Image Credit: Captain Electro.
I've long suspected the engineers in China have been dipping their tea into something a bit stronger than hot water. And today, I have found the proof. It's called the Zeekr 8X, and it is completely barking mad. On the outside it's a sensible family SUV designed for the school run. There's just one problem with it - someone decided it needed the power of a small sun and the acceleration of a panicked Usain Bolt.
Under that sleek, shiny skin sits a triple-motor setup that produces a humongous 1,030 kW. For those of you who don't speak "electro-babble," that is roughly 1,381 horsepower. In a hybrid family SUV! It's got a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine too, just in case you felt the electric motors weren't doing enough heavy lifting. Why would anyone need nearly 1,400 horses to go buy a loaf of bread? I haven't the foggiest idea, but I absolutely love it.
Image Credit: Autohome.
If you pin your ears back and mash the pedal, the triple-motor version will rocket you from 0 to 62 mph in 2.96 seconds - that's fast enough to swap your kidneys with your lungs and make you forget your own middle name. Even the "slow" dual-motor version does it in 3.7 seconds, which is still faster than most things with four wheels and a license plate. It's a braw bit of kit if you enjoy scaring your passengers half to death.
Usually, these big electric contraptions take an age to charge, leaving you stuck at a service station eating soggy sandwiches. Not this one. The 8X uses a 900V high-voltage system that is cleverer than a Border Collie. It can juice up from 20% to 80% in about nine minutes. You barely have time to grab a coffee and a wee snack before it's ready to go again. This mad beastie offers a combined range of 880 miles, which means you could drive from New York to South Carolina without stopping for anything other than a bathroom break. Of course - if only New York was in China…
Image Credit: Autohome.
All this tech comes with a bit of "heft." This isn't exactly a light, nimble dancer. The Zeekr 8X is a massive unit, stretching 200.8 inches long and 78.7 inches wide. It's actually 6.5 inches longer than a BMW X5. And the weight? It tips the scales at over 6,173 lbs. That's a small, but very fast house. To keep all that weight from flying off the road, it uses an AI-controlled digital chassis. I've been told the whole setup feels like having a tiny, digital racing driver living in the trunk, making sure you don't end up in a hedge.
The interior is a proper posh lounge. You can have it with five or six seats, and the trunk is massive - 40 cubic feet of space, or 77.7 cubic feet if you fold the seats down. That's enough room for a cow, though I wouldn't recommend trying it. You also get a 29-speaker Naim sound system. I don't think I even know twenty-nine people I'd want to listen to at once, let alone speakers.
Image Credit: IT-home.
The tech list is even more ridiculous. This car has 43 sensors and five LiDAR units sticking out of it like it's expecting an alien invasion. It's powered by dual Nvidia Drive Thor-U chips, which I'm told are very smart. It basically has more computing power than the Apollo moon missions. Essentially, you're buying a supercomputer just to play Solitaire, but hey, if you've got the chips, why not use them?
The best part? The price. Pre-sales in China have started at just $54,609. For a car with nearly 1,400 horsepower and more gadgets than a whole fleet of cars in a Bond movie, that is an absolute steal. It's cheaper than many German SUVs that have half the power and twice the boredom. This mad, and slightly terrifying piece of engineering proves the future of EVs is about having a right laugh while saving our planet. Apparently.
Image Credit: Zeekr.
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