You’ve seen the camouflaged Zeekr 8X in the desert, but now, it’s finally time for our first uncovered look of the marque’s second plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model, courtesy of new official images shared on its Weibo page.
While the silhouette is pretty much a scaled-down and sleeker version of the Zeekr 9X, the Chinese carmaker has gone surprisingly overboard with the details – like its headlights and taillights, which are said to contain over 80,000 facets in total as part of their design. Need some context? A diamond usually only has around 57 or 58.
The headlights alone house 25,368 diamond-shaped facets, which Zeekr says creates a dazzling ‘starry sky’ effect, while the taillights feature 54,894 facets to produce a ‘shimmering coastal’ look. Despite it being the smaller of the two, the 8X’s lighting elements have nearly twice the number of glittering elements found on the flagship 9X – is this the 8X’s way of one-upping its elder sibling? We digress.
By all accounts, the 8X is still a hefty SUV. Its dimensions measure 5,100 mm long, 1,998 mm wide, and 1,780 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 3,069 mm. This footprint translates to a roomy interior, with CarNewsChina reporting that the 8X will be available in both five- and six-seat configurations.
Unlike the stately design of its larger sibling, the Zeekr 8X opts for a sleeker exterior while retaining the key design cues of the 9X. This is evident in the aforementioned lighting setup; while the units are designed similarly to those on the 9X, the Zeekr 8X features a single, full-width element at the rear instead of the dual-tier setup found on the flagship.
The Zeekr 8X also features a prominent waterfall front grille, complemented by an active grille system in the lower bumper for better thermal management. As a proper luxury SUV, the 8X is adorned with plenty of chrome trims, large alloy wheels, and retractable side steps.
While Zeekr has not officially revealed the powertrain for the 8X yet, reports suggest it will share the same 900V high-voltage architecture found in its larger sibling. Filings from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) have revealed the 8X will feature a 2.0-litre engine delivering 275 hp, paired with a PHEV system and a choice of either a 55 kWh or 70 kWh ternary lithium (NMC) battery pack.
On the Zeekr 9X, the PHEV powertrain consists of a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine paired with three electric motors on higher variants, which produce a combined maximum of 1,381 hp and 1,410 Nm. If the 8X inherits this exact mechanical heart, it would mean a four-figure output and a 0-100 km/h sprint of around 3.1 seconds. That figure puts the Zeekr 8X firmly in supercar territory—or, more accurately, a super SUV.
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