16:01 02-05-2026

Zeekr 9X: China's answer to the Cullinan goes after Maybach and Range Rover with 885 hp and a 42-speaker Naim

The Zeekr 9X looks like a Chinese reply to the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, the Mercedes-Maybach GLS and the Range Rover all at once. It's not a pure EV but a plug-in hybrid with EREV functionality: under the bonnet sits a 2.0-litre petrol engine, while the luxury and the performance come mainly from the electric motors and the big battery.

According to Autoevolution, the Ultra trim could land in Australia from around $67,000, although final pricing has yet to be confirmed. For an SUV that is 5,239 mm long, weighs almost 2.8 tonnes and rolls on 22-inch wheels, that figure looks aggressive even by Chinese premium standards.

The powertrain pairs a 2.0-litre turbo engine making 279 hp and 290 Nm with two electric motors. System output stands at 885 hp and 935 Nm, with 0-100 km/h in around 4 seconds. The 70 kWh NMC battery rides on a 900-volt architecture and goes from 10 to 80 percent in roughly 8-9 minutes. Electric range is around 200 km.

One of the headline features is active hydraulic suspension. It doesn't just smooth out the road; it can also raise the body when a side impact is imminent, so the energy hits the stiffer lower section of the car. Audi previewed something similar on the A8, but here the system runs in a large electrified SUV equipped with camera, LiDAR and a deep sensor stack.

The doors are powered. They open and close automatically, with conventional handles and a mechanical link kept in reserve in case of a crash. You can't really slam them either — the motors ease them shut.

The audio system is a status statement on its own. The Zeekr 9X uses Naim with 42 speakers and 3,868 watts. Naim has long been associated chiefly with Bentley, yet the Chinese SUV gets a setup that is even bigger: the Bentayga, for context, makes do with 20 speakers. Vibration feedback in the seats for movie watching is part of the package.

The second row is treated as the heart of the car. Individual seats with heating, ventilation, massage and a zero-gravity mode, premium materials, a removable controller, a mini-fridge that can also keep food warm, a large sunroof and a 17-inch ceiling display that glides out on rails. The captain's chairs can swivel toward the third row.

For all the luxury, Zeekr hasn't ignored off-road work. The 9X displays approach and departure angles, body roll and ride height, can adapt the powertrain to the surface, offers 110 mm of ride-height adjustment, a maximum ground clearance of 288 mm and a claimed wading depth of 500 mm.

The point of the Zeekr 9X isn't trying to copy the Cullinan. It shows something else: Chinese premium is no longer competing on price alone, but on a feature set that European brands typically charge serious money for.