The smart electric market, which has become increasingly homogenized, has finally welcomed a car that isn't boring.
On October 24, the Zeekr MIX was launched, with two versions available: the Intelligent Driving Edition and the Long Range Intelligent Driving Edition, priced at 279,900 yuan and 299,900 yuan respectively.
According to Zeekr CEO An Conghui, this project represents the most significant engineering challenge in the 30 years of Geely's automotive history.
One glance at this car reveals its uniqueness. With its extremely short front overhang, spacious interior, dual-side automatic sliding doors, and front seats that can rotate, the Zeekr MIX embodies a vision for future family travel in numerous details. It can be said that it is not just a concept car, but exceeds the expectations of one.
An Conghui stated, “Our understanding of transportation extends beyond point-to-point mobility. We hope it serves as an intelligent mobile terminal that brings forth our love for life and more life experiences. This was the original intention behind developing the Zeekr MIX. Moreover, we aim not only for breakthroughs in software but have also achieved them in hardware.”
The Zeekr MIX is built on the vast Haohan-M architecture, which has been under development since it was initiated five years ago. Thanks to this architectural advantage, Zeekr has utilized space in a nearly impossible way. By employing slanted firewall technology, the dashboard and air conditioning unit are moved forward while still ensuring safety, allowing for a short front and rear overhang design that fully unleashes the front row space. At the rear, a more compact coaxial motor repositions the second cross member of the rear floor, reclaiming space for the second-row cabin.
Through a series of layouts, the Zeekr MIX achieves an impressive wheelbase of over 3 meters with a total vehicle length of less than 4.7 meters. For comparison, typical vehicles over 5 meters in length often reach a 3-meter wheelbase. According to online review videos, a person 1.88 meters tall can sit in the second row with their legs fully extended without touching the front seats. With this generous space, even when the second-row seats are moved forward, a trunk space of 568 liters is still attainable without affecting the comfort for rear passengers—easily accommodating the camping gear for the whole family. The flexible seating arrangement and the large door opening also allow for two bicycles to fit seamlessly between the front and rear rows of the Zeekr MIX.
Large space and flexibility are not at odds; the Zeekr MIX, through unique structural design and optimized suspension space, provides a maximum front wheel steering angle of over 50° and a minimum turning radius of just 4.95 meters, enabling U-turns at all two-lane intersections.
The car doors are another significant highlight of the vehicle's exterior and present an engineering challenge.
Inspired by the aircraft-style outward-swinging door design, these doors allow for a larger opening angle for users. While this design appears to eliminate the B-pillar, the Zeekr cleverly conceals the "B-pillar" within the edges of the two car doors, where two integrated hot-formed steel columns with a diameter of about 70mm are installed inside each door—four in total—providing a tensile strength of up to 2000Mpa for the hot-formed steel inside.
It is reported that the manufacturing cost of these doors is five times that of ordinary doors, with R&D costs exceeding 400 million yuan.
To lower the threshold for entering and exiting the vehicle, the Zeekr MIX boasts a completely flat floor with no protrusions or steps. Through structural optimizations of the floor, body, and roof, the Zeekr MIX achieves a maximum ground clearance of 165mm, comparable to mainstream family SUVs, while its 390mm ground height is lower than most MPVs. Ultimately, the interior height reaches 1350mm, allowing kindergarten children to easily enter, exit, and stand comfortably within the vehicle.
Inside, the Zeekr MIX is said to be the world's only mass-produced model featuring electric rotating seats for both the driver and front passenger. With motor-driven continuous rotation, these seats allow for a 270° electric rotation.
Thanks to the completely flat floor design, a movable central armrest, and freely arranged rotating seats in the front and rear rows, this vehicle accommodates a variety of scenarios—such as face-to-face interactions while gaming between front and back rows, sleeping with the seats reclined, positioning the front seats in the center for a children's tent, or allowing the front passenger to slightly move back while still engaging with passengers in both the front and rear.
Concerning the core components of the vehicle, Zeekr introduces the concept of “Three 800V”—an 800V high-voltage system, 800V supercharging battery, and an 800V supercharging network. The Intelligent Driving Edition is equipped with a “gold brick” battery, offering a peak charging rate of 5.5C, enabling the Zeekr MIX to charge from 10% to 80% in just 10.5 minutes; the Long Range Edition comes with a 102kWh Kirin battery, boasting a maximum range of over 700 kilometers, gaining an additional 500 kilometers of range after just 15 minutes of charging. It's reported that Zeekr's self-built 800V "Ultra Charging Stations" will cover more than 150 cities nationwide by the end of this year.
When discussing intelligent driving, it hasn't historically been Zeekr's strength; otherwise, the Zeekr 001 wouldn’t have undergone “three generational updates in one year.” However, this new vehicle keeps pace with industry standards. All versions come standard with laser radar and dual Orin-X chips, featuring Zeekr's self-developed Haohan Intelligent Driving 2.0 system. Currently, this system supports functions like smart parking and intelligent driving, with rapid advancements in OTA updates.
Thanks to the application of end-to-end large models, the Zeekr MIX's no-map urban NZP will begin phased rollouts by the end of this month.
Overall, this is a product that brings concepts into reality, with many clever ideas put into practice. For this, Zeekr deserves commendation. The forward-thinking concepts of the Zeekr MIX broaden the imagination for many ordinary people, but for users accustomed to fridges, color TVs, and large sofas, accepting this vehicle may take some time.
