Zeekr come in for criticism for launching another new 001

Zeekr, as well as launching the 2025 model 007 at the Evolution New Generation press conference on the evening of August 13 also launched the 2025 model year Zeekr 001. Ordinarily, this might not have been a problem, but Zeekr already launched a new version of the 001 at the end of February this year, meaning that there have been three significantly different versions of the car on sale over the course of this year. Customers who bought the new version that launched only in February are not happy that just six months later, another new version Is being launched.

Zeekr CEO, An Conghui, has responded to criticism saying, “Maybe we didn’t do it well and didn’t communicate in advance, and Zeekr’s products will be released in advance in the future.”

2025 Zeekr 001

Changes to the 2025 model year Zeekr 001 are largely confined to intelligent driving. The car gains the Haohan Intelligent Driving 2.0 system and also the Zeekr OS AI and brings the car’s capabilities broadly in line with the 2025 year 007, which was also launched at the same event. The 2025 model year versions of the Zeekr 001 are as follows:

Previously, the Zeekr 001’s intelligent driving system was based around Mobileye chips. For the 2025 model year version, the Mobileye chip remains on the 95 kWh We rear-wheel drive version but is replaced by a dual Nvidia Orin X chipset with 508 TOPS computing power on all other versions of the car. These versions also gain an ultra-long range lidar that offers 200 meters of range and a 120-degree ultra-wide horizontal field of view, the equivalent of 128 lines.

The Haohan intelligent driving system uses a scene cognition large model (SCM) to improve the recognition of targets. The system now recognizes 1000 new traffic scenarios, and the accuracy of cognition has improved by more than 120%. Using an interactive planning large model (IPM) the system mimics strategies used by human drivers. For example, in heavy traffic, the system will make a slight pre-lane change maneuver to tell surrounding vehicles that it wants to change lanes and to see whether the car behind will yield or not. Furthermore, IPM can predict the behavior of surrounding vehicles and pedestrians 1.2 seconds in advance, and the accuracy has improved by 21%.

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The system can now deal with 30 kinds of complex intersections, giving the car a pass rate of over 95%. Also added is a fingertip-controlled parking application that allows the user to draw a temporary parking space and drag the car icon into it. This is available not only in the car but also through the Zeekr app on a mobile phone, allowing people to park in very narrow spaces.

Over the coming months, the system will be upgraded significantly, with the aim of having a door-to-door capability by Q1 2025.

The other major highlight of the 2025 Zeekr 001 is the Zeekr OS AI, which integrates advanced machine deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and other large-model technologies. This enables much better voice control of the car’s functions and also allows the car to be smarter in terms of being proactive rather than acting purely on the user’s commands. The car will now offer suggestions and tips to the driver.

There have been no significant changes to the appearance of the 2025 model year Zeekr 001, although there are now two new color options. Similarly, there have been no changes to the powertrain. Earlier this year, the 2024 upgrade ushered in a new full-stack 800V high-voltage system platform. At that time, the car was introduced with a 100 kWh Qilin battery from CATL, which gives the car a maximum range of 750 km. The car is also offered with a 95 kWh Shenxing battery, from CATL. This is an ultra-fast charging lithium iron phosphate battery capable of 5C charging and allows the car to charge from 10 to 80% SOC in 11.5 minutes.

Controversy

A Zeekr company representative said that the development of the 2024 model year 001 was confirmed around the beginning of 2023, and at the time, there was no plan to adopt the intelligent driving system. This version of the car was then launched on February 27, 2024.

After the car was launched, many potential purchasers praised the Haohan system in the Zeekr 007, and research appeared to show that potential buyers were being put off acquiring the 001 due to its lack of the system.

Purchasers of the 2024 model year Zeekr 001 wondered whether their car could be upgraded. However, that version exclusively used Mobileye-based intelligent driving solutions in terms of the underlying chip, system layout, and wiring harness layout, and so it cannot be upgraded to the new system unless at a very high cost.

What this now means in reality is that at the beginning of this year, the Zeke’s 001 on sale was largely the same car that first launched In 2021. Then from February the 2024 model year launched which along with some upgrades to the intelligent driving system, introduced the 800V platform and the new Qiin and Shenxing batteries from CATL, together with more powerful motors and upgrades to the appearance of both the exterior and interior. The 2025 model, on the other hand, is largely just an upgrade in terms of intelligent driving capability and the operating system’s capabilities.

Editor’s note:

Zeekr says progress with intelligent driving is moving too quickly and that consumers are increasingly using this as a differentiating factor when choosing a car model.

China is experiencing a situation where the model life cycle of a car is being radically compressed. Whereas in the past, a car could be on sale for 5 to 10 years, perhaps with one or two facelifts within that time, this is no longer possible. The main driver for this change is the rapid acceleration of intelligent driving.

This change first became apparent in 2021 with cars from Xpeng. In the first half of the year, Xpeng was pushing the new capabilities of the Xpeng P7, which at the time included Highway NGP and a memory parking function. However, in the second half of the same year, the company launched the Xpeng P5, which was equipped with two lidar units. This immediately promised a much higher capability with intelligent driving but on a smaller, cheaper car than the P7.

While OTAs can usher in many improvements over the course of a car’s life, they are limited by the actual hardware fitted to the car itself. The latest intelligent driving solutions often need new sensors or chips to operate, and as we see from Zeekr’s statement, this is probably the tip of the iceberg, with them being reliant on many underlying structures and systems.

Sources: Autohome, Fast Technology,