Recently, the MPV market has been very lively, and the self-proclaimed strongest pure electric MPV in the 500,000 yuan level – Zeekry 009 has finally arrived. To be honest, I am really looking forward to domestic MPVs being able to compete, so that those Japanese luxury MPVs will no longer be so superior, and Chinese consumers will not be forced to pay higher prices.

However, after watching the press conference, I have three doubts:

The first point is its appearance. The controversial front face of Zeekry 009 is not necessarily ugly, but I have to ask if the inspiration came from a stainless steel planing wire cutter? Maybe it’s just my aesthetics not being so high, but avant-garde design may also be a trend, but the recognition is indeed high. Taking a different approach may also be another way to go. When driving on the road, the look-back rate will definitely not be low.

The second point is that the press conference did not find the unique selling point of Zeekry 009. The product positioning is not very clear. It wants to cover as many application scenarios as possible, but the product design is not in place. At the same time, it wants to be suitable for home travel and business reception, and also full of driving passion. In the end, nothing will be captured. Especially the way to enter the third row. In practical business reception scenarios, does the boss wait under the car for related personnel to enter the third row first, and then wait for the second row seat to return to its position before getting on the car? It is said that this design is to maintain dignity, but when you think of the scene where the boss waits foolishly for the slide rail to return to its correct position while standing in front of the car door, it feels ridiculous.

The third point is the torsional rigidity of the body mentioned in the press conference. In the field of electric vehicles, it is not outstanding. The torsional rigidity of the body of the Jiuhu Alpha S under BAIC can reach 60,000 N·m/deg, while Zeekry’s data can only be said to be average.

Overall, the product strength of Zeekr 009 is not bad, but it cannot really overturn the MPV category.

To become an excellent pure electric MPV, Zeekr still has a long way to go. If users have requirements for such usage scenarios, I think they should wait a little longer.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.