Follow the money! Zeekr back-peddling on pure electric car positioning with hybrid 001 in development to challenge Hyundai Tucson, Nissan X-Trail e-Power and Toyota RAV4 Hybrids

Zeekr, Geely’s premium pure-EV sub-brand, may still be premium but it appears the purity of its approach to electric vehicles has been diluted somewhat with the emergence of a prototype Zeekr 001 hybrid.

The 001 is a shooting brake-style mid-size sportwagon currently powered by either a single electric motor in rear-wheel drive form or twin motors for all-wheel drive in its premium grades.

Zeekr has only just upgraded the car for the 2025 model year with improved, ‘semi-autonomous’ driver assist tech but as reported in CarsNewsChina a camouflaged example wearing a bonnet-mounted decal proudly confirming (in English and Chinese) that it’s a Hybrid Electric Vehicle has been spotted testing on public roads in China.

According to CarNewsChina, Zeekr CEO Andy An recently pointed to hybrid powertrains as an area of opportunity for the brand with plug-in (PHEV) and Extended Range Electric Vehicles (EREV) rapidly gaining popularity in the Chinese domestic market and around the world. As they say in the classics, ‘follow the money’.

The Zeekr brand is scheduled to launch locally next month with the compact X SUV (a close relative of Volvo’s EX30) and the 009 performance people mover is set to join it before the end of the year.

The Zeekr 001 is not on the arrivals list for Australia at this stage but availability of a hybrid variant could change that.

And the brand’s full-size flagship SUV, codenamed ‘EX1E’, is likely to be the brand’s first hybrid on sale with a domestic launch in the third quarter of 2025 to be followed soon after by the 001 hybrid.

Although details of the hybrid powertrain’s set-up are yet to be confirmed it’s likely the Zeekr system will operate in EREV mode at slow speeds with the internal-combustion (ICE) engine driving the wheels directly at higher speeds.

On the face of it the decision to expand the Zeekr line-up with hybrid variants starts to flood the zone with premium Geely subsidiaries offering battery-electric and hybrid technology thanks to sister brand Lynk & Co occupying a similar positioning.

But that’s not likely to be an issue in Australia with Geely focusing Lynk & Co exports on Europe at this stage.

Zeekr Australia has been contacted for comment on the prospects of the 001 Hybrid coming to the local market.