Zeekr’s 912hp EV Makes Supercar Performance Look Outrageously Overpriced

There was a time when 912hp belonged to bedroom posters, pit lanes and cars with prices that made accountants reach for a chair. Zeekr has now put it in a Chinese electric liftback for roughly US $54,000 (~$75,000). Even stranger, horsepower may not be the most ridiculous number here.

The Zeekr 001 Fifth Anniversary Edition has gone back on limited sale in China after its first run sold out shortly after launch. That matters because this is not just a birthday-badge special with red stitching and a marketing department feeling sentimental. It is a 900-volt, dual-motor, all-wheel-drive EV with 680kW, a 0-100km/h time of 2.91 seconds and a top speed of 280km/h.

China Has Made Performance Awkward

The real punch is the price. At $75,000 AUD, the Zeekr 001 is playing in territory where many global brands would normally sell you a warm family SUV, not something with more power than a Ferrari SF90 Stradale.

Then comes the charging. The 001 uses a 103kWh CATL Qilin battery with 6C ultra-fast charging, allowing a 10 to 80 per cent charge in about 10 minutes under ideal conditions. That is the sort of figure that makes old EV excuses sound suddenly tired.

Zeekr has not stopped at straight-line numbers either. The Fifth Anniversary Edition gets KW coilover suspension, Brembo six-piston brakes, carbon-fibre aero parts, 22-inch forged wheels and Pirelli P Zero tyres. It adds red Alcantara inside, a 39.3-inch augmented reality head-up display, a Snapdragon-powered cockpit and software tricks borrowed from the harder-core Zeekr 001 FR, including racing mode and intelligent drift assistance.

The Price War Has A New Shape

This is where the story gets bigger than one limited edition. China’s EV market is already brutal on price, but Zeekr is trying to protect its premium position by making performance feel like value. That is a very different kind of pressure for legacy brands.

Zeekr delivered a record 31,787 vehicles in April, while its average transaction price remains close to 350,000 yuan. In other words, it is not just throwing discounts at the wall. It is using huge numbers, fast charging and track-day theatre to make the brand feel expensive while still undercutting the old performance hierarchy.

That is what makes the 001 Fifth Anniversary Edition so interesting. It is not only fast. Plenty of EVs are fast now. It is fast, aggressively priced and technically loaded in a way that makes traditional performance cars look like they are charging extra for nostalgia.

China is no longer just making EVs cheaper. It is making expensive performance look harder to justify.