A Chinese EV Brand May Be Building a 2,000-HP Hypercar

An 800 Horsepower Upgrade

A Chinese source, Car News China, reported online chatter about the next Zeekr 001 FR. For context, "FR" is Zeekr's performance brand, similar to what M is to BMW and what AMG means to Mercedes-Benz. The sub-brand is going to come out of hiding soon, but our initial findings didn't reveal too much.

Until we found this: whispers of a new performance EV from Zeekr featuring more than 2,000 horsepower. The info comes from Chinese car bloggers: MetaAuto and Hanlu on Baidu. If the rumors are true, we might be looking at one of the fastest production Chinese EVs ever.

More Performance

The current 001 FR hails from 2023. At the time, the EV horsepower war was just kicking off. Only a few EVs had over 1,000 horsepower on the market, and Zeekr gave us up to 1,300 horsepower from the first 001 FR. Now, rumors point to a power figure of over 2,000 horsepower, along with several enhancements. Rumors also suggest that Zeekr is revising the body of the car, along with the brakes and tires, in order to "safely" handle that monumental figure.

Even as an older performance model, the Zeekr 001 FR was already able to accelerate from 0 to 62 miles per hour in about 2.02 seconds, and you can get that level of performance for just $107,000 in China. Now, there's Zeekr may be able to break the two-second barrier with its newest performance EV.

More Features?

Apart from its high power, the Zeekr 001 FR also features a quad-motor setup that allows it to take full advantage of torque vectoring for improved handling. There is also a "Räikkönen Mode" designed to provide a Kimi-approved driving experience. There is also an overclocking mode that increases power output slightly.

We can also infer that the 2026 Zeekr 001 FR will get a battery and charging standard upgrade. Currently, it has a 100 kWh battery pack that's running the show, but as power outputs increase, we might see a larger pack installed. On top of that, current model charging standards are at 10% to 80% in just 15 minutes, but it's likely that the Geely group will allow Zeekr to take its megawatt charging standard and run with it in the new 001 FR.

Why Though?

There may be an actual war going on in the world, but in the auto industry, automakers are engaged in a horsepower war of their own. Heck, even for normal grocery getters and electric soccer mom cars, we're seeing over 400, 500, or even 600 horsepower in EV crossovers and SUVs.

Check out what GWM is doing with their all-electric tank that makes close to 900 horsepower. Even popular electronics manufacturers like Xiaomi are throwing their hats in the ring with the SU7, which makes up to 1,500 horsepower. Even Zeekr's more "normal" cars, like the flagship Zeekr 7X, are making over 600 horsepower. It makes for a great headline, but you eventually have to ask, "What for?"

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