ZEEKR builds 100,000th EV in just 18 months, gaining steam ahead of launch into Europe
Booming luxury EV brand ZEEKR is celebrating production milestones while simultaneously setting its sights on its next phase of expansion into Europe. The Geely-backed automaker recently rolled its 100,000th EV off its assembly line in China, a mere 18 months after flagship production began. For ZEEKR, however, it’s all part of a much larger set of goals and its pace is only getting faster.
When you truly think about today’s 100,000 EV milestone, ZEEKR didn’t even exist three years ago. Parent company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (Geely) announced ZEEKR as a new luxury EV automotive brand in March of 2021.
The young automaker’s first model, the ZEEKR 001 began production in China that following October, and only 199 EVs saw deliveries that first month. By January 2022, ZEEKR shared it was targeting 70,000 annual EV deliveries, alongside plans to expand to markets in Europe in early 2023. The ramping up progress is all part of a larger expansion goal to reach 650,000 units sold annually by 2025.
By last October – one year after beginning EV production, ZEEKR had delivered its 50,000th vehicle. A month later, ZEEKR launched its second model – the 009 MPV – which joined the 001 on assembly lines this past January.
That same month, ZEEKR shared even loftier goals for 2023. After exceeding its goal of 70k units for 2022, an internal letter from ZEEKR CEO Andy An, laid out five key targets for 2023. This included doubling last year’s sales up to 140,000 EVs annually, plus ZEEKR’s successful entry into new markets of Europe.
Following a presentation from the Shanghai Auto Show, ZEEKR appears well on its way into
Europe and is gaining the production momentum required to hit its next sales milestone.
ZEEKR shares where it will sell its first EVs in Europe
According to a post from its Weibo page today, ZEEKR has produced 100,000 EVs to date in just 548 days – that’s an average of about 5,474 EVs per month. Impressive for such a young automaker, but it is backed by one of the largest automotive conglomerates in China as well.
Earlier this month, ZEEKR launched its third all-electric model, a compact SUV called the X, which is expected to begin deliveries in China this summer. ZEEKR shared it is aiming to deliver 40,000 units of its latest model this year alone. Combined with the 001 and 009 EVs already humming on ZEEKR’s assembly lines, the X should propel the automaker closer to its ambitious sales target for the year.
During this week’s Shanghai Auto Show, we also learned that the ZEEKR X and 001 will be the company’s first models to be sold in Europe – and now we know where.
Both EVs are expected to make their debut in both Sweden and the Netherlands in Q4 of this year. A tad behind ZEEKR’s original timeline of entering markets in Europe in Q1 of 2023, but we are not going to knock that delay considering how quickly the young automaker continues to grow.
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Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.
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OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood‘s latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.
“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”
Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.
Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.
“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”
The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain
U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.
Despite the warnings, BYD continues introducing new discounts. On Wednesday, BYD’s luxury off-road brand began offering over 50% Huawei’s smart driving tech.
BYD introduces new discounts on smart driving tech
After BYD cut prices again in May, the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) warned that the ultra-low prices are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”
Although they didn’t single out BYD, it was pretty obvious. BYD slashed prices across 22 of its vehicles by up to 34%, triggering several automakers to follow suit in China.
BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, typically starts at about $10,000 (66,800 yuan). After the price cuts, the Seagull is listed at under $8,000 (55,800 yuan).
It doesn’t look like China’s EV leader plans to slow down anytime soon. Fang Cheng Bao, BYD’s luxury off-road brand, introduced new discounts on Huawei’s smart driving tech on Wednesday.
The limited-time offer cuts the price of Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving High-end Function Package to just 12,000 yuan ($1,700).
Buyers who order the smart driving tech in July will save over 50% compared to its typical price of 32,000 yuan ($4,500).
Earlier this year, Fang Chang Bao launched the Tai 3, its most affordable vehicle, starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,300). The Tai 3 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y, but costs about half as much.
The Tai 3 will spearhead a new sub-brand of electric SUVs following the more premium Bao 8 and Bao 5 hybrid SUVs.
BYD’s luxury off-road brand sold 18,903 vehicles last month, up 50% from May and 605% compared to last year. Fang Cheng Bao has now sold over 10,000 vehicles for three consecutive months.
The Chinese EV giant sold 382,585 vehicles in total in June, an increase of 12% from last year. In the first half of the year, BYD’s cumulative sales reached over 2.1 million, a YOY increase of 33%.
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