Richard Hammond was supposed to be on holiday in Sydney. Instead, a running gag of anonymous notes from DriveTribe headquarters keeps sending him out to a track to review the Zeekr 7X, complete with a pair of jet skis to tow and a kangaroo to look after. The result is a comedy travelogue wrapped around a genuine test. Underneath the jokes are real numbers. The performance all-wheel-drive 7X, Hammond says, makes 475 kW and 710 Nm, carries a 100 kWh battery good for a claimed 543 km of range, and charges from 10 to 80 percent in 13 minutes on its 800-volt system. He quotes 646 horsepower and a 0 to 100 km/h time of 3.8 seconds, which he tests and confirms. The figure he keeps returning to, though, is the price, which he pegs at around £45,000.
The 7X is a mid-size electric SUV, and the reason its badge matters is corporate. Zeekr sits inside Geely, the same group that owns Volvo and Polestar, which is why Hammond's note about sensing a Volvo safety influence is more than a guess; the video also says Zeekr hired experienced designers from established European brands. For buyers, the sharper point is value. Hammond frames the 7X against a luxury saloon like the latest BMW 7 Series, which he puts near £170,000, and says the Zeekr delivers features such as electric-opening doors and heated massage seats for a fraction of that. He also reports that in Australia the 7X is now outselling the Tesla Model Y by a clear margin, which he treats as a sign of how fast buyer attitudes are shifting. The 800-volt architecture is the spec worth flagging: charging at that level is still uncommon at this price, and it is the kind of hardware that used to be reserved for far pricier cars.
The video runs the 7X through a set of staged challenges. Hammond launches it and clocks the 3.8-second sprint, then hitches a trailer loaded with jet skis to test towing, noting Zeekr rates the car to pull two tons. He is candid that the SUV weighs over two tons itself, and that while the power and air suspension disguise the mass on the move, the brakes are the one part that cannot hide it and clearly work hard to haul the car down. He also touches on the now-standard debate about artificial motor noise, saying he likes it because he grew up with combustion engines. Inside, he flags the cabin as clean and recognizably car-like rather than overly screen-led, and runs through a menu of modes including car wash, pet and rest. The towing section is the most useful part: with the trailer attached, he describes the car as restful and composed, its own weight keeping the trailer in line rather than the other way around.
Bottom line: Hammond's verdict is really about the price-to-capability ratio, and on that he is convincing. A 646-horsepower electric SUV with 800-volt charging and a two-ton tow rating for around £45,000 reframes the China-versus-legacy debate as a question of cost rather than ability. The catch is the usual one for a newer brand: long-term support, resale value and whether that price holds outside the Australian market where he tested it. If you care more about what a car does than the badge on the nose, the 7X is hard to ignore, and Hammond, who has driven nearly everything, plainly did not expect to be this impressed. The old assumption that cheaper has to mean worse no longer holds here, and that shift, more than any single number, is the real story of this review.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.