This Chinese EV Charges From 10-80% In 7 Minutes

• Chinese EV brand Zeekr has boosted the 001 wagon’s voltage from 800 volts to 900 volts for its mid-cycle refresh.
• Thanks to the extra voltage and new battery cells the car can now charge at over 1 megawatt.
• For context, America’s fastest-charging EVs typically can take 300-400 kilowatts, or around a third of a megawatt. 

You won’t even have time to finish your coffee before this Chinese EV is done charging. 

Zeekr, a Geely Group brand alongside Polestar, Lotus and Volvo, launched a sporty electric fastback called the 001 back in 2021. Now the brand has updated it with a higher-voltage platform and super-fast fill-up times. 

With its mid-lifecycle update, Zeekr has not only given the 001 a visual makeover, but it’s also increased its platform voltage from 800 to 900 volts. This enables rapid charging rates much higher than anything we get in Europe or the United States. 

With the smaller 95-kilowatt-hour battery pack, the revised 001 will charge from 10% to 80% in just 7 minutes, adding 310 miles (500 km) of extra CLTC range. Just note that on the less forgiving EPA test cycle, that would probably be more like 200 miles or so. Still, even that’s mighty impressive, and a godsend for road trips.

Zeekr says this is possible because the car is now capable of 12C charging, which refers to how many times its capacity it can be theoretically charged in an hour. You basically multiply the number (12 in this case) by the battery pack capacity (95 kWh), and it implies 1,140 kW of peak charging power. 

This remarkable charging rate is possible thanks to LFP battery technology developed in-house by Zeekr, its Golden Battery that has been in development for a few years. 

The larger 103 kWh battery has CATL Qilin cells and boosts the range to 503 miles (810 km). But with a charging rate of 6C, it takes longer to top up. It can go from 10% to 80% in 10 minutes, adding a claimed 354 miles (570 km) of range. The most powerful powertrain configuration packs 912 horsepower (up from 777 hp before the update) and can reach 62 mph (100 km/h) from a standstill in a claimed 2.83 seconds and has a top speed of 174 mph (280 km/h).

Gallery: 2024 Zeekr 001

But where can you actually charge this thing? It’s cool to have a car that can charge at over 1 MW, but that’s useless if there’s nowhere to access that kind of power. Zeekr is working on that too, along with some other Chinese firms. 

In March, Zeekr revealed its design for a 1.2 MW ultra-rapid charger, announcing plans to begin building its own charging stations this year. Zeekr’s announcement came not long after BYD unveiled its own megawatt charger, which we tried in China, so we know it’s real and already operational. The new arms race in EVs, at least in China, seems to be around charging speed—not range. 

Other parts of the world lag behind these charging monsters. In the U.S., for example, it’s hard to find charging stations or cars rated for more than 350 kW. But the situation is improving by the day. The Lucid Gravity, America’s new quickest-charging EV, can add 200 miles of range in about 10 minutes. 

After driving across Europe for nearly 4,000 miles in the latest crop of EVs available here, doing a road trip is already surprisingly easy, even with peak charging of 400 kW.

Pricing in China will be announced later this week, but the pre-refresh 001 costs between 259,000 and 329,000 yuan ($36,500 and $46,300). The 001 is also available in certain European markets where it has a starting price of around €60,000.