Zeekr 009 Deluxe review: Power, prestige and a puzzle

[SINGAPORE] Driving the Zeekr 009 Deluxe reminded me of one thing: some of us admit we buy cars to impress other people, while the rest would make Boris Johnson look like George Washington in the honesty stakes.

Which is awkward, because telling friends you’ve bought a Zeekr 009 might be met with a brief, puzzled pause. Zeekr is not yet a brand that carries instant social currency here, after all, and “009” sounds more like one of Bond’s colleagues than a pure electric multi-purpose vehicle (MPV).

That puzzlement is even more understandable since the 009 isn’t a family MPV in the usual sense, but something for people who have chauffeurs (as opposed to being glorified chauffeurs themselves, otherwise known as parents).

Invite those same friends inside, though, and it becomes immediately clear what Zeekr aspires to be: a brand whose cars are more luxurious than Tesla’s, and more high tech than Mercedes’.

The vast cabin looks like something out of an Etihad Airlines ad: acres of space, flooded in soft light from the tinted glass roof and covered in enough soft Nappa leather to blanket half an office tower. This is where you can imagine the Zeekr’s reason for existence – goodness knows what goes on inside a typical family office, but the 009 feels exactly like how its principals would choose to get around.

When I last reviewed the 009 for The Business Times, I drove a dual-motor version, but the specimen on this page is the newer Deluxe, a single-motor, front wheel-drive variant with 340 horsepower that costs S$59,000 less, making it the more accessible way into Zeekr’s luxury MPV universe. “Accessible” is a relative term, of course, since it still costs S$349,999 with Certificate Of Entitlement, but what matters is that the Deluxe gives away surprisingly little in terms of equipment.

In use, it feels just as indulgent as its more powerful siblings. The middle row seats recline deeply, with powered leg rests (and on the passenger side, a foot support), and are equipped with massage and ventilation functions that work quietly and convincingly rather than noisily and for show.

There are individual touchscreens on the doors to control climate settings, a large roof-mounted screen for rear passengers, and a Yamaha sound system that fills the cabin with rich, clean audio. There’s even a small refrigerator or food warmer tucked away, because true luxury involves all the senses.

All of this rides on air suspension, which gives the 009 cloud-like composure over a wide range of speeds. Meanwhile, the cabin remains genuinely hushed on the move. The electric motor is quiet to begin with, but there’s a sort of vault-like solidity to the Zeekr that makes it feel as though it were created to carry important people who prefer the outside world to stay outside.

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That sense of calm doesn’t go on leave when your driver does. The Zeekr weighs more than 2.7 tonnes, yet when you press the accelerator, you don’t have to wait three working days to get a reply. On the contrary, the 009 responds with surprising urgency, the kind that makes an employee worth retaining.

A claimed range north of 600 km means you can head north with abandon, comfortably reaching Kuala Lumpur without stopping. More likely, the average hardworking 009 will spend days ferrying VIPs between meetings here without breaking a sweat. If there’s downtime because it needs charging, that will be down to poor planning rather than poor range.

It has enough cargo space for an airport run, but the boot isn’t full of versatility. The third row seats fold but don’t disappear, so the 009 can’t transform into a van the way some MPVs can.

Still, the Zeekr does make you rethink what a luxury MPV should be, even in the humblest Deluxe trim. It is impossibly smooth on the go, richly appointed and unapologetically focused on the experience of those sitting in the back.

That’s bound to dazzle anyone you want to impress, because when you give a lift to chums in your new car, they tend not to take the wheel anyway. They’ll come away edified about what Zeekr stands for as a brand, but I reckon they’ll still be slightly puzzled by the 009 itself, because it’s hard to decide if it’s a car or a lounge with wheels.

Zeekr 009 Deluxe Motor Power/Torque 340 hp/373 Nm Battery Type/Net Capacity Lithium Nickel Manganese Oxide/116 kWh Charging Time/Type 30 minutes 10 to 80 per cent (150 kW DC), 13.5 hours (11 kW AC) Range 604 km (WLTP) 0-100 kmh 7.9 seconds Top Speed 210 kmh Efficiency 21.4 kWh/100 km (WLTP) Agent Premium Automobiles BEV Price S$349,999 with Certificate Of Entitlement Available Now