. What matters day-to-day is the throttle tuning, and here it's practically flawless — never jerky, never twitchy, clearly tuned for a luxury feel rather than a hardcore sports car. It's got a foot in both camps, mind: a little dash off the line and it'll embarrass 90% of what's around it.

It's not just straight lines, either. With the weight down low and evenly distributed, it feels much lighter than it actually is through corners. You don't get a ton of road feel through the wheel — but that's standard fare for a premium EV, so no marks against it.

The one small nitpick is the ride. For a car on air suspension, it could be a little softer over potholes and sharp edges — you do feel a small shudder through the body. It's not bad, but it's not the magic-carpet float of some other premium SUVs.  

CHARGING & TECH – THE 800V ADVANTAGE 

The 800V architecture is a real selling point. You can charge at up to 22kW on AC at home — where most EVs top out around 11kW — though you'll need the right wall box to hit those speeds. DC charging is rapid too. There's vehicle-to-load, so you can run appliances off the car. And here's a fun one: in China, this comes with a fridge in the centre console. We don't get it in New Zealand, but apparently you can buy the part and fit it yourself. We make no promises about what that does to your battery usage or warranty.

VERDICT – SO WHAT'S THE CATCH? 

After spending time on it — the outside, the inside, the driving — we struggled to fault it. So we forced ourselves to come up with the catch, and landed on three candidates.

The first is the new-brand risk. How do you get it serviced? What if it breaks down? But the fact it shares a dealer network with Volvo, Lotus and Polestar gives it a credible, established base here in New Zealand.  

The second is price. The all-wheel-drive Performance commands about $95k, which is getting up there. There are European brands in that bracket — but the 7X typically outguns and outperforms them, whether in straight-line pace, features, luxury, or all three. So the price is defensible too.

So the only genuine thing that stopped us in our tracks — literally — is the door system. Sometimes that soft, automatic, chauffeur-style opening is wonderful. But when it doesn't work, you have to stop and think, then act. Sounds trivial, but if you don’t have automatic doors you never have to think.

And if that's the worst we can say about a car this complete as a package, then the Zeekr 7X is one of the most compelling EVs on sale in New Zealand right now. Do yourself a favour and go and look at one in the flesh.