Geely has officially announced the formation of Zeekr, a new premium electric vehicle brand based in China that aims to serve increasing global demand for vehicles of that segment. The new premium brand will operate separately from the group’s mainstream EV brand, Geometry that was launched in 2019.
The company expects the first vehicles from Zeekr to be delivered in the third quarter of this year, with production to be undertaken by parent company Geely Holding under a light asset strategy, and the new brand aims to roll out a new EV model every year over the next five years, said Geely.
Zeekr will use Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), and will include its own battery technologies, battery management systems, EV motor technologies and EV supply chain support. The use of SEA technologies will enable the offering of over-the-air software upgrades throughout the lifetime of the vehicle, according to the company.
The Sustainable Experience Architecture is an open-source electric vehicle architecture that is highly modular and will form the basis of vehicles in the D and E segments, can accommodate up to four electric drive motors totalling 635 hp, with battery pack capacities of up to 110 kWh.
This will enable ranges of up to 700 km, while fast charging can help the battery regain up to 120 km of range in five minutes, and have an operating life of up to two million km according to Geely.
Zeekr will be jointly owned by Geely Auto and Geely Holding, respectively at a 51:49 share structure, and both parties have agreed to inject RMB 2 billion (RM1.27 billion) in capital into the newly formed brand. The chairman post in Zeekr will be held by Li Shufu, while the CEO position goes to An Conghui, president of Geely Holding and chairman of Geely Auto.
The post Geely officially announces Zeekr as premium EV brand appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
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