2025 Zeekr X RWD review

The Zeekr X is a very avant-garde car, at least in name. Vowels are out, Xs are in, apparently.

But then, a quick look at the styling confirms that the X-factor theme goes deeper than expected.

This small SUV from China looks quite unlike anything else, but shares a platform with the Volvo EX30 and Smart #1, which went on sale in 2024. Crucially, this SUV is priced below both of those variants, making it one of the most affordable premium-spec electric-vehicle options in Australia.

We’ve had a run through the top-spec Zeekr X AWD, so if you’re chasing all-wheel-drive performance you can read through that review – but in this instance, we’re covering the entry-level Zeekr X rear-wheel drive (RWD).

Zeekr had barely been on the Australian new-car market before announcing price discounts on the Zeekr X small SUV.

The entry-level Zeekr X RWD is the biggest beneficiary of the discount, with 12 per cent shaved off the list price, totalling $49,900 plus on-road costs. To put that in perspective, $7000 had been cut from the price of the Zeekr X RWD.

It’s a simple two-strong range for the Zeekr X – one RWD grade and one AWD – but a $4000 Convenience Pack is applicable to the RWD version. The car I tested did not have this pack specified, meaning my tester listed at $49,900 plus on-road costs, or $55,629 drive-away in Melbourne.

The Tesla Model Y can be had for $58,900, while the Kia EV5 costs $56,770 – both expressed before on-road costs.

Though, Volvo’s own EX30 ($59,990 plus ORCs) and the Smart #1 (from $54,900 plus ORCs) are arguably better yardsticks for comparison, especially considering these models share the same platform, underpinnings, outputs, and battery size.

Let’s start talking about what you get for your money. The Zeekr X, in its most basic form, is powered by a 66kWh battery that provides juice to a 200kW/343Nm rear-mounted electric motor.

The car will do up to 540km between charges, though this is based on lenient ADR 81/02 formulas, whereas the Volvo EX30 (480km) and Smart #1 Pro+ (420km) use the more stringent WLTP system.

The Zeekr X can charge at a maximum of 150kW using a DC fast charger, meaning a 10 to 80 per cent recuperation can take just 30 minutes.

In terms of the tangibles, the Zeekr X RWD is kitted with a massive 14.6-inch infotainment screen, LED headlights, 19-inch alloy wheels, an 8.8-inch driver cluster display, a panoramic glass roof, wireless phone charging and smartphone mirroring, and “leather-free” black and grey upholstery.

We’ll talk about the Zeekr X’s interior in a moment, but one frustration arrives even before you step foot inside the cabin. Granted, this car comes with a physical key, which is commendable given the way some other brands are going these days, but there’s no eyelet point on the fob, meaning you can’t put it on your set of keys at all.

It seems like such a silly mistake, but one that truly frustrates when you use the Zeekr X every day.

The Zeekr X comes with inset keyless-entry door handles and proximity-sensing technology that can detect the device in your pocket from a few metres away, but this is no excuse. Design a proper key next time, please, Zeekr.

Once you are inside the cabin, things start to improve. It’s a nicely appointed interior with soft-touch panels abound, plus the rose gold accents set off the cabin’s look nicely. There are extra-cost interior colour combinations available, such as the Mulberry and Rose and Polar White and Midnight Blue ($500 each), though I thought the varying grey colourways of my test car were fine.

Otherwise, there’s good adjustment of the steering wheel and seat to get a comfortable driving position, good storage around the centre console area to stow handbags, wallets, and keys, plus a deep centre console. There’s also a wireless phone charger within the central armrest, but it’s a slot-type, meaning you could potentially lose items to the cavity – and I didn’t see an easy way to retrieve them.

The centre stack has interesting pop-out hook beside two USB power points, but only one cupholder, which is a shame.

I’m not a huge fan of the lack of a physical door handle – in their place are simple buttons that you can’t leverage to open the car door – and the window switches seem counterintuitive and backwards.

The second row of the Zeekr X isn’t a bad place to spend time, but there’s not much space to this SUV. Behind my own driving position I didn’t have all too much space to roam about, and despite my head and knee room being fine, I was disappointed with the low-slung seat base that meant my legs swayed awkwardly in the balance. 

It’s also unlikely you’ll be able to fit three adults side by side in the second row. There is no USB power, but air vents in the B-pillars. There’s also a fold-down centre armrest with cupholders.

Zeekr suggests there is a 362-litre boot in the X small SUV, expandable to a 1182L space once the rear seats are folded flat. There is a tyre repair kit in place of a physical spare wheel.

Just about everything to do with the Zeekr’s systems and controls is handled through the big 14.6-inch infotainment screen. This isn’t ideal with a system that can take seconds at a time to perform simple tasks, like displaying the integrated satellite navigation.

It’s not an endemic problem because certain actions are faster than others – for example, the home screen where you can spin the car around to enable functions like opening the boot is swift; however, it’s very hit-and-miss in what tasks it can execute quickly.

Luckily, wireless Apple CarPlay was pleasantly fast in my experience, but I can’t say the same about a colleague’s experience with wired Android Auto – it was slow to open Google Maps, answer phone calls, and navigate between different apps.

The Zeekr’s own app drawer comes with more than 24 options to choose from, which seems confusing enough itself.

Frustratingly, the side mirrors must be tweaked using the central infotainment system first, then using the steering wheel buttons to fine-tune the position.

In front of the driver is an 8.8-inch screen that is a helpful solution to displaying information such as speed data, charge information and efficiency, and media playback status.

There are five years of connected services included, which means an owner can monitor the lights, doors, windows, navigation settings, and charge status remotely.

The Zeekr X was tested by Euro NCAP in 2024 to a five-star standard, and this rating has since been transposed to a five-star ANCAP result.

The Zeekr earned 91 per cent for adult occupant protection, 87 per cent for child occupant protection, 84 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 84 per cent for safety assist technology.

There are a multitude of active safety measures within the Zeekr X RWD, in addition to a suite of seven airbags (including a centre airbag that prevents contact between passengers).

But, one of my favourite parts is the fact that you can configure these systems from within the infotainment system. I could change the sensitivity of systems, turn others off… this level of customisation in safety systems is appreciated. Unfortunately, only some systems ‘remember’ their status between turning the car off and then on again.

Some of the car’s active safety measures were too insistent in their inputs, including the autonomous emergency braking that activated too prematurely.

One interesting safety feature I came across was the emergency drive recorder function that can detect when the car might be involved in a crash, and then automatically hits record on the external dash camera. This activates a little too prematurely, in my experience, because it switched itself on when I zipped round a roundabout quickly.

The car didn’t break traction, despite being wet, but it was enough to kickstart this in-built dash cam function.

Somewhat concerning is the fact that it records in-cabin audio, meaning the phone conversation that I was having as I was going around the roundabout was recorded onto the car’s local hard drive.

Thankfully, these clips are easily deleted, but it doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence that your car is a vault.

Zeekrs in Australia are covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, in addition to five years of roadside assistance. The car’s battery is warranted for eight years/160,000km – a common arrangement for electric vehicles.

Zeekr offers capped-price servicing for the first five years (or 100,000km), and these visits cost $237, $616, $237, $1205, and $237, respectively. Over three years/60,000km owners are looking at $1090, while five years or 100,000km asks for $2532.

In comparison, Smart runs a capped-price servicing program tallying $2021 over five years, while Volvo charges nothing to service the EX30 over five years.

This makes the Zeekr very expensive compared to its twins-under-the-skin.

A year of comprehensive insurance coverage with a leading provider is quoted as $2198, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The same quote calculator and parameters return $2205 for a Tesla Model 3 Long Range, $2702 for a Hyundai Kona Electric Premium and $1965 for a Mini Countryman E Classic.

Zeekr claims an energy consumption as low as 15.5kWh per 100 kilometres for the AWD variant, but no such figure is forthcoming for the entry-level RWD spec.

In the real world, I found the RWD version settled around the 20kWh/100km mark in the time I spent with it. This was primarily across suburban environments. It did tend to skew lower when I hit stop/start traffic, though the overall result was higher than expected, above rivals like the Tesla Model Y and the XPeng G6, which can both go lower than 15kWh/100km.

The maximum DC charge rate for the Zeekr X is 150kW, while the onboard AC charger is capped at 7.2kW. Zeekr estimates the X can recharge from 10 to 80 per cent in 30 minutes.

It may be entry-level in price, but the level of performance offered by the Zeekr X RWD certainly doesn’t feel entry-level.

The car outputs 200kW and 343Nm from its single rear-mounted electric motor, the same deal as twins-under-the-skin like the Volvo EX30, and the acceleration experience is strong. From a standstill or on the move.

It means overtakes are not a worry, and zipping up to the posted speed limit is easy business.

It’s less of a kick in the back and more of a firm surge of power in terms of feel, but it’s one that was pretty addictive in my experience.

It’s backed up by a firm but compliant ride comfort that means the Zeekr X is a comfortable car for most scenarios. It’s no sports hatch, especially with its 1855kg weight, but it fares decently on bendy roads.

Speed bumps and bigger bumps in the road didn’t intrude on cabin comfort too harshly, though patchy sections of bitumen with imperfections were felt to a larger extent.

Disappointingly, I noticed some unfortunate creaks and squeaks from the cabin while driving the Zeekr X over certain undulations and bumps. Going over speed humps produced an annoying squeak from the panoramic roof, and I also heard creaks from the interior panels flexing while I was manoeuvring the car into a car park on uneven road.

This kind of noise intrusion isn’t something that you accept in a car purporting to be ‘premium’.

There’s a quick, accurate steering quality to the Zeekr X that makes it a fun thing to pedal about town, but there’s no real feel to the system, so enthusiastic drivers beware. It’s also light, but can be weighted up using one of the varying ‘steering feel’ settings.

Sadly, there’s no fine-tune adjustment of the braking regeneration. There are just two levels. I found the regen, even in its lowest setting, to be quite strong. This could be a major problem with some buyers who don’t like that ‘one pedal’ drive mode-type sensation.

Some of the poor ergonomic decisions, such as the side mirror adjustments within the infotainment system, are felt to the fullest degree while driving. I wish these were reverted to physical controls within easy reach of the driver.

The Zeekr X does have an X factor, and it does bring some prestige touches along with its mainstream price tag.

But, on the whole, I don’t think what the brand’s served up should be regarded as a premium car. They may say so, but the real-world experiences of creaks and rattles falls short of something that should be considered in the same breath as Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.

The run-ins with the safety systems were a disappointment, as was the single cupholder, the silly key, the slow-to-respond infotainment system, and finicky controls for the side mirrors.

Its interior impresses with its design and soft-touch elements, and it does come at an alluring price. But, the overall Zeekr X experience also comes with pitfalls that its competitors don't exhibit – even if they are a bit more expensive.

Tom started out in the automotive industry by exploiting his photographic skills but quickly learned journalists got the better end of the deal. With tenures at CarAdvice, Wheels Media, and now Drive, Tom's breadth of experience and industry knowledge informs a strong opinion on all things automotive. At Drive, Tom covers automotive news, car reviews, advice, and holds a special interest in long-form feature stories.

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