Luxury SUV is Zeekr’s first hybrid and sits on the 900-volt SEA-S platform boasting three motors and closed dual-chamber air suspension.
The Zeekr 9X has been revealed as the world’s first 900-volt hybrid and will boast a 380km electric range and 6C charging when it goes on sale later this year.
The details were released as part of the Zeekr 9X Tech event which focused on the model’s innovative platform and drivetrain, extensive ADAS equipment, and comprehensive safety features, before revealing some details of the interior.
Assuming the role of flagship SUV in Zeekr’s line-up when it goes on sale later this year, the 9X will be built on the SEA-S platform, a 900-volt performance variant of the SEA platform that underpins all Zeekr models, becoming Zeekr’s first hybrid in the process.
It has been dubbed the Hangzhou Bay Cullinan in reference to its resemblance to the boldness and proportions of Rolls-Royce’s large SUV, a car Zeekr wasn’t afraid to compare the 9X to during a video at the event.
The 9X will feature the world’s most powerful hybrid engine, a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol unit producing 145kW (194hp) of power with thermal efficiency of 46 percent, which Zeekr claims is more efficient than some 1.5-litre hybrid rivals.
As well as charging the battery, the engine can support in driving the wheels, contributing to a peak power delivery of 1,030 kW (1,381hp) together with three electric motors, one on the front axle and two on the rear, propelling the 9X to 100kph in just 3.1 seconds.
It will feature the largest battery we’ve yet seen in a hybrid, a 70kWh battery capable of charging at a 6C rate, or from 20-80% in just nine minutes, and 10-80% in less than 11 minutes.
While Zeekr didn’t confirm any details on the total range, they have already confirmed that the 9X will get as much as 380km of electric-only range, the most of any hybrid on the market today.
Zeekr says the 9X will be the world’s first SUV with closed chamber air suspension and dual-valve CCD electromagnetic shock observers, which aim to give the 9X the ride quality of the most expensive cars on sale today.
The air suspension on the 9X is adjustable by as much as 110mm and gives a maximum ground clearance of 288mm, and has been chosen for its ability to lift faster than pneumatic air suspension.
In addition, the 9X gains a 48V active stabiliser bar, the first-ever utilised on a Chinese car, which improves stability during high-speed cornering, virtually eradicating any body roll and enabling the decoupling of the left and right wheels of the car to keep the body stable.
It features a lifting torque of 1,400Nm and can lift one side of the car by 80mm in just 200 milliseconds, which Zeekr demonstrated in a video that highlighted how the car reacts to an imminent side impact, lifting the ride height instantly to elevate the point of impact and put more of the impact on the sills rather than the doors.
In addition, the 9X utilises its many sensors, including no fewer than five lidar units, and the adjustable suspension, to offer as many as 10 all-terrain driving modes with Zeekr targeting the off-road capabilities of a Range Rover.
The same suite also gives the 9X particularly strong crosswind assist, which enables the car to stay almost on the same line when impacted by gale force winds in excess of 28 metres-per-second, as demonstrated above.
Zeekr is promising exceptional strength from the 9X’s bod, with the standard gigacasted front and rear assemblies from other Zeekrs enhanced by ultra-high strength steel (2,000MPa) side and roof panels die-casted C- and D-pillar segments that increase torsional stiffness by 12.5% and reduce rear impact deformation by 16%.
The roof section, in particular, can sustain a weight of over 11-tonnes, or as much as 4.2 times the weight of the 9X itself, with the whole body boasting a 41,600Nm/deg torsional rigidity.
Zeekr expects the 9X to comfortably achieve a 5-star EuroNCAP rating and claims it has been tested to 105kph.
Following the announcement of Geely’s multi-level ADAS platforms earlier this year, the Zeekr 9X will be the first to take advantage of the top-level H9 system, which in the 9X manifests itself in the form of twin NVIDIA Thor-U chips, with a combined processing power of 1,400TOPS, and no fewer than five lidar units.
Of these five, one is a 520-line long-range unit capable seeing 300-metres ahead of the car, and four high-precision unit giving a 360-degree view around the car, with two of those also capable of looking up and down to perceive obstacles above and below the car, such as hidden ledges.
All of these give the 9X level-3 autonomous driving capability, although not legally the ability to use it since the industry is still awaiting such licences to be issued by the relevant authorities.
That would mean it can do end-to-end autonomous driving, from parking space to parking space, and enabling the driver to depart the vehicle so it can then go in pursuit of parking spaces.
There’s no word yet on when the 9X will be officially launched, nor any idea of the price, but deposit order books are now open with the 9X receiving 10,000 orders within two hours of the end of the conference.
