Zeekr 007, BYD Sea Lion, XPeng X9 — Hot New Chinese Electric Vehicles

November 17, 2023November 18, 20235 months ago Zachary Shahan 0 Comments

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

Chinese automakers have been busting out the news today. Naturally, there’s a big auto show just getting underway in China — Auto Guangzhou 2023 — and hence the flurry of announcements. We have new EV news from Zeekr, BYD, and XPeng that I’m packaging all together here.

Zeekr 007

First of all, you have to give Zeekr props here for the naming choice. Using James Bond’s famous 007 takes bravery, and also requires a fun, high-tech, cool, compelling product in order to justify that bravery. The Zeekr 007 gets the job done. Before I get to the features of the electric car, though, this was a beauty of an ending to the company’s press release that deserves its own note:

Clever. Fun.

Speaking of clever and fun, the new Zeekr 007 goes from 0 to 100 km/h (0–62 mph) in just 2.84 seconds. It has an 800V powertrain. It also reportedly has a top-notch ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistant System) system developed in partnership with NVIDIA.

The long-range version of the 007 will have a max range of 870 km (541 mph)! That’s based on the CLTC rating system, but even if it was based on the Mars rating system, that’s a lot of range.

“The ZEEKR 007, powered by NVIDIA DRIVE Orin SoC, has a sensor suite comprised of 1 lidar, 12 high-definition cameras and 5 millimetre-wave radars for advanced smart assist driving function with multiple redundancy,” the company writes. “The NAPPA full-grain leather is used in seats with Microfiber in the headliner, integrating luxurious performance as well as comfort into one model, the ZEEKR 007 represents a new benchmark for luxury sedans.”

With the 800V power system, the Zeekr 007 will be able to charge (on applicable charging stations) from 10%–80% in only 15 minutes.

Zeekr 007 deliveries to customers begin in January.

BYD Sea Lion 07

The big dog in Chinese auto sales, and global EV sales, is without a doubt BYD. It seems that every time you turn around, the company is rolling out a new EV — and it’s more compelling than the last one! In this case, we’ve got the BYD Sea Lion 07. With the name Sea Lion, I was a little concerned hot it would look, but oh my! This is a pretty new EV.

The Sea Lion is a midsized fully electric SUV. It is part of the company’s Ocean series. The coupe SUV rides a bit lower to the ground than a typical SUV, providing more of a sporty feel. But here’s the shocker: the Sea Lion 7 is expected to cost between RMB 200,000 ($27,600) and RMB 260,000 ($36,060)! Yes, please!

XPeng X9

That’s a hard act to follow, but XPeng is going to take things in a totally different direction to close out this impressive trio. XPeng unleashed the X9 MPV, a 7-seater with more space than a California walk-in closet. Now, this one is not cheap. The X9’s presale starting price is RMB 388,000 ($53,809). But what can you expect — Shrek and his family could be comfortable in this giant vehicle.

Naturally, the new-gen minivan is packed in advanced tech — it is an XPeng, after all. The interior is clean and minimalist, yet luxurious.

“With the market launch of X9, XPENG’s Smart EV offerings will extend across mainstream sedan, SUV and MPV segments, adding up to a full lineup for the RMB150,000 to RMB400,000 price range,” the company notes. XPeng is becoming a real mainstream automaker!

“The newly minted flagship model features the class-leading three-row seater design with the most spacious third row in MPV segments. Beyond the spacious seating layout, X9’s third-row versatility provides immense cargo space to meet users’ personalized and diversified needs. With the active rear-wheel steering and China’s only car model equipped with intelligent double-chamber air suspension as standard, the X9 offers driving and control performance that is unmatched in its class.” This is no Dodge Caravan or Honda Odyssey. This is XPeng doing its own thing.