2026 Zeekr X RWD review: Australian first drive

While the 7X has stolen the spotlight for growing Chinese brand Zeekr in recent months, it also fields an offering in Australia’s second-best-selling SUV category that, after 18 months on sale, has been given some love.

The Zeekr X small SUV has received an update for 2026, and while it looks almost identical on the outside, it has gained a new electric motor, new battery in the RWD grade, much faster charging, and a more practical interior.

Even more important is a massive cut to the price, now starting below $50,000 drive-away with a longer list of features that, in the old model, would’ve pushed the ticket close to $60,000 on the road.

It has made for a much more appealing small electric SUV rival to the Kia EV3, BYD Atto 3, MG S5 EV and more – but there is still room for improvement before it can be considered a class leader. Keep reading to find out more.

Zeekr won’t confirm the exact price of the updated X until the Melbourne motor show on 10 April 2026, eight days after the embargo on this review lifts.

In the meantime, the brand has confirmed the entry-level RWD grade on test here is now priced “under $50,000 drive-away” in New South Wales – down from an indicated $55,643 for the outgoing model.

That’s before you consider that features such as heated and ventilated front seats, a power passenger seat, driver’s seat memory, a heated steering wheel, and Yamaha premium audio – previously part of the $4000 Convenience Package – are now standard.

It means the updated 2026 RWD is effectively $10,000 cheaper than its predecessor, when specified equivalently – and we’re inclined to believe the price will be even sharper than just $49,990 drive-away.

The all-wheel-drive flagship is now priced “under $60,000 drive-away”, down from an indicated $69,293 drive-away in NSW today.

The RWD’s new price is far more competitive against rivals: a BYD Atto 3 Premium ($48,749 drive-away in NSW), Kia EV3 Air Standard Range ($46,990 drive-away nationwide), and a top-spec MG S5 EV Essence 62 ($48,990 drive-away).

Standard features in the RWD include 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a 14.6-inch touchscreen, 8.8-inch instrument display, leather-look upholstery, power-adjustable front seats, a glass roof, a 50-watt wireless phone charger, and a 360-degree camera.

Exclusive to the AWD are massaging front seats with four-way power lumbar control, an augmented-reality head-up display, an in-car fridge (new for 2026), 20-inch wheels, and the option of power-operated doors – something we'd skip based on experience with the 7X.

New for the RWD is a 61kWh battery – slightly smaller in capacity (previously 66kWh), but packing new lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry that should be more durable, and more resistant to charges to 100 per cent without accelerating the wear of the battery cells.

The new electric motor sees energy consumption claimed at 17.5 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres in WLTP testing, and a 405km claimed WLTP driving range.

On paper, that’s higher than the 13.9kWh/100km and 540km quoted for the 2025 RWD, but they were measured against much less stringent NEDC protocols. In WLTP testing, the previous X RWD quoted about 440km of range.

Over about 400km of city, highway and country driving, I saw an average of 17.4kWh/100km, though around town energy use dropped to 14kWh/100km or less, while more intensive driving pushed the marker above 18kWh/100km.

That equates to a real-world range of between 435km in the city to a much more restrictive 330km in the country – comparable with price rivals, but it’s possible to get up to 600km from a Kia EV3, if your pockets are deep enough for the long-range versions.

AC charging has been upgraded to 11kW in the RWD and 22kW in the AWD, up from 7.2kW and 11kW respectively.

The RWD also enjoys a big upgrade in DC fast-charging, now able to accept up to 230kW for a claimed 18-minute 10 to 80 per cent recharge – compared to 150kW and 30 minutes previously.

The Zeekr X is covered by the brand’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, plus eight years or 160,000km (whichever comes first) coverage for the high-voltage battery pack.

Service intervals are set every 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first – par for the segment.

Prices are high, however, thanks to a monster $1275 fourth-year service that brings the five-year total to $2662 – up from $2532 in the outgoing X RWD about a year ago, and higher than many comparable petrol cars, which have complex engines with far more moving parts.

The MY26 X is too new to appear on our go-to car insurance calculator, but its RWD with Convenience Pack predecessor cost $2020 for a year of comprehensive coverage with a leading provider, against $1769 for a Kia EV3 Air Standard Range.

The quotes apply to a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The Zeekr X is covered by a five-star safety rating under just-superseded 2024 test protocols, and there’s a long list of safety features and systems to rattle off – some more intrusive than others.

The driver attention monitor is the worst offender. It is prone to beeping at the driver for brief glances away from the road, whether that’s a head check, or to use the big screen Zeekr insists you use for basic vehicle functions, rather than fit physical buttons.

The traffic sign recognition system will also beep when the vehicle exceeds the speed limit it has detected, even if it has misread the sign – say, reading 110km/h as 70km/h – which it is prone to doing.

It is accompanied by a message on the instrument display reading “Speed exceeded”, and a prompt to dismiss it by clicking the right-side toggle on the steering wheel.

We found that if you press it too late, it will not only remove the message, but interpret it as you wanting to hang up the current phone call, or pause the song you were playing.

The solution is to just turn these safety systems off, which can be done by tapping through the touchscreen to find the ‘Zeekr AD’ menu, or the much easier task of swiping down from the top of the display, and pressing a few shortcuts. As with many new cars, though, these features switch back on when the car is restarted.

Also worth turning off is lane-keep assist. It is prone to tugging on the steering wheel well before the car crosses a white line, so it can be quite chatty on narrow roads with tight markings. It, too, can be disabled on each drive by swiping down from the top of the touchscreen.

Adaptive cruise control does a better job, but it is not as smooth in modulating the brakes in slow-speed traffic as we’d like. The lane-centring assistant doesn’t always recognise a quick flash of the indicators, so it can attempt to wrestle the steering from the driver mid-lane change, and the assisted lane-change function can be temperamental.

We have fewer criticisms of the autonomous emergency braking, which did not activate when it wasn’t meant to, while the blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alerts are quite conservative in how early they go off, but it’s not a deal-breaker.

The resolution of the parking cameras is excellent – more so the front and rear bumper cameras than those pointed at the wheels, but they are still great to have to avoid kerbing the wheels – plus front and rear parking sensors, seven airbags, and tyre pressure monitors.

Automatic parking is also available, should you prefer to let the car do the work.

The Zeekr X is at the larger end of the ‘small’ SUV category, similar in footprint to a BYD Atto 3, Kia EV3 and MG S5 EV – thus the comparisons between them in this review – but smaller than ‘medium’ SUVs such as the Geely EX5 and Tesla Model Y.

New for 2026 on the outside are Onyx Black gloss and Khaki Green paint colours, but they are exclusive to the AWD on production versions.

The car in these images is a pre-production model, also explaining its black and red interior that is also only available on the AWD with the black package optioned.

Important changes have been made inside the Zeekr X, even if fundamentals like the screen, the shape of the seats, and the general design of the cabin remain the same.

The most noticeable change is in the middle, where the old awkward centre console – with an unusual phone pocket, and only one cupholder by default – is replaced by an arrangement that mimics Tesla even more than before.

There is space for two phones – one of which is a wireless charger, now 50-watt and with ventilation – plus a very deep storage cubby and cupholders that, admittedly, are too tight to fit even a 375ml soft-drink can without squeezing it.

It is augmented by long door pockets and a decently-sized storage area below the centre armrest, though there is no glovebox, nor a pass-through under the centre console.

The front seats are largely unchanged, with reasonable comfort and lateral support, but a lack of under-thigh support for long-legged drivers that can’t be improved, as the driver’s seat is only six-way adjustable (slide, backrest tilt, and height).

Heating, ventilation and memory now included in the base price is a welcome improvement, with the passenger seat now four-way power-adjustable as standard.

Zeekr has added quilting to the synthetic leather-look upholstery on the seats and door panels, introducing some visual flair to a cabin that places soft materials in the spots you’re likely to touch. Perceived build quality is good, and the stalks feel high-quality.

The steering wheel is small and feels luxurious in the hand, but the buttons are poorly marked, so there is a period of trial and error – or a long demo from the salesperson – before you figure out what the two rocker switches do.

New for 2026 is a row of shortcuts on the steering wheel for door locks, parking cameras, defrosters, and the tailgate. They are handy to have, but being touch-sensitive, they are difficult to press accurately without looking away from the road.

The door releases are electronic, like many new electric cars. There are manual releases lower down on the door panels, with a sticker to mark their position, but you can’t see said label for the door you’re closest to when you’re sitting in the seat. Expect to explain how to open the door to your passengers, though owners will figure it out quickly.

Passengers won’t complain about amenities: dual-zone climate control, a wireless phone charger, heated and ventilated seats, two USB-C ports, multi-colour ambient lighting, and keyless entry.

The panoramic glass roof lacks a sunshade, so it is prone to heating up the cabin – and, while our late-March test didn’t put it through the ringer, past experience suggests Zeekr air conditioning struggles with Australian summers.

Space in the rear is respectable for the Zeekr X’s footprint, my 186cm (6ft 1in) tall frame fitting behind my driving position with ample knee room and good head room, but toe room is very tight with the driver’s seat set low.

The floor is close to flat, and the cabin is wide and airy enough not to feel claustrophobic, but the outboard seats – which are heated, a rare feature in this class – lack under-thigh support, perching passengers’ legs in the air.

There are other gripes: there is an elevated section at the rear of the centre seat base that digs into the middle passenger’s bum, the rear-side windows don’t drop down very far, and the map pockets are tiny, prioritising form over function to match the seatback stitching.

Only one USB-C point is offered to rear passengers, but there are air vents, a fold-down armrest with two cupholders, outboard ISOFIX anchors and three top tethers for child seats, and space for bottles in the doors.

Boot space has grown on paper from 342 litres to 404L, all liberated under the floor, but it’s still on the small side for the category. It's large enough for school bags and small suitcases but not a cross-country road trip.

The light and power tailgate are good to have, as is the tiny under-bonnet cubby, but there’s no spare wheel, only a tyre repair kit.

Standard in the Zeekr X is a 14.6-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, voice control, and FM and digital radio.

It runs the same software as the larger Zeekr 7X, but the display is slightly smaller – though still massive for a compact SUV – and it lacks the same processing power, so it is not as consistently snappy in its responses, with a noticeable delay in the rear-view camera.

As with many new electric cars, most vehicle functions run through the display, from the climate controls – air vent position included – to adjusting the side mirrors.

It is true that once you configure the vehicle to your liking, it remembers most of your settings, but adjusting functions hidden in touchscreen menus will always be more distracting than pressing a button or turning a dial.

It’s not helped by the fact the steering wheel blocks the right edge of the centre screen, so adjusting certain things requires drivers to crane their head around the wheel, which adds to the distraction while driving.

It’s also hard to reopen Apple CarPlay or Android Auto once you’ve minimised it, requiring two taps into a grid of apps, or pressing a tiny icon along the top row of the touchscreen.

Zeekr has taken steps to simplify the process. We particularly like the ability to adjust air fan speed and one of the temperature zones through the instrument cluster – using the steering wheel rocker controls – while media and safety shortcuts are available by swiping down on the display.

Wireless Apple CarPlay was reliable in my time with the car, bar occasionally requiring me to manually open the feature on vehicle startup – rather than doing so automatically.

Ahead of the driver is an 8.8-inch instrument display, which presents the key information clearly and is minimalist in its graphics, though it would be nice to show a map where it currently shows a visualisation of what the car’s cameras see.

The 13-speaker Yamaha audio system delivers strong sound quality with decent bass, while Zeekr offers a companion phone app with remote locking, preconditioning, and other features.

It’s handy, as the Zeekr key fob does not include a hole to attach it to your house or office keys. We resorted to a few elastic bands to tie it to a garage pass for the Drive office.

The headline change on the road is an extra 50kW/30Nm from a new rear electric motor, now rated at 250kW/373Nm in rear-drive models, or combining with a 115kW/200Nm front motor in the Performance AWD for 365kW/573Nm.

Despite the power boost, the RWD’s new battery means it’s barely any quicker than before.

Still, it’s not a slow car. Floor the accelerator and you’re shoved into the seatback, with excellent urgency up to highway speeds, and a range of modes (Comfort, Standard, Sport) allow response and performance to be varied.

The regenerative braking of the electric motor – recuperating energy as you decelerate – is also customisable between two intensities, and a choice between letting the car creep at low speeds or come to a full stop without touching the brake pedal.

It is not the jerkiest we’ve experienced, but the way it slows the car – and how it dials up the deceleration the longer you’re off the pedal – does not feel as natural as a Kia or Tesla. The brake pedal is well weighted and easy to interact with.

Where the Zeekr X needed attention – but it hasn’t been given – is in the suspension.

On smooth roads, there is a taut edge to the way it deals with bumps, but it is never harsh or too brittle to live with.

Occupants are jostled around on rough roads, never feeling particularly settled, with plenty of head toss – where potholes and speed bumps will knock your head off and back into the headrest. Many electric cars suffer from these issues, but an EV3 or S5 EV manages it better.

At higher speeds on country roads, the X is out of its depth. Again, smooth surfaces are handled with composure, but the suspension quickly runs out of talent on rough roads, with mid-corner bumps knocking it off its line, while lacking composure over undulations and uneven tarmac.

It manages to feel too soft and ‘floaty’ yet too stiff and bouncy, all at once, and does not give the driver the same confidence on tricky roads as an MG, Kia, Hyundai or even a BYD.

It is at its worst when the Zeekr is driven with a little more enthusiasm than usual, but there is still plenty of room for improvement at sedate speeds.

The rest of the package is respectable. The steering is fast and light at city speeds, while still intuitive and easy to place at higher speeds. Visibility is decent out the front and sides, but somewhat limited out the rear.

On the motorway, there is some tyre roar and wind noise – exacerbated by the frameless windows – but all told, it’s serene enough to match well with the 13-speaker Yamaha sound system.

Slashing the price alone has turned the Zeekr X from a small electric SUV we wouldn’t blame you for forgetting even existed, to one worthy of a spot on your consideration list.

It is in the fight on price with the likes of BYD, MG and Kia, mixed with faster charging, a more luxurious interior, a longer list of equipment, and a little more pep in its step.

There are caveats, however. The suspension is not as supple nor confidence-inspiring as its rivals, the advanced safety systems are in need of further refinement, and the driving range is modest, even if it is quite frugal on energy.

Space in the rear seats and boot is also not class-leading, though it is likely to be roomy enough for families as a second car. Service pricing is also not cheap.

Still, the level of luxury, technology and equipment offered at a reasonable price will be enough to draw the attention of buyers considering its competitors.

If you like the look of the Zeekr X – and are impressed by a long test drive on familiar roads – it is well worth a look.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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