Game-changing battery tech is coming to Australia: New Zeekr electric car sets 10-80 per cent record with Tesla-taming charging time
Chinese car-maker Zeekr has announced its all-new 2025 Zeekr 007 takes just 10.5 minutes to charge from 10-80 percent, thanks to its advanced next-generation lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack.
Available on Zeekr 007 sedans sold in China from this week, the ultra-rapid charging is said to be capable thanks to the Geely-owned brand’s use of both “optimised materials and improved technology”.
Zeekr claims the 007 sedan comes with the brand’s new breed of ‘5.5C’ specification of batteries. And with the 007’s SUV equivalent, the 7X, now confirmed for Australia, it’s an odds-on bet that the technology will arrive with it in 2025.
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If you’re wondering what that means, the ‘C’ is an indicator of battery to charging capacity. In the past, a 1C 80kWh battery is a power pack that can be topped up at just 80kW, so the new Zeekr 5.5C means the LFP battery pack can be charged at the five and a half times the battery size to charging capacity, which equates to more than 440kW.
As well as being capable of handling a rapid charge, Zeekr’s new 5.5C batteries keep fast-charging even in the harshest of environmental conditions, like when it’s cold. Even when it’s -10C, Zeekr says it still only takes 30 minutes for 10-80 per cent charge of the 007 – a figure most would be happy with in warm climates.
Full details of the new batteries have yet to be released but, with them fitted, the new mid-size sedan is said to have a range of up to 688km on the more lenient Chinese CLTC test cycle, with up to 500km of range added in 15 minutes.
Sitting on the its parent Geely’s Sustainable electric Architecture (SEA), the Zeekr 007 will be offered with rear- or all-wheel drive with power ranging from 310kW to up to 475kW.
While Zeekr is the first to offer 5.5C batteries on production vehicles, rivals like CATL and BYD have already declared they will both skip 5.5C capability for even faster-charging 6C batteries.
CATL says its 6C Qilin battery pack is already timed to be on the market before the end of 2024, but it’s not known when they will end up in a production vehicle, giving Zeekr the edge.
In Australia, Zeekr has just recently opened the order books for the Zeekr X compact SUV that is also based on the SEA platform, with more than 300 expressions of interests reportedly already taken.
Following the X SUV’s debut, Zeekr will introduce the 009 minivan currently offered in China after capitalising on the growing demand for all-electric luxury people-movers.
Initially, Zeekr in Australia says it will kick off with about nine dealer locations and first deliveries in October 2024 as part of a partnership with Sydney SXSW.
Zeekr will cover its cars with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. The high voltage battery pack is covered by a separate eight-year, 160,000km warranty, while servicing is required only every two years or 40,000km.
