Article by CH_陈函

The era of electric MPV has arrived!

Following LanTu Dreamer and BYD Tang D9, another highly anticipated electric MPV – Zeekr 009 is here!

Last night, an unmasked spy photo of the new Zeekr MPV unexpectedly circulated on the Internet. Soon, this photo spread among various new energy vehicle enthusiast groups.

From the above picture, we can see that this photo was taken during the transportation process at the logistics station. From the quality of the picture and the angle of the shot, it should not be intentionally leaked by the manufacturer.

Despite the poor picture quality, there are still a wealth of new car details that can be seen:

1. The new car is named 009 and uses a family-style taillight permeating the tail design similar to that of Zeekr 001.

2. The rear of the car is square and looks huge, with a width exceeding 2 meters, a length exceeding 5 meters, and a height exceeding 1.8 meters.

3. The ground clearance is low and the tailgate opening is probably at the level of an adult man’s knee, indicating the convenience of getting in and out of the rear seat.

4. There is a large shark fin on the top of the car roof, which probably contains an auxiliary driving camera.

5. The wheel size visually should be 20 inches, and the wheel design is somewhat similar to the petal-shaped low wind-resistant wheels used by XPeng G9, but XPeng uses a 5-spoke design, while Zeekr 009 uses a 7-spoke design.

6. There is a decorative plate similar to the Toyota Alphard on the C-pillar.

7. There seems to be no charging port on the left rear fender, considering that there will be interference when the sliding door is opened, the charging port of Zeekr 009 may be at the front of the car.

8. The front fender position faintly shows an auxiliary driving camera looking back.

Perhaps because the quality of this spy photo is too poor, Zeekr officials urgently released two new car silhouette images today to highlight the high-end image of the new car and make it clear that the new car is named Zeekr 009.

The official silhouette images do not hide the dark details. By adjusting the brightness of the official images, we can see more details about Zeekr 009.

In terms of the front of the car, Zeekr 009 can be said to be “in the style of a Rolls-Royce”, with a square front end, straight hood, and chrome-plated decorative plate on the hood that easily reminds people of a Rolls-Royce, but upon closer inspection, it is not completely the same.

The family-style grille of Grid and Rolls-Royce’s “Paternon Temple” has a similar effect, but at this position, 32 independent illuminated groups are placed in extreme luxury 009, which can achieve a light curtain effect of “springs up like a spring”.

On both sides of the grille, we can also see the “vertical strip daytime running lights” of the extreme luxury family, while the real headlight group is hidden under the daytime running lights. The camera and millimeter-wave radar under the grille are faintly visible, but there is no lidar. Without accidents, The assistance driving hardware of the Extreme Luxury 009 should be the same as the Extreme Luxury 001.

Looking at the side view of the car, the design is relatively plain. From the appearance, Extreme Luxury 009 is not like the tall and slim Japanese MPV such as Toyota Alphard, its body is larger and the car height should be slightly shorter, and the body ratio is closer to Buick GL8. But compared with Buick GL8 and other fuel MPVs, its front suspension is obviously shorter, and the whole car presents a short front suspension and a long rear suspension posture.

In addition, we can also see that the through-type taillights extend to the side of the car body, enhancing the layering of the rear end. The wheel shown in this official picture is a spoke type, which is obviously different from the clear spy photos. Based on this speculation, the new car should have at least two types of wheel shapes to choose from.

About the interior of Extreme Luxury 009, spy photos have been leaked on the internet before. It can be seen that its interior design will continue the style of Extreme Luxury 001, and the shape of the steering wheel, center control screen, and shift lever is basically the same as that of Extreme Luxury 001.

The layout shown in the spy photos is a 6-seat layout, with independent aviation seats used in the second row, seat belts on the backrest of the seat, and large seat sizes with fixed armrests on both sides.

The side windows and rear windows of the third row are relatively large and should provide a good sense of openness. The side windows are also equipped with privacy glass, but no middle passage is left, so the second-row seats must be moved forward when entering and exiting the third row. As for whether there will be a 7-seat or 4-seat layout, there is no way to know for the time being.In terms of power, it was rumored that ZEEKR 009 considered both plug-in hybrid and pure electric power forms in the early stage of development, but the latest news indicates that it has given up plug-in hybrid and will only make pure electric vehicles. ZEEKR 009 will be based on the SEA Haohuan architecture and is officially referred to as the “world’s first luxury MPV developed with a pure electric architecture.”

As for why ZEEKR’s second car is named ZEEKR 009 instead of ZEEKR 002, the official explanation is:

Starting from zero, reaching the extremity with nine. “Nine” means “extreme” in Chinese culture, and ZEEKR 009 is breaking through the boundaries towards the extreme. With the native pure electric architecture, ZEEKR 009 will lead the luxury pure electric “new pole”.

With the successive appearance of the Voyah Dreamer, TEsla Model D9 and ZEEKR 009, we will soon usher in the second wave of MPV new car boom and enter a brand new era of electric MPV.

However, the first wave of MPV new car boom triggered by the two-child policy in 2015 did not stimulate the domestic MPV market. It remains to be seen whether this time, with the trend of electrification, it will succeed or repeat past failures.

We will continue to follow up with more information about ZEEKR 009.

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.