Zeekr launched its new Mix electric MPV at Auto China 2024 in Beijing. The car represents much more than just a new take on family transport.
The biggest announcement from Chinese brand Zeekr at the Auto China show in Beijing last week looked like a nicely reimagined take on the Multi-Purpose Vehicle. But it was also a sign of the direction of not just Zeekr, but the automotive industry in China in general. It shows just how far the country’s carmakers have come, and how much more competition American and European companies will face from now on.
The Mix is of course an electric van, because Zeekr is an electric-only brand. Zeekr hasn’t launched in the USA yet (or the UK) but entered the lucrative European market last year with the 001 shooting brake and X compact car. Since its debut in October 2021, Zeekr has delivered 240,000 vehicles, so not a huge player so far, but it’s also part of massive automotive behemoth Geely, which owns numerous brands only available in China but also Volvo, Lotus, Polestar, LEVC and Malaysian carmaker Proton.What’s Special About The Zeekr Mix?
Being electric, the Mix has been able to maximize its interior space, as its motors are small and its batteries beneath the floor. However, one of the key design innovations with the Mix is its lack of a B-pillar. On both sides, the front door slides forwards and the rear one backwards. This makes for a wide opening to get into both the front and rear seats of the car. In the prototype demo vehicle, there was a table in the middle and the front seats could rotate, turning the car interior into a dining area.
The idea is that this is a perfect format for families on a day out. Now that China is more affluent, its people are looking for better ways to enjoy their leisure time, so vehicle designs are starting to be oriented more towards this than being purely utilitarian. At the Auto China show, there were quite a few vehicles on display with bicycle racks or offroad-focused cars aimed at exploring China’s immense countryside. Design studies of the Mix also showed it as a camper van.
It might be a cause for concern that the Mix has no B-pillar, but that’s not entirely true. The edges of the doors are strengthened with built-in pillars, so when the doors lock into place, they actually form a B-pillar.
