We took a drive down to Penang in the all-electric Zeekr 009 MPV to see what it was all about.
Earlier this week, we were invited by Zeekr Malaysia to journey to Penang from KL in their all-new, all-electric MPV, the Zeekr 009. We first saw the 009 at the brand launch late last year and we’ve been excited to see what this vehicle was like on long haul journeys. Needless to say, this test drive was the best case scenario – we had fellow motoring journalists driving us part of the way down, allowing us to try out the many rear-seat amenities.
Here’s what you should know about the Zeekr 009 in general – this is squarely targeted at the upper tier of Alphard and Vellfire buyers. In fact, I’d daresay it targets those with aspirations to own a Lexus LM too.
There are two variants with identical performance specifications but differing seating layouts – 7-seater or 6-seater.
The 7-seater variant comes with 2-2-3 seating configuration. The middle row here has individual seats that are just narrow enough for a gap between the seats, enabling movement to and from the third row. The third row in this configuration has a 60:40 split with an armrest down the middle and an additional seatbelt. While it would be a bit of a squeeze to put three adults in the back, it doesn’t feel like the ‘neglected’ row. Even the headrests here are plush and with supportive ‘wings’.
The 6-seater variant goes for a 2-2-2 seating configuration. Here the middle row is really prioritized. The individual seats extremely wide with thicker padding, more compartments and better button layouts. The rear seats here are also sculpted specifically for two. There isn’t a central armrest or headrest. Our experience with the Zeekr 009 was primarily in this variant of the car, so that’s where we’ll focus our energy.
Great Use Of Material
The first thing that struck me upon entering the vehicle was the use of materials. No surface is neglected in the 009. Where there is hard plastic, it is finely textured.
Where there is trim, it is intricately patterned. Any surface your hands may graze has been covered in either Alcantara, leather or some velvety material.
In any other car, plastic materials feel plastic. Here, the plastic used on parts like the rear remote control feel absolutely high quality, both in construction and in surface treatment.
It’s clear this was a lovingly thought-out interior and they have the resources to ensure impeccable craftsmanship. The soft nappa leather surfaces are particularly exquisite with perfect contrast stitching and some interesting perforation patterns to add character to the otherwise black interior.
Digital/Physical Divide
The next thing that struck me was the mix of physical, touch-capacitive and pure digital controls. There are a LOT of functions in this MPV. I’m glad that not every single one is hidden behind a digital menu. However I do think there’s a bit of a learning curve to discovering certain functions.
The climate control at the rear requires you to interact with a digital clock in the door card or pull out the remote control, deploy the screen and then look for appropriate menu item.
All this fuss where a simple physical set of buttons would do the job? It feels like we’ve gone backwards.
That being said, all seat adjustments, including heating, ventilation and massage, have physical controls.
Touch-capacitive interfaces include controls for the rear powered windows, rear door locks, and sunshade, as well as the fridge controls.
If you’re in the front, just about every meaningful interface is digital except a few core controls pertaining to the hazard light, gear selection, stalk-mounted controls and steering wheel-mounted controls.
I personally am not a fan of this approach. It forces the drive to look away from the road to adjust drive modes, temperature, fan speed, media settings, and to cycle between views. Even steering column and side mirror adjustments are hidden in a submenu in typical Geely fashion. We’re not a fan of this pure-digital approach for the driver and hope Zeekr can return a few more core functions back to physical switches in a future revision.
Tech-Luxury
The Zeekr brand philosophy is to marry technology with luxury. In the case of the 009, we see exactly where the strengths of this philosophy are. The Zeekr team has been able to create a handful of meaningful and unique experiences. A lot of these are centred around the incredible 30-speaker Yamaha sound-system, which includes headrest-mounted speakers and some in the ceiling too.
Two standout features are the ability to create isolated zones for audio, so the driver can listen to his own relatively decent audio through the headrest, while the rest of the cabin gets their own sound. Otherwise the rear 17″ OLED infotainment system has its own unique Bluetooth address, allowing rear passengers to isolate their audio completely – ideal for watching movies or taking video calls.
On the note of video calls, there’s a wide angle camera for rear passengers and this can be blocked off with a simple magnetic flap.
The second standout feature is the Intelligent sound shield, which masks voices in the rear from the driver. We tried this out and it really does work very effectively by channeling inverse sound waves and other white noise (as well as some sounds of nature) through the driver’s headrest speakers. This makes the Zeekr 009 the only car for sharing private information or conducting confidential business meetings on the move in.
Being tech-focused, attention has been paid to the responsiveness of displays and to the availability of charging ports. There’s a wide selection of USB-C ports, with at least 3 of them capable of keeping a modern Macbook juiced up while editing videos.
Drive Quality
There are plenty of large MPV options on the market and a handful are electric. The Zeekr 009 sets itself apart by targeting the absolutely pinnacle of what’s achievable today in the segment. You get a dual motor AWD set-up capable of launching this behemoth from 0-100km/h in just 4.5 seconds, but chances are you’ll never have to call upon that kind of power here. In case you do, the adaptive damping does a really good job managing things. That being said, by default the vehicle is a little bit too softly sprung and we’d recommend moving the damping to the sport or normal setting rather than all-out comfort.
Ultimately, the way the 009 drives is entirely appropriate to its intended use case. It has enough power to work like a bullet train, sending VIPs to and from their intended destination at full speed, it has a large enough battery with close to 500km of real-world, high-speed range to carry out interstate drives without stopping to charge.
It’s naturally yatch-like in its drive character at low-to-medium speeds, allowing passengers to relax in comfort. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to fully recline in a vehicle and have full on REM sleep before the Zeekr 009. My only complaint would be that the retractable blinds don’t do a good enough job of shutting out the Malaysian sunlight. I would advise any buyer to heavily tint the rear glass or keep some sleep masks in the car.
Conclusions
Honestly, the Zeekr 009 is in a class of its own. It has presence, it drives appropriately for its class, the tech is cutting edge and well thought out. Our complaints are minimal and perhaps even subjective if you embrace touch interfaces. We were told by representatives of Zeekr Malaysia that many customers have opted not to trade in or sell their Alphards for the 009, instead keeping a spare ICE vehicle ‘just in case’.
In our real world experience, charging during a KL-Penang trip is optional. 3 out of 5 of the 009 MPVs made it to Batu Feringgi with about 100km of range to spare. The 2 that were charged could have made it too, but it would have been a lot closer to 50km left – the danger zone where range anxiety exists.
