2026 Zeekr 7X review: Australian preview drive

It may only be the third model in Australia from a brand that’s been in local showrooms for less than 12 months, but there’s no shortage of interest in the Zeekr 7X.

A mid-size electric SUV, the 7X promises greater levels of comfort and luxury than a BYD Sealion 7, with more advanced 800-volt underpinnings, and market-leading 450kW fast-charging to beat a Tesla Model Y or XPeng G6.

More than 1000 Australians placed money down within a week of learning the price: from $57,900 plus on-road costs, undercutting the Tesla and competitive with its other rivals.

Does the sharp price (and appealing spec sheet) deliver on Australian roads?

We will have to wait a few more weeks to find out, but Zeekr flew Australian and New Zealand media to The Bend race track in South Australia for a closed-course preview of its new SUV.

There are three variants in the Zeekr 7X line-up – the RWD (rear-wheel drive), Long Range RWD, and Performance AWD (all-wheel drive).

Initial estimates given to Zeekr dealers placed the RWD at $65,000 to $70,000 before on-road costs, the Long Range RWD at $75,000, and the Performance AWD at $80,000 to $85,000.

The final RRPs are a lot lower – the RWD from $57,900 plus on-roads, the Long Range RWD from $63,900, and the Performance AWD from $72,900.

It means the entry-level grade undercuts the Tesla Model Y RWD’s $58,900 RRP – which has a slightly shorter range claim (466km Tesla vs 480km Zeekr) and similar performance – while the flagship spec is $16,500 cheaper than a Model Y Performance ($89,400).

The BYD Sealion 7 ranges from $54,990 to $63,990 plus on-road costs, the soon-to-be-updated, rear-wheel-drive-only XPeng G6 is $54,800 to $59,800 plus on-roads, and the just-launched MG IM6 is $60,990 to $80,990 drive-away.

Zeekr buyers are not left wanting for equipment. The entry-level grade offers 19-inch wheels, LED headlights, a panoramic sunroof, power-operated tailgate, 16-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 13-inch instrument display, and tri-zone climate control.

It also offers a heated leather steering wheel, leather-look seat trim, power-adjustable heated front seats, heated and power-reclining rear seats, dual 50-watt wireless phone chargers, a 10-speaker stereo, and a suite of advanced safety systems.

The Long Range RWD adds a larger battery, ventilated and massaging front seats, a head-up display, 21-speaker ‘pro’ audio, a power-adjustable steering column, and rear privacy glass, while the Performance AWD gains a second electric motor, 21-inch wheels, adaptive air suspension, power-operated doors, nappa leather trim, and power rear-door sunshades.

The Zeekr 7X is sized to compete with its closest rivals from Tesla, BYD and XPeng.

It translates to generous interior space that blends well with the design and plush finishes befitting of the higher-end image Zeekr wants to project.

Soft-touch materials are used on the doors, centre console, and armrests; chrome highlights and multi-colour ambient lighting provide a contrast, and the build quality in the pre-production vehicles we drove felt good.

Performance models offer supple nappa leather upholstery, but even the synthetic leather-look trim in RWD grades is suitably soft for the price, though it has the slightly glossy feel that fake ‘leathers’ in Chinese cars tend to offer.

The front seats are comfortable and reasonably supportive – outside of a race-track environment, unsurprisingly – and it’s great to see 14-way driver and 10-way passenger electric adjustment in the base grade (upgraded to 14-way front passenger in the Long Range and Performance), including plenty of under-thigh support that is often rare on Chinese cars.

Leather is standard on the steering wheel – with flat top and bottom edges for a sportier feel – and the buttons are better labelled than on some rivals. However, it still takes time to learn how to navigate the instrument cluster ahead of you.

Those buttons can be used to control the air temperature and fan speed through previews in the gauge cluster, rather than interacting with the central display.

A row of physical shortcuts is included beneath it – for opening the glovebox, adjusting the air direction, changing the volume, and a customisable Mode button that can be mapped to functions such as recirculating air control – but most of the car’s functions run through the touchscreen.

Frustratingly, one of those is the adjustment of the power steering column in higher grades, as well as the mirrors. The 7X isn’t alone in this, but we found the only convenient way to do this was to adjust the seat, which opens a menu to control the other driver position settings.

Storage is well catered for through a deep under-armrest storage area (with a lid that can open towards either front occupant), room underneath the ‘flying bridge’ centre console, two cupholders under a sliding cover, and decently-sized door pockets and glovebox.

The long wheelbase allows for generous rear-seat space. Knee room is cavernous for my 186cm-tall (6ft 1in) frame seated behind my driving position, plus plenty of head room, and ample toe room under the front seats.

A (nearly) flat floor and broad cabin allow for three passengers to fit on more than just short trips, and the modest level of under-thigh support provided by the seat base isn’t an issue, given you can stretch out with the space on offer.

Power-operated rear door sunshades are fitted to the Performance, rare for a car at this price, but a match for the new Tesla Model Y is an electrically-reclining rear-seat backrest with heating for the outboard positions.

Electronic door releases are also fitted with a manual lever tucked up in the door pocket that, while not very easy to find in a panic, is not as obscured as in an XPeng G6 or Model Y.

Rear-seat passengers get access to air vents in the pillars, pull-out storage trays in the seat base, a fold-down centre armrest, and the requisite outboard ISOFIX and three top-tether anchors.

The boot is larger than the 7X’s BYD and XPeng rivals, with a wide and deep load space without a lip to haul items over, and under a power tailgate that opens high.

Space is afforded under the two-piece boot floor for charging cables or thinner items you may want to keep out of sight; there are lights, bag hooks and a 12-volt socket in the cargo area, and for more space, the rear seats fold 60:40, joined by a modest under-bonnet storage area.

There’s no spare wheel, as with most electric cars – only a tyre repair kit.

Standard in every Zeekr 7X is a 16-inch infotainment touchscreen with quick response times, a high resolution, and bright graphics.

As with many new electric cars, most functions are accessed through the screen, and it will take time to learn the myriad menus for various settings and applications.

Past experience tells us the system will become relatively straightforward to use once you do that, but we will need to spend longer with it once we get the 7X through the Drive garage.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are confirmed features for the system, as well as voice control with microphones placed around the car to pick up the voices of different passengers.

The climate controls run through the display – pinned to the bottom of the screen, at least when not in a smartphone-mirroring mode – but fan speed and air temperature can be adjusted through the driver display, or via voice command.

The 13-inch instrument cluster is shaped to fit the steering wheel rim, and reminds us of a Porsche Taycan – a compliment for a $60,000 car. Once you’ve mastered the steering wheel buttons, it’s easy to work with, and shows the basic information without going overboard.

A head-up display is projected onto the windscreen in the Long Range RWD and Performance AWD. The 7X is expected to offer connected app support.

The Zeekr 7X is yet to receive an ANCAP safety rating in Australia, but it has earned five stars out of five from sister organisation Euro NCAP in Europe.

Unless there are structural or specification differences between Australian and European cars, it is likely to carry over to local models with little change.

The 7X was awarded category scores of 91 per cent for adult occupant protection, 90 per cent for child occupant protection, 78 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 83 per cent for safety assist technology.

Advanced safety features confirmed by Zeekr for the 7X in Australia include adaptive cruise control, lane-centring assist, auto lane changes, automatic parking, a 360-degree camera, and a driver attention monitor, plus the government-mandated autonomous emergency braking.

Lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and traffic sign recognition are also expected to make it to Australian production cars.

The closed-course nature of this first drive prevented us from assessing the behaviour of these systems in the real world – something that’s proved to be a sticking point in other Zeekr vehicles.

Customers who pre-ordered a Zeekr 7X on or before August 17, 2025, will receive a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and seven years of roadside assistance.

Place a deposit today, and both of those periods sit at five years. An eight-year/160,000km battery warranty is also offered.

Zeekr quotes service intervals of two years or 40,000km, whichever comes first, with "optional health checks" at one-year/20,000km intervals in between – so in years one, three, and five of ownership.

The first of those is free, with the second-year/40,000km regular visit priced at $605, the third-year/60,000km optional visit $330, the fourth-year/80,000km regular visit costing a high $1150, and the fifth-year/100,000km optional visit listed at $300.

Four years of servicing costs $1755 if you only complete the regular checks, while five years of all available maintenance comes in at $2385. That's on the higher side for an electric car with such long servicing intervals.

A year of comprehensive insurance coverage for a 7X Performance AWD is estimated at $2786, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male, living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The Zeekr 7X is offered in three mechanical formats – standard-range rear-wheel drive, long-range rear-wheel drive, and long-range all-wheel drive.

Driving range is claimed at 480km in the base model, 615km in the mid-spec grade, and due to its extra motor and sportier wheel and tyre setup, 543km in the dual-motor flagship.

Our time behind the wheel of the 7X in this preview drive was brief, and limited to the regular RWD and flagship Performance AWD on closed roads – as well as the latter on a race track – so we weren’t able to get an accurate gauge of energy consumption.

Charging performance is where the 7X shoots to the top of the mid-size electric SUV class, at least on paper.

The 100kWh long-range battery can recharge at up to 420kW, but the smaller 75kWh unit can go even higher – 450kW, insane capability for a lithium-iron phosphate battery – for a claimed 10 to 80 per cent recharge time of 13 minutes.

That makes it the quickest-charging electric car on sale in Australia… in theory, because at the time of publication, there are no charging stations in the country capable of supplying that much power.

The fastest chargers are limited to 400kW, and there are only two of them – one in New South Wales, and another in Western Australia. There are more 350kW plugs available nationally, but those are rare, and the vast majority of chargers across the country are limited to 150kW or less.

Should you only find a 50kW charger – as are common in all states and territories – 7X drivers may need to wait up to an hour and a half for a 10 to 80 per cent charge, given its battery is large.

This is where a Tesla Model Y has an advantage, as it is very energy efficient, so it can fit smaller batteries to achieve the same driving range – and while it charges at a slower peak rate, it doesn’t need to suck in as much energy, saving time at slower chargers, as well as money.

AC charging at up to 22kW is standard across the model range, also class leading, for an estimated empty to full top-up in as little as three hours and 30 minutes, if you can find (or install at your home) a 22kW plug.

This first taste allowed only limited time behind the wheel of the Zeekr 7X – about 20 minutes on The Bend racetrack in South Australia, plus another 20 minutes on an off-road course, including hill climbs, wheel articulation tests, and sand and water crossings.

It means a concrete assessment of its on-road driving behaviour will need to wait, but we were able to get a sense of the 7X’s performance, handling and general driving character.

The RWD variants may be the cheapest and slowest in the range, but they are far from a slouch. They don’t feel quite as rapid as the 310kW power claim – more than a V8 Holden or Ford muscle sedan – but in a track environment, the brisk off-the-mark acceleration felt off the mark doesn’t taper off until well after you’ve passed the highway speed limit.

Zero to 100km/h takes a claimed 6.0 seconds – on par with a base Tesla Model Y – and while power is rolled on, rather than snapping you back into the seat, drivers aren’t left wanting for the all-wheel-drive (AWD) Performance flagship.

That said, it is a marked step up. It takes a quick car and makes it seriously fast, with a docile response to accelerator pedal inputs when you want it, and a ferocious shove into the back of the seat when you don’t.

It’s probably too much power to use on the road in a mid-size family SUV, but the Performance AWD is worth considering for its other key mechanical upgrade: adaptive air suspension.

The jury remains out over how it and the RWD variants’ non-adjustable coil-spring suspension handles bumps on city streets, but at higher speeds in closed conditions, the AWD feels markedly more settled and composed, with less roll in corners, as well as under acceleration and braking.

The steering is direct and accurate – if on the lighter side, even in Sport mode – while the brake pedal is progressive and not too soft, nor too firm, blending the electric motors’ energy recuperation with the ‘friction’ brake discs smoothly.

A one-pedal drive mode is fitted, as well as Standard and Strong choices for the regenerative braking. Our first impressions are that none are all that strong, but a longer test on public roads will be needed to say for sure.

It may be called Performance, but the 7X is not a car designed for the race track. The brakes pull the car’s circa-2.5-tonne mass well when cold but, unsurprisingly, aren’t built for repeated hard stops on hot laps. Not that it will be an issue for many buyers, of course.

Zeekr has specified eco-focused Continental tyres for the vehicle, which deliver acceptable, rather than outstanding grip. In its standard setting, the traction control is quick to shut down any wheel slip, handy in the RWD given its power, but performance-minded drivers of the AWD may want to consider the Sport setting to exploit the car’s potential.

There is the choice of a few synthetic acceleration sounds, from a jet fighter-like noise to ‘Mechanical Era’, which does a poor impression of a V8. They’re better to have than not, but they’re tacky, and don’t add much to the drive.

On gravel roads, its electronic systems lend the 7X ample stability under power and in corners, while tougher off-road challenges – from a muddy water crossing to rocky trails – see it perform better than you may expect for a road-biased SUV.

Up to 232mm of ground clearance with the air suspension in its highest setting helps with that, a figure ahead of plenty of genuine four-wheel-drive vehicles.

We almost got the Performance stuck on a particularly tricky ‘offset mogul’ – an off-road challenge that places two of the car’s wheels in the air, and requires its computers to shuffle power to the tyres still on the ground – but modulating the power for a few seconds was enough to get it moving.

Our first taste was only brief, but it’s clear the Zeekr 7X will be one of the more appealing mid-size electric SUVs in its category once it hits Australian roads.

It’s competitively priced given the long feature list, it’s spacious and well-appointed inside, there’s plenty of technology, claimed driving ranges and fast charging times are among the best in the class, and on-paper performance is strong.

Initial impressions suggest the Performance AWD may be the variant to have, despite a higher price than its range-mates, thanks to its more settled suspension, and longer feature list that gives it a luxurious feel to set it apart in a crowded class.

The jury remains out on its around-town ride comfort, how well its safety features are tuned on the road, and its real-world driving range, which we will explore when production Zeekrs don licence plates in the coming weeks.

If you’re about to place a deposit on a Model Y, Sealion 7, or any other mid-size $60,000 to $80,000 electric SUV, we’d strongly advise holding off before taking the 7X for a test drive.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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