Chinese EV maker ZEEKR has ambitious plans in Europe over the next several years. The EV maker’s European head, Spiros Fotinos, says ZEEKR wants to be among the top three premium pure EV makers by the end of the decade.
Established by the parent company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, or simply Geely, in April 2021, ZEEKR is moving quickly to expand its brand name in the premium space.
Shortly after, the brand’s first model, the ZEEKR 001, began rolling off the assembly line that October. Zeekr claims its new 2023 ZEEKR 001 is the longest-cruising EV with over 620 miles (1,032 km) cruising range powered by CATL’s third-generation cell-to-pack “Qiling” batteries.
The Chinese EV startup followed it up by releasing its second electric model, the 009 multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), with three rows of seating and up to 510 miles (822 km) CLTC range.
It was initially believed ZEEKR’s third EV would be called the 003. However, the brand launched its first electric SUV in China last month, calling it the ZEEKR X.
Powered by two electric motors and a 66 kWh battery, the electric SUV delivers up to 422 hp (315 kW) and 400 lb-ft (543 Nm) of torque for a range upwards of 348 miles (560 km).
ZEEKR says it will begin delivering X models in China in June, followed by Europe and other Asian markets outside China.
According to ZEEKR’s Europe CEO, the brand aims to expand into the region as a top pure EV player.
We want to be one of the top three premium pure-EV players by the end of the decade. That’s our ambition.
According to Fotinos, the EV startup will accomplish this through “product and customer experience,” offering a “one-stop-shop” approach for EV customers, including charging, financing, insurance, maintenance packages, and more to make it easy for buyers to go electric.
When asked who the “top three will be Tesla, Zeekr – and who else?” Fortinos replied, “Tesla will probably be there,” but seemed more concerned with German premium brands. He added:
The German premiums occupy around 60 to 75 percent of the market, so if you cannot conquest from there, you are not going to grow very much.
ZEEKR has several advantages over other EV startups with backing and manufacturing support from Geely. On top of this, the company was “born pure EV,” so it doesn’t have to spend time and resources transitioning over. Geely also owns Volvo and Polestar, which are both accelerating EV sales in Europe.
Fotinos says the brand will begin its European campaign in the Netherlands and Sweden, rapidly expanding in the rest of Western Europe through 2026.
Although ZEEKR hasn’t yet certified its specs, he expects the 001 to have around 373 miles (600 km) range and the X around 273 miles (440 km) in Europe, with fast charging abilities from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes.
Electrek’s Take
Can ZEEKR become a top three premium EV maker in Europe? As Fotinos said, they will first have to win over the German premium customers, but it may not be an impossible task.
China’s leading EV maker, BYD, surpassed Volkswagen to become China’s best-selling brand as demand for zero-emission electric continues climbing.
Perhaps, more importantly, new information from the German statistics office shows the number of EVs shipped to Germany from China tripled over the last year. Over 28% of Germany’s EV imports in the first three months were from China, compared with just 7.8% last year.
Buyers are beginning to look past the brand name for the latest tech and software. What do you guys think? Does ZEEKR have a place in the premium EV market? Let us know in the comments.
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A team of white hat European hackers using their brains, keyboards, and a couple of bits and baubles from eBay managed to take control of a 2020 Nissan LEAF and violate just about every privacy and safety regulation in the process.
The best part: they recorded the whole thing.
Budapest-based cybersecurity experts PCAutomotive were able to exploit a number of vulnerabilities in a 2020 Nissan LEAF that enabled the white hat team to geolocate and track the car, record the texts and conversations happening inside the car, playing media back through the car’s speakers, and even (this is the genuinely terrifying dangerous part) turning the steering wheel while the car was moving. (!?)
Maybe the scariest part of this hack, however, is how seemingly easy it was to pull off by starting with a “test bench simulator” built using parts from eBay and exploiting a vulnerability in the LEAF’s DNS C2 channel and Bluetooth protocol.
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The PCAutomotive team gave a hugely detailed 118-page presentation of their exploit at black hat Asia 2025, which we’ve included at the bottom of this post, in case the original link goes dead. If you’re into that sort of thing, the fun stuff starts around page 27. And, if you’re not, just know that all the vulnerabilities were disclosed to Nissan and its suppliers between 02AUG2023 and 12SEP2024 (p. 116/118), and the “attack” itself can be seen in the video below that. Enjoy!
Summary of vulnerabilities
CVE-2025-32056 – Anti-Theft bypass
CVE-2025-32057 – app_redbend: MiTM attack
CVE-2025-32058 – v850: Stack Overflow in CBR processing
CVE-2025-32059 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [0]
CVE-2025-32060 – Absence of a kernel module signature verification
CVE-2025-32061 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [1]
CVE-2025-32062 – Stack buffer overflow leading to RCE [2]
PCA_NISSAN_009 – Improper traffic filtration between CAN buses
CVE-2025-32063 – Persistence for Wi-Fi network
PCA_NISSAN_012 – Persistence through CVE-2017-7932 in HAB of i.MX 6
Unfortunately, this is also one of those posts that some of the more clueless anti-EV hysterics will point to and say, “See!? EVs can get hacked!” But the reality is that virtually any car with electric power steering (EPS), electronic throttle controls, brake-by-wire, etc. can be hacked in a similar way. But, while steering a target’s car into an oncoming semi might be a great way to pull off a covert CIA assassination, the more worrying issue here is the breach of privacy and recording – unless you want to spend some time in El Salvadoran prison, I guess.
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A major new EV battery factory is being built in Sunderland, bringing 1,000 new jobs with it. AESC, Nissan’s battery partner, is behind the £1 billion ($1.33 billion) plant, which will boost the UK’s EV battery production by six times, enough to power 100,000 electric cars annually.
The 12 GWh capacity plant, AESC’s second battery plant in Sunderland, will be powered by 100% net-zero carbon energy. That big jump in capacity helps position Britain as a global player in EV manufacturing while pushing forward the country’s net-zero goals.
The investment is getting a serious financial lift from the British government. Through a combination of support from the National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance, the project is unlocking £680 million in financing from major banks, including HSBC, Standard Chartered, SMBC Group, Societe Generale, and BBVA, that covers the construction and operation of the battery factory. Another £320 million is coming from private investment and fresh equity from AESC. On top of all that, the government’s Automotive Transformation Fund is pitching in with £150 million in grant funding.
This deal follows closely on the heels of the new UK-US trade agreement announced a day earlier, which cuts car export tariffs from 27.5% down to 10% for up to 100,000 UK-made vehicles – nearly the total number exported last year. That move could save car companies hundreds of millions of pounds and help protect good-paying jobs in manufacturing hubs like Sunderland.
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Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves visited AESC in Sunderland, where she met with staff and local leaders to discuss what this means for the Northeast and the British car industry.
“This investment follows hot on the heels of yesterday’s landmark economic deal with the US, which will save thousands of jobs in the industry,” Reeves said.
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It’s about the future of their jobs. Ford workers at two plants in western Germany are set to go on strike on Wednesday, their works council chief said on Monday.
Ford is facing a worker strike in Germany
In November, Ford announced it would cut around 4,000 jobs in Europe by 2027 as part of a restructuring, primarily in Germany and the UK. That’s still about 14% of its European workforce.
The American automaker said the move comes after it has incurred “significant losses” in recent years and a “highly disruptive market” with new EVs quickly gaining market share.
Ford blamed slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles and a weak economic situation. It also plans to slow production at its Cologne EV plant, where the electric Explorer and Capri are built.
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Last week, IG Metall members voted in favor of “industrial action” with 93.5% of votes in favor of a strike. “Ford must act now—otherwise, we will go through with it,” said Kerstin D. Klein, Chief Representative of IG Metall Cologne-Leverkusen.
Ford Explorer EV production in Cologne (Source: Ford)
Ford is facing an influx of new competition, including Chinese EV makers like BYD. BYD’s overseas sales are surging with a fifth straight month of growth in April.
BYD even outsold Tesla in Germany last month, with 1,566 vehicles registered. In comparison, Tesla had just 855, and Ford saw 9,534 registrations.
Ford’s electric vehicles in Europe from left to right: Puma Gen-E, Explorer, Capri, and Mustang Mach-E (Source: Ford)
On top of this, Ford, like most of the industry, is preparing for more disruption with Trump’s auto tariffs. After releasing Q1 earnings last week, Ford warned that the tariffs could cost up to $2.5 billion this year.
During Ford’s earnings call, CFO Sherry House said that recent EV launches in Europe, including the Explorer, Capri, and Puma Gen-E, helped more than double Model e’s wholesale volume in Q1.
After early success in the US, Ford also launched its “Power Promise” promotion in Europe, offering EV buyers a free home charger and several other perks.