ZEEKR on mission to help Geely fulfill premium NEV dream

On March 23, 2021, Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (“Geely Automobile”) entered into a framework with its unlisted parent, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (“Geely Holding”), to form a joint venture engaging in the R&D, purchase, and sale of intelligent electric vehicles (“EVs”) under the ZEEKR brand and the provision of relevant services.

The signing of the framework indicated that the Chinese biggest privately owned automaker resolved to gain a seat in China’s premium new energy vehicle (“NEV”) domain with an indigenous brand.

Prior to the birth of ZEEKR, there had been several marques in Geely's NEV portfolio, including Geometry, Polestar, and Maple etc. However, ZEEKR would play a different role.

In November 2015, Geely Auto Group announced its ambitious new energy initiative, Blue Geely, which was expected to see Geely’s focus shift from traditional combustion engine technologies to NEV sales and development. As part of the initiative, the automaker wished that NEVs would account for 90% of its annual vehicle sales by 2020.

In March 2021, the automaker announced the Blue Geely Initiative had evolved into two action plans. The first would focus on developing intelligent ultra-efficient hybrid powertrain solutions, while the second one would be dedicated to the development of smart all-electric technologies, which had resulted in the launch of the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) and the premium EV brand ZEEKR.

Geely Holding's business division & brand portfolio; photo credit: Geely Holding

The redesigned path underscores ZEEKR's strategic significance to Geely. According to the business division and brand portfolio displayed by Geely Holding, ZEEKR Intelligent Technology, the operating entity of ZEEKR, serves as an independent PV unit parallel with Geely Auto Group, which holds brands of Geely Auto, LYNK & CO, Geometry, and PROTON.

The idea of launching ZEEKR did not appear out of nowhere. Instead, when the brand was unveiled, an independent factory and relevant supply chain had already been well prepared.

1st ZEEKR 001 rolling off production line; photo credit: ZEEKR

Thanks to the sufficient preparation works, ZEEKR was able to rapidly push ahead with its development:

On April 15, 2021, ZEEKR launched its first production model, the ZEEKR 001, at the ZEEKR Intelligent Factory in Hangzhou Bay, Ningbo city, Zhejiang province.

On April 19, 2021, ZEEKR made its debut at the Auto China with an independent booth and kicked off presale of the ZEEKR 001.

On June 25, 2021, ZEEKR’s global headquarters settled down in Ningbo.

On October 19, 2021, the first-production-ready ZEEKR 001 rolled off the production line.

On October 23, 2021, the batch delivery of the ZEEKR 001 commenced through ZEEKR Experience Centers and ZEEKR Spaces.

Hitting roads by ZEEKR 001

The ZEEKR 001 is the production version of the LYNK & CO Zero Concept unveiled in 2020. Positioned as a “luxury hunting coupe”, the model measures 4,970mm long, 1,999mm wide, 1,560mm long with a wheelbase that spans 3,005mm. Offered in three trim levels, the ZEEKR 001 is currently priced between 299,000-386,000 yuan ($44,425-57,350). Regarding the position and price range, it is hard to find a precise benchmark for the ZEEKR 001.

ZEEKR 001; photo credit: ZEEKR

The ZEEKR 001 does epitomize ZEEKR's development philosophy in products. It is the first production model to ride on Geely Holding’s SEA platform, which can greatly help reduce vehicle development period and R&D costs. The SEA will be used in ZEEKR’s future models as well.

Besides, the use of the SEA also attracts customers with constant over-the-air (“OTA”) updates. ZEEKR pushed its first major OTA upgrade to the ZEEKR 001 on February 12, 2022, advancing the ZEEKR OS to the 1.1.1 version. The 2.0 version came online on March 23. According to An Conghui, CEO of ZEEKR Intelligent Technology, the premium EV maker will provide another three OTA upgrades this year.

ZEEKR develops its own battery technologies, battery management systems, electric motor technologies and electric vehicle supply chain support. Thus, the power and battery performances are at the core of ZEEKR 001’s highlights. The e-motors used on the front and rear axles offer a maximum output of 400kW, delivering up to 768 N·m of torque. It can run at a top speed of 200km/h, whilst achieving 0-100km/h acceleration within just 3.8 seconds. Under extreme braking conditions, 100km/h-0 needs only 34.5 meters. The 100kWh Z-Battery can offer a NEDC-rated range of 712km and be charged from 10% to 80% of its capacity within 30 minutes.

Charging network

To ensure that all ZEEKR vehicles on the road can be timely and sufficiently charged, the carmaker launched a sub-brand, ZEEKR Power, to form an energy network composed of large charging stations.

ZEEKR Power charging station; photo credit: ZEEKR

The first stations under ZEEKR Power went live in Hangzhou in September 2021, offering three types of charging methods: extreme charging, super charging, and light charging. Notably, the extreme charging pile can give a ZEEKR 001 a range boost of 120km after just five-minute 360kW DC charging.

By the end of 2021, ZEEKR had launched 290 own-brand charging stations, which consisted of around 2,800 charging piles, according to An Conghui. He added that the cumulative charging station volume is expected to hit 8,200 by 2025, which are composed of about 80,000 charging piles. Besides, ZEEKR's charging map will have access to the third-party public charging network with the plug-and-play capability.

Sales channels

ZEEKR uses the direct sales approach to sell its cars, meaning that all its sales and delivery centers are owned by ZEEKR Intelligent Technology and all sales representatives are directly under its payroll. Both online platforms and offline sales outlets serve as the backbone of ZEEKR's sales channels.

ZEEKR opened a total of 69 experience and delivery centers in 2021 alone, and another 250 centers are expected to be deployed this year, said An Conghui.

Sales and product roll-out targets

By virtue of the direct sale network, the ZEEKR 001's cumulative deliveries reached 20,000 units on May 28, 2022.

ZEEKR aims to deliver 70,000 vehicles in 2022, accounting for 4.2% of Geely Automobile’s annual sales target. The brand expects to see around 650,000 vehicles sold annually by 2025.

A total of six ZEEKR models are planned in three years, according to An Conghui. As for the plan for this year, a new sporty version of the ZEEKR 001 and an all-new MPV model will be put into the market.

Intelligent factory

Speaking of how to produce cars, the young premium EV brand built an EV-dedicated plant before its official launch, instead of working with a contract manufacturer or using revamped oil-fueled car production lines. Located in Hangzhou Bay, the ZEEKR Intelligent Factory features an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.

ZEEKR intelligent factory; photo credit: ZEEKR

According to Geely Holding, the factory carries highly advanced vehicle manufacturing facilities thanks to an industrial-grade 5G+ intelligent internet system that allows production to be planned, tracked and checked in a fully transparent manner. Such areas as welding section are highly automated with over 300 robots handling the work.

In addition, the production process at the ZEEKR factory is capable of continuous self-optimization to ensure products’ quality. For instance, the welding line adopts the intelligent adaptive system for welding control and the monitoring systems such as online measurement and ultrasonic self-inspection to continually improve the welding process.

Financing milestone

ZEEKR obtained its first external funding only five months after the brand was announced.

According to Geely Automobile's announcement, ZEEKR Intelligent Technology entered into an agreement on August 27, 2021 with five investors, who agreed to purchase a total of 126,470,585 Pre-A round preferred shares issued by ZEEKR, at a total consideration of $500 million.

The five investors include Intel Capital (a subsidiary of Intel Corporation), battery maker CATL, online entertainment firm Bilibili, private-equity firm Boyu Capital, and Cathay Fortune Corporation (“CFC”), which invests and operates assets in non-ferrous metal sector.

ZEEKR, like other global automakers, is striving to secure more chips, batteries, and raw materials to ramp up its vehicle production. Thus, it is reasonable to see Intel, CATL, and CFC join the investment.

Bilibili is an iconic brand and a leading video community for young generations in China. Its user base is in line with ZEEKR’s target at young and trendy consumers.

Main technology partnerships

ZEEKR has worked with a slew of tech companies to develop future products with higher intelligence level. Among the cooperative cases, the partnerships with Mobileye, RoboSense and Waymo drew attention of numerous industry insiders.

Mobileye, the self-driving technology subsidiary of Intel, announced in August 2021 the long-term partnership formed with ZEEKR to create ADAS systems for a variety of ZEEKR models. The strategic cooperation was further deepened in January 2022 as both parties planned to co-develop a new all-electric consumer vehicle model with Level 4 capabilities, which was expected for debut in 2024 in China.

On November 30, 2021, ZEEKR formed the strategic cooperation with the leading Chinese LiDAR provider RoboSense to co-explore the intelligent LiDAR system on vehicles.

In late December 2021, ZEEKR entered into the collaboration with Waymo on the development of a new pure electric vehicle for deployment in the Waymo One autonomous ride-hailing fleet in the U.S.