The Zeekr 7GT Electric Wagon Lands In New Zealand For A Frozen First Drive

There's something a little absurd about learning to catch a slide in a car nobody in Australia has driven yet, on a frozen paddock nobody's allowed to name, and behind the wheel - of all things – an electric wagon.

That's exactly the position I found myself in on New Zealand's South Island, piloting a Zeekr 7GT for its first taste of the southern hemisphere. No confirmed pricing. No local specification sheet to lean on. Just a day of boyish energy and ear-to-ear smiles to work out whether Zeekr's newest long-roof has the chops to back up its swagger.

If you’re only just starting to catch up on Zeekr as a brand, you're not alone. You’ve seen a 7X rolling around Sydney or Melbourne, and it’s turned your head, whether you knew it was a Zeekr or not. The 7GT is its opening statement in the shooting-brake space, badged as the 007 GT back home, and set to arrive in Australia as an electric alternative to the wagons currently having their moment: think Cupra's Leon Sportstourer, BYD's Seal 6 Touring, and Denza's Z9 GT.

We didn't get to drive it on the road; the cars were left-hand drive. Instead, Zeekr flew us into Queenstown for a day at a cold-weather proving ground. Slalom courses, low-speed drifts, 180-degree flicks, all with the stability control switched off, and the tyres studded for grip that asphalt rubber was never built to find on a sheet of frozen white.

The shooting-brake format isn't new territory for Zeekr. It's the brand's origin story. "Zeekr was born with the 001," Javier Garcia Gallardo, Director of Zeekr Design at the brand's Shanghai studio, told me as we defrosted by a crackling fire.

"When we launched the 001, there was literally no other shooting brake on the market in an EV format. We were the very first. It created the first impression of what the brand stands for: this merge between technology, performance and luxury." The 7GT, he says, is that same idea aimed at a younger, more progressive customer, and shaped to fit cities the 001's size was never built for. "There are some global markets out there where the 001 is still a little bit too big and too wide. A car with these dimensions is a bit tricky to drive somewhere like Paris." The 7GT and its X and 7X siblings were designed from the outset to travel.

Full disclosure on the numbers: everything Zeekr has confirmed so far is European specification, with Australian pricing and final trim still under wraps. What we do know is that the entry Core gets a 75kWh battery and a single rear motor producing 310kW, the mid-range Long Range swaps in a bigger 100kWh pack for a claimed 655km of range, and the flagship Privilege goes all-wheel drive with a combined output Zeekr says will be bumped to 500kW locally. That's supercar territory dressed up as a family wagon, and on ice, it shows.

The first thing that strikes you is the 7GT’s restraint underfoot. Zeekr has clearly tuned the throttle mapping so the wagon doesn't lurch off the line like it's been caught with its pants down, instead building speed in a way that lets you actually use the performance rather than simply survive it. On a frozen slalom, that was a lifeline. Stab the pedal too aggressively in most EVs, and you're fighting the car before you've even properly grabbed the wheel. In the 7GT, the power arrives progressively enough that you can lean on it mid-slide and trust it won't spit you into a snowbank.

Turn-in is eager without tipping into nervous, and even with the car carrying something close to 2300kg, direction changes come with a surprising lack of hesitation. Garcia Gallardo told me he had the same reaction: "I got surprised myself, especially in the lane-change exercise where we were going quite quickly, and then suddenly, wow. It was very impressive how much in control you feel. As a passenger it looks like a super aggressive turn, but when you are driving, you feel so much in control."

Push past 8/10ths, though, and understeer arrives the way it always does in a heavy, front-biased car asked to do something it wasn't built for: the nose washes wide, the front tyres complain, and the car reminds you who's in charge. This is a wagon that rewards smooth hands and punishes anyone trying to muscle it, which, on a surface with almost no grip to spare, is exactly the kind of feedback you want.

Inside, the quality ambitions are clear. Red leather for my test spec, a clean dashboard layout, a big central touchscreen and a level of fit and finish that punches above what you'd expect from a brand this new to the category. Garcia Gallardo's favourite detail sits at the back: "the ducktail area of the vehicle, this rear wing and spoiler with that positive surface on the rear, for me is the most beautiful area on the car." Inside, he points to the centre console and the steering wheel. "The steering wheel is very well resolved. It feels very mature, very much a sports car. It speaks a lot to the attitude of this car." Behind the wheel on ice, that's not a hard claim to believe.

The second row has genuine room to stretch out, and the boot swallows 456 litres with the seats up, or 1390 litres folded down, numbers that put it firmly in family-wagon territory rather than a show pony for the segment.

There’s no doubt the party piece of the day was sporting a shooting brake silhouette, but from my perspective, the Zeekr 9X was worth just as much air time. It’s a monster unit and a truly menacing piece of design. Our left-hand-drive test cars were finished in black from the grille to the wheels, and parked against snow, they looked less like family SUVs and more like something that arrives uninvited.

The interior treatment is where it earns its stripes: material quality, fit and finish, and a level of detail work that would have Range Rover checking over its shoulder, with none of the slightly try-hard detailing that undercuts a lot of Chinese SUVs trying to punch above their price point. All told, if this beast clocks in somewhere around the mid-100’s with respect to on-road RRP, it’s going to ruffle a lot of feathers. More to come on that front.

None of this tells you what the 7GT or 9X are like on an actual road, and Zeekr Australia is keeping pricing close to its chest until closer to launch. But a day of slaloms, low-speed drifts and flick tests on ice is enough to say this: this new kit wants to be driven with intent, built by a brand that's clearly done its homework watching what the Europeans do well, and had a red pen ready for what they don't.

Zeekr's 7GT will arrive in Australia in Q4 2026. More to be announced on the Zeekr 9X in due course.

zeekrlife.com