The Zeekr Mix Ultra-Luxury Van Says A Lot About Where ‘Driving’ Goes Next

I feel like every automaker in this new precarious, pseudo-self-driving era wants to create an experience where the car is a sort of an extension of your home, rather than a conveyance meant that one would drive from place to place. These neo-futurists—car designers, tech bro CEOs, and investors alike see the future of the car where one is transported from place to place, rather than driving themselves. It’s all reminiscent of this ad for the 2009 Nissan Cube: A world where we sit down and a world where the car is used almost as a social venue or meeting place, while the world passes you by.

True, the Zeekr Mix is not a self-driving vehicle, despite sharing a lot under the skin with the Waymo-Zeekr self-driving collaborative car. Yet, this ultra-luxury electric van from China that just made big waves at CES feels like it’s starting to reckon with those new ideas. What does a car look like when it must serve as a third space outside of the home? If you must drive it, what does that feel like? And what are you supposed to “do” in a car if you aren’t driving it?

I wanted to know the answer to those questions, so on my most recent visit to China late last year, Zeekr gave me the keys to one and let me drive around the streets of Shanghai for about an hour and a half. Here’s what I thought after driving the van that drew thousands of wowed onlookers in Las Vegas last week.

(Full Disclosure: Zeekr gave me the keys to a Mix from a random Shanghai Zeekr dealer while on a recent trip to China.)

We’ve talked about Zeekr before. It’s a Sino-Swedish premium brand under the Geely umbrella. No, not Volvo or Polestar or Lynk & Co., although the latter has formally been acquired and restructured to serve as an official lower-budget alternative to Zeekr. Under the Geely umbrella, Zeekr is a brand responsible for much of Geely’s development; it developed the SEA platform used on the Polestar 4 and Volvo EX30, and it is responsible for Waymo’s new purpose-built self-driving car, now formally called the Zeekr RT.

Underneath, much of the Zeekr Mix is the Zeekr RT. Both use a new platform variant called SEA-M. For this version, Zeekr changed up a few parts of the basic platform to facilitate both self-driving and interior space. The rear half uses the same single-piece megacast rear end used on cars like the Zeekr 007 and 009 van, while the front frame rails have been changed up to allow for a super tight turning radius. Both the RT and Mix are steer-by-wire, a big feature on the SEA-M platform not found on other variants used on Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr, Geely or Smart vehicles. 

Photo by: InsideEVs

To put all that in layman’s terms: the Zeekr Mix is the civilian version of a self-driving, purpose-built robotaxi. So whatever’s going here probably says a lot about where cars in general are headed next.

And it goes further than that. Zeekr did more than just stick a steering wheel, nicer seats, and a set of pedals in the interior  No, Zeekr intended the Mix to be for small (relatively affluent) families and lifestyle-ers who want a car to serve as a third space to meet or use outside of the house. So, they decided to innovate a bit.

Photo by: InsideEVs

The Mix kept the same door-integrated B-pillar and side-to-side walkthrough as the Zeekr RT, but Zeekr raised the step-in height of the Mix for a more SUV-like feeling. And of course, it’s impossible to talk about the Mix and its living room-like interior meant to facilitate the car’s use as a pseudo-third space.

Yes, akin to an old VW Westaflia Camper, or perhaps a very old Chrysler Imperial from the 1960s, the Zeekr’s front seats can swivel 270 to the rear ones—creating a whole new conversation-style room, out of the vehicle. The center console is on a two-meter-long motorized track between the front and rear seats. The console is a wireless phone charger, armrest, storage cubby, and refrigerator (optional) and can support several airplane-style mountable tables that turn the Mix ‘s interior into a rolling lounge.

Photo by: InsideEVs

To put the Mix into its conversation-like mode, first, you’ve got to remove all the clip-in accessories attached to the center console. Next, open all the doors. Then, to officially start the process, either press the button on the driver’s door that looks like two seats facing each other (this can also be found in the main infotainment screen). From there, a dialogue box (all in Chinese), will pop up with several configurations to choose from. Select the one you want, then stand back and let the car turn the seats around and move the center console into the right position. To turn the seats back to the original position, press the button that looks like a regular chair on the front door.

It isn’t a super fast process, though. When I finally fumbled through the menus to make it all work, it still took about two minutes for both front seats to turn around and for the center console to go to the correct place. Also, all of the accessories that clip to the center console must be removed. I didn’t do that the first time and both seats terminated mid-swivel. That’s my fault for not understanding Chinese.

Photo by: InsideEVs

Photo by: InsideEVs

When it’s finally in the right place, it’s kind of an unbelievable feeling. Of course, this isn’t quite a new idea. The last time I rode in a Euro-spec Mercedes-Benz Vito/V-Class luxury van, it was set up where its back two rows were facing each other. However, while the Benz van is basically just a commercial van with leather seats, the Mix was built from the ground up to be this way, and it shows. There’s a level of intentionality in the way the Mix is designed that you don’t really get from a converted commercial van. 

The Mix’s super wide door opening, on account of its B-pillarless design, and completely flat floor make it feel so much less like a car or van. The interior’s alccantara headliner, tufted door panels, soft leather seats, and designerly Rose gold brightwork feel less like a car, and more like someone’s home. I don’t like spending excessive time in vehicles when I’m not driving them, even if I am DC fast charging I prefer to leave the car and do something else with my time. Yet, with the Zeekr Mix, I could understand the appeal of spending time in the car. The Mix’s interior is clever, all of the materials are immaculate, and it’s a comfortable place to spend an extended amount of time. 

Photo by: InsideEVs

Photo by: InsideEVs

Photo by: InsideEVs

The car is clearly meant as a third space, a respite for Chinese families and drivers who want to spend time outside of the home. Just look at the marketing materials for the Mix: it’s in all sorts of situations, whether it be picnics with the family, fishing outside of the side of the van or camping in the woods. (The Mix has an optional in-car mattress, as well as removable and rechargeable lamps in the doors.) There’s far more thought put into this than say, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz, a van Deputy Editor Mack Hogan slammed for having no real software or design choices to support the lifestyles of the clientele it wants to court. 

Photo by: Zeekr

Like other SEA-based cars, the Zeekr Mix gets a familiar suite of battery and motor options. The Mix is RWD only, (I gather the changes made to the SEA-M platform’s front end means that it can no longer accommodate a front motor), but it has the same 800-volt architecture and 76 or 100 kWh batteries as other cars in Zeekr’s range. Power for either battery comes from the same 415 horsepower motor powering the rear wheels. It’s good for 341 miles (550 km) in 76 kWh form, but keep in mind that’s according to China’s very genteel CLTC test.

Still, the Mix is delightfully odd to drive, in part because of its design and ergonomics. Because all of the Mix’s door cards are unusually flat, the seats feel fairly inboard to the vehicle. This means the vehicle has a high amount of shoulder room, it’s almost like driving from the back seat of a minivan. The Mix’s nose is very short, and the dash top is very long.

This makes driving the mix a little tricky in some situations; navigating up and down the parking deck ramp where most of the images in this article came from was semi-stressful. (The aforementioned ID. Buzz and Tesla Cybertruck can also feel a bit awkward at first until you get to used to their unusual proportions, so expect more of this as automakers experiment with new design choices in the EV era.) Together, those factors really drove home the not-a-car-but-actually-a-living-room feeling.

Photo by: InsideEVs

I only had about an hour and a half with the Mix, most of it spent searching congested Shanghai traffic for a suitable place to take photos while fighting off the early stages of a terrible cold. Most of my driving was on somewhat crowded city streets, but I did get a few small bursts of freeway driving.

Overall, the Mix is pleasant to drive, and surprisingly sporty (at least by Chinese standards). Like other Zeekr vehicles, the overall demeanor of the Mix is soft and quiet, but it’s undercut by steering, which is relatively communicative for the type of vehicle it is. I was surprised; I fully expected the steer-by-wire to be far worse considering that Zeekr doesn’t have any plans to market the Mix outside of China, where endless traffic means plushness trumps high-performance driving. 

The Mix’s 415 horsepower feels adequate and the acceleration tuning feels approachable. The car is swift, without an oversensitive throttle pedal that could cause you to accidentally mow down a pedestrian. Zeekr claims a 0-62 mph time of about 6.8 seconds, which is fine, but does sound a little slow on paper for what would be supercar-level power output from not that long ago.

Partially, that’s because the Mix is very heavy, even in the EV world. Even in base trim, like the unit Zeekr sent me, it comes in at a porky 6,038 lbs. It showed up in the car’s economy, too. In the hour and a half I drove the Mix, I averaged 2.73 miles per/kWh, or 92 MPGe. That’s okay, but not great considering most of my time was in traffic barely exceeding 40 mph.

On the positive side, the Mix’s air suspension is really good at holding up its hefty weight while ironing out road imperfections. It’s a well-resolved setup.

Photo by: Patrick George

Zeekr stole the show, at least the automotive part, of the show at this year’s CES. Maybe not with headlines everywhere, but attendees flocked to see and experience these cars. But they may be waiting a while if they want to buy them. Aside from the RT self-driving car, it’s not clear whether Zeekr or the Mix will ever come out of China to U.S. roads. And while Zeekr is on sale in Europe, the Mix isn’t part of that mix and may never be.

But, the Mix’s existence does prove a point—there is more appeal to Chinese cars aside from just low prices. The Mix is an innovative idea, executed very well, something that most lookee-loos at CES quickly realized. It’s a rolling living room, or perhaps a modern-day interpretation of a palanquin meant for noble families, but put into production. All for about $40,000. 

Photo by: Patrick George

To me, above all, the Mix shows the kind of innovative thinking that is going on in China. It feels like such a hyperspecific product made to answer a very unique group of Chinese consumers. It’s a vehicle made for people in search of a third place in the form of their cars. 

Yet, while some manufacturers may have just thrown an extra set of seats in the back or made its customers overpay for a few overlanding or camping accessories, it really does feel like Zeekr thought deeply about exactly what a vehicle would look like if it was truly built around its intended purpose.

Photo by: InsideEVs

I’m not sure if it will be successful, as even in China it seems like a very strange car. But, they tried something interesting and executed it very, very well. And one thing is certain: the idea of using a car as an extension of your home, office or vacation spot—or all three—isn’t going anywhere.

Zeekr is just showing the world how it can be done.

Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@InsideEVs.com