Somewhere in a polished glass tower, a premium brand product planner has just gone a funny shade of beige.
The MY26 Zeekr X arrives in Australia in May 2026 with the sort of pricing that makes established luxury EV brands look like wilted bunch of servo flowers. Considering the recent Mazda 6e pricing, the better equipped Zeekr is superior on paper and on price.
Rear-wheel drive will sit in a comfy spot under $50,000 driveaway. All-wheel drive will stay under $60,000 driveaway. For a compact electric SUV with proper shove, a smart cabin, freshened styling, more boot space, and a long equipment list, it again demonstrates Chinese brands’ willingness to meet the market. It is provocative. It proves you can get more for less.
With 4 newish Chinese brands in the top ten with BYD at 6. March saw BYD (7217) at number 3 behind Toyota (16574), then Kia (7,320). While there are no Geely brands in the top ten yet, the writing is on the wall.
Zeekr, for those still catching up, is part of the sprawling Geely empire, which also includes Volvo, Polestar, Smart and Lotus. That is a rather decent calling card when you are trying to convince Australian buyers this is not some fly-by-night curiosity with a glossy brochure and a prayer. The Zeekr X already looked like it had been designed by people who understood premium restraint better than a few European houses currently charging six figures for beige disappointment. MY26 sharpens the pitch.
See our Zeekr X review here
And the pitch is simple. If you are shopping for a compact premium EV, why are you still paying legacy tax?
The updated Zeekr X is 4432mm long, 1836mm wide, 1566mm tall, and rides on a 2750mm wheelbase. Those are tidy city-SUV numbers, but the important bit is what Zeekr has done with the packaging. Boot space jumps to 404 litres, and 1247 litres with the rear seats folded, up 18% from the old 342L figure. That matters more than a designer dashboard flourish or another app nobody wanted. A premium SUV still has to carry bags, groceries, gym clutter, and the occasional impulse homewares purchase.
MY26 also gets a revised centre console, more storage, a ventilated wireless charger, and a cabin refresh that sounds like Zeekr has listened to what owners grumbled about instead of pretending they were using it wrong. That alone puts it ahead of half the prestige field who simply treat buyers as an inconvenience.
Above: Geely Starray and Which Driveline Is Best for You
#Geely #Starray #SUV #Hybrid #CarNews
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ABOVE: MY26 Zeekr X launch imagery, studio views, urban shots, and cabin details including the fridge and refreshed interior.
The sweet spot
The rear-wheel drive model is the volume play, and quite possibly the sweet spot. It now uses a 61kWh LFP Golden Battery and punches out 250kW and 373Nm. That is up from 200kW and 343Nm in MY25 which was already impressive. It is not a token bump scribbled in by marketing after a long lunch either, it is a considered upgrade to meet the market. It is substantial. Zero to 100km/h takes a brisk 5.6 seconds, which in a small SUV is more than sufficient for merging, overtaking, and the odd burst of properly entertaining anti-social enthusiasm.
WLTP range is a modest 405km likely to be close to 330km once we have at it. DC charging peaks at up to 230kW, and the 10 to 80% top up takes 18 minutes. That is about 12 minutes quicker than MY25. Twelve minutes is the difference between “I’ll grab a coffee” and “why am I still standing here like a dill?”
That charging figure is especially juicy because the battery chemistry is LFP. Usually, the trade-off is resilience and cost over headline pace. Zeekr seems to have decided buyers would rather have all three and left the hand-wringing to everybody else.
The fast one
Then there is the AWD. This one gets a 66kWh NMC battery, 365kW combined, and 573Nm. Power climbs from 315kW, torque from 543Nm, and the result is a 0 to 100km/h time of a very quick 3.7 seconds. In a compact SUV under $60,000 driveaway, that is gloriously unnecessary in the way all good performance should be. We found the steering and handling to be impressive in the outgoing model, very European in fact.
Range is 415km WLTP, so it even manages the neat trick of being quicker and slightly longer-legged than the RWD. DC charging tops out at an adequate 150kW and the 10 to 80% time is 30 minutes, which is less dazzling than the RWD’s figures. It has the same electric architecture so big bumps in DC charge speeds aren’t possible. AC charging hits 22kW, which makes the best use of those free destination chargers hidden in the local shopping centre. Anyone with access to three-phase power at home will rather like that.
Standard equipment has been fattened up, too. Heated and ventilated front seats are in. Heated outer rear seats are in. Heated steering wheel, 13-speaker Yamaha audio, steering wheel touchpad, more storage, all in. You no longer need to step into the dearer variant to avoid feeling short-changed. Zeekr has understood something the old guard forgot while busy monetising wireless CarPlay and other subscription nonsense. Premium means generous not merely available.
The AWD adds the sort of flourish that could tip a buyer from curious to hopelessly seduced. Massage seats, a temperature-controlled onboard fridge, optional automatic doors, forged black 20-inch wheels, and extra finishes including Onyx Black and matte Khaki Green. A fridge in a compact SUV is a bit ridiculous, which means I love it. Carmakers spend years telling us buyers want austere minimalism and monk-like restraint on the one hand, or “premiumisation” on the other. What confused nonsense. People want toys. Clever toys, silly toys. Little moments of delight. A cold drink on a hot day qualifies.
20 line spec table
| Model | MY26 Zeekr X |
| Launch timing | Australia from May 2026 |
| Price RWD | Under $50,000 driveaway |
| Price AWD | Under $60,000 driveaway |
| Body style | Compact electric SUV |
| Length | 4432mm |
| Width | 1836mm |
| Height | 1566mm |
| Wheelbase | 2750mm |
| Boot space | 404L to 1247L |
| Boot increase | Up 18% from 342L |
| RWD battery | 61kWh LFP Golden Battery |
| RWD output | 250kW and 373Nm |
| RWD range | 405km WLTP |
| RWD charging | 230kW DC, 18 min 10 to 80%, 11kW AC |
| AWD battery | 66kWh NMC |
| AWD output | 365kW and 573Nm |
| AWD range | 415km WLTP |
| AWD charging | 150kW DC, 30 min 10 to 80%, 22kW AC |
| Safety tech | Zeekr AD, 5 cameras, 5 radars, 12 ultrasonic sensors, remote park assist, 7 airbags, 5-star ANCAP |
The old guard should worry
Styling changes sound measured rather than panicked and hysterical. Sharper design (god how I hate that term), frameless doors, rear privacy glass, welcome light logo projection, ambient lighting, premium interior revisions, and a black roof on certain AWD options. Good. Zeekr did not need to reinvent the X. It needed to make the car look refreshed and a touch more expensive. That appears to have happened. There have been many EV entries battering the market, bloodying the noses of one Chinese brand after another. the legacy OEMs are being left in the dust.
Safety and driver assistance are serious enough to quiet the badge snobs who pretend Chinese brands are all fur and no knickers. Zeekr AD bundles five HD cameras, five mm-wave radars, and 12 ultrasonic sensors, plus remote parking assist. Seven airbags are standard, and the X carries a five-star ANCAP result under the 2024 protocol. That last bit matters, because newer protocols are not handed out with a smile and a biscuit. Remember, Tesla makes do with only cameras. no other sensors are included.
Does the MY26 Zeekr X undercut legacy premium EVs? Yes, comprehensively. It is a flogging, a bloodbath, a kick in the cobblers.
Not just on price, though that alone would be enough to start a boardroom panic. It undercuts them on the relationship between price, performance, equipment, and modernity. A sub-$50k driveaway RWD with 250kW, a bigger boot, heated and ventilated seats, Yamaha audio, and 18-minute fast charging would have sounded fanciful from an established European premium brand five minutes ago. A sub-$60k AWD with 365kW and 3.7-second acceleration sounds like the sort of thing they would launch at $78,000, then demand another four grand for paint and a winter pack.
Zeekr is not merely cheaper. It is making legacy premium brands look lazy, bloated, and stupidly overpriced. Once punters realise they can get more power, more equipment, more pace, more style, and a richer cabin for materially less money, sentiment starts to look frightfully expensive.
The MY26 Zeekr X feels like the moment the compact premium EV class stops being polite and starts being a knife fight. Zeekr has turned up crammed with top spec, better packaging, faster charging in the key RWD variant, and pricing that lands exactly where it can do maximum carnage. It is a fight Legacy brands can’t win, not even the once value-driven Koreans.
Brands like VW are looking financially fragile, the Japanese brands are sliding runaway toboggans. Europe is desperately playing catch up but can;t match quality of price, AMerica isn’t even in consideration, and the UK? That is a spent force.
May cannot come soon enough.
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Alan Zurvas is the founder and editor of Gay Car Boys, Australia's leading LGBTQI+ automotive publication. Before launching GCB in 2008, Alan's automotive writing was published in SameSame.com.au and the Star Observer. With over 16 years of hands-on car reviewing experience, Alan brings an honest, irreverent voice to every review — championing value and innovation over brand loyalty.
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