The year 2024 is about to dawn, and the new energy automakers are rolling out one dazzling new model after another, as if in a coordinated effort. ZEEKR 007, officially launched on December 27th, is definitely one of the irresistible models among them.
For ZEEKR, launching the ZEEKR 007 is a significant self-breakthrough. After all, the ZEEKR 001, ZEEKR 009, and ZEEKR X previously launched by ZEEKR were all aimed at niche markets.
With ZEEKR 007, ZEEKR made a surprising raid on the mainstream market. What are ZEEKR’s considerations, Geely Holding Group’s president and ZEEKR Advanced Technologies CEO, An Conghui explained in an interview after the ZEEKR 007 launch.
Below is the interview content which we slightly edited without changing the original meaning.
Is the Quzhou Extreme Electric Factory, which produces golden brick batteries, ready for large orders?
The first phase of the Quzhou Extreme Electric Factory is planned for a capacity of 24 GWh, and currently, 12 GWh can be delivered, the remaining 12 GWh will begin bulk delivery next month. By March next year, the production capacity of the golden brick batteries will be fully released.
Why doesn’t ZEEKR 007 come with air suspension?
Without the use of air suspension, the handling of ZEEKR 007 can be the best in its class, providing users with a great handling experience. Additionally, for a midsize sedan like the ZEEKR 007, space is critical, and air suspension would take up significant space.
Every model ZEEKR produces comes with its own unique considerations and does not simply pile on features. The ZEEKR 007’s configuration is the most suitable for a midsize sedan we’ve determined through comprehensive consideration.
What’s the advantage of the ‘fiber crystal’ aluminum alloy in monolithic casting?
‘Fiber crystal’ has higher fluidity, resulting in a better consistency, stronger toughness, and yield strength after molding, improving more than 10%.
What does the full-stack in-house develelopment of intelligent driving system mean for ZEEKR?
Because of its in-house development, we’ve been able to launch a brand-new intelligent driving system in just about a year, with the advantage of independently controllable technology.
Will the collaboration with Mobileye continue? Will the intelligent driving features of ZEEKR 001 and ZEEKR 009 continue to evolve?
ZEEKR 001 and 009 use a cooperation program with Mobileye, and we will continue to increase R&D investment. I’ve been continuously in technical communication with Mobileye lately, jointly developing. The future intelligent driving system developed in cooperation with Mobileye won’t differ much from the ZEEKR’s self-developed intelligent driving system in terms of experience.
With ZEEKR 007 pricing the full range of 800V products between 200,000 and 300,000, is this a long-term strategy or a competitive strategy?It is certain to say that the ZEEKR’s 800V is a long-term strategy. From the establishment of the ZEEKR brand, charging stations and the whole vehicles have been promoted in sync, and our charging stations are super fast since the beginning, also known as extreme charging.
Is the ZEEKR 007 a retrofitted double-wishbone suspension?
This is the charm of SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture). Both double-wishbone and MacPherson can be realized by SEA. ZEEKR 007 initially used the double-wishbone scheme.
How to view the pure electric market next year? Will sales exceed the extended-range and plug-in hybrid market?
Let me simply share some data. In January 2023, the penetration rate of pure electricity was about 20%, and extended-range was about 10%; in the past November, pure electricity was about 25%, and extended-range was 12%. Thus, the pure electric market is basically twice as large as the extended-range plus hybrid market.
Both markets are growing rapidly, but why do they feel different? The reason is that the extended-range and plug-in hybrid markets are concentrated in a few companies, while more new energy companies are planning pure electric. With early planning, more players, and a more dispersed market.
Currently, the cost of lithium iron phosphate batteries has dropped significantly and the performance is continuously improving. Our “Gold Brick” Battery with a 75-degree electric charge can achieve a range of 688 kilometers. In my opinion, once an electric vehicle with a battery of more than 70 degrees can run over 650 kilometers, coupled with the fast charging speed of the current 800V, the range anxiety of consumers will drastically reduce.
With the reduction in battery costs, the cost difference between a 70-degree battery and a complete range extender system is becoming smaller and smaller, so in general, the pure electric market will continue to grow.
Moreover, from the user research we are currently conducting, about three-quarters of extended-range and PHEV users will choose pure electric if they change their cars. I believe that in 2024, when the players pull the 800V to between 200,000-300,000, it will greatly accelerate the penetration rate of the pure electric market.
Does ZEEKR have delivery pressure? Is the high-performance four-wheel drive version also delivered on January 1st?
Our biggest problem next is definitely delivery.
To tell the truth, the delivery of the high-performance four-wheel drive version will be a bit late. Some components of this version need to be customized, and even many imported parts, which will put some pressure on manufacturing and production.
From the supply of parts, scheduling, production to transportation, the delivery of the high-performance four-wheel drive version is estimated to be about half a month late, but we will accelerate as soon as possible.
Sales expectations for ZEEKR?
ZEEKR 007 entered the most mainstream medium-sized car market, and it still needs to be a leader and benchmark. We have great confidence in the car market.
Will there be a unified set of software and hardware architecture in different model versions in the future, or different software and hardware according to different models?
SEA Intelligent Drive is a full-stack self-developed intelligent driving system of ZEEKR, which is carried out in parallel with the intelligent driving system cooperatively developed by Mobileye. Both schemes are very important and will have a very good intelligent drive experience. We currently have no plan to fully switch to the self-developed system. ZEEKR has used the system cooperatively developed with Mobileye and will continue in the future.### What is the proportion of pure vision in the self-developed architecture? Is the lidar currently being validated or directly integrated into the post-processing?
I drive every day and have full confidence in the expansive smart drive, the delivered features are top-tier in the industry. Both BEV and Transformer technologies are live, network dependent may be slightly delayed, but have already demonstrated strong technical capabilities during internal testing.
Regarding the lidar version and the pure vision version without lidar, both schemes are being developed synchronously. The lidar scheme will significantly enhance its existence and safety. It’s not just for validation, the functionality is pretty much implemented, and features, similar to urban NGP and NOP, will be launched shortly.
From the above interview, it can be seen that ZEEKR has made its strength even stronger in building the product strength of ZEEKR 007, and filled up the weaknesses as much as possible. As for the future pure electric market of 200,000-300,000, ZEEKR has made sufficient research and mental preparation.
In the past, ZEEKR turned the niche ZEEKR 001 into a popular model. Now, facing the real mass market, ZEEKR has loaded its gun. The magnitude of firepower that can be released, we are eager to find out.
This article is a translation by AI of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.