The Zeekr Mix Is the Volkswagen ID.Buzz That We Wanted

Hot on the heels of the nostalgic but kind of mediocre Volkswagen ID. Buzz, Zeekr has released details on its similarly-shaped fully electric mini MPV. We saw it earlier this year at the Beijing Auto Show, but details (and first-drive reviews) have flooded the automotive interwebs. The Zeekr Mix is more than another foreign-market EV that we have a slim-to-none chance of ever getting here in the United States. Underneath the Mix’s three sliding doors and swanky interior lies the first production version of the SEA-M platform, the same platform that underpins the prototype Waymo self-driving EVs on roads right now.

Zeekr says the Mix is a “revolutionary capsule-shaped model encapsulating the young marque’s vision of future mobility,” meaning it is explicitly meant for young families and their lifestyles. It envisions the Mix as a sort of third space where families and others can get together. Its design has been created to facilitate activities that wouldn’t necessarily be doable in a normal car. Do you want to play a game of cards inside the car? Or perhaps, do yoga? The Mix can do that because its front seats can swivel 270 degrees. It also has a center console that can move out of the way entirely or serve as a central table to do things on. The central infotainment screen even swivels so passengers can get a better view.

The Mix's pièce de résistance is the structural B-pillar is integrated into its doors. Unlike the ID. Buzz, the Mix is pillarless with all of its doors open, which should make for a super airy cabin.

Stylistically, the car has only had a few minimal changes since we saw the preproduction prototype on display in Beijing. The styling is about the same, but now the vehicle has physical door handles, compared to the strictly electrical buttons of the prototype car. The Mix is still a very tall vehicle. Zeekr says the van’s in-cabin height is a whopping 53 inches. Dimensionally, the Zeekr Mix’s wheelbase, width, and total length are within an inch of the short-wheelbase, not-for-U.S. 5-passenger VW ID.Buzz. 

As stated earlier, the Zeekr Mix uses a variant of the SEA (Sustainable Experience Architecture) used on cars like the Polestar 4. Yet, this new variant (called SEA-M) has had a few alterations that have made it biased toward carrying passengers and goods. For example, the rear half of the car uses the same mega cast rear structure found on the Zeekr 007 and 009, but the front half has alterations to save space and increase the vehicle’s turning circle. Also, the Mix is steer-by-wire and has an “advanced sensor suite of lidar, high-definition cameras, and millimeter-wave radars” set up for the potential of semi-autonomous driving. 

The Mix is powered by either a 76 kWh LFP battery, or a 102 kWH NMC battery, both sending juice to a to a rear mounted motor that has a staggering 422 horsepower. Zeekr is aiming for a 10-80% charge time in as little as 10.5 minutes, which sounds pretty identical to what we’ve seen on cars like the Zeekr 007 and 001. 

Now, the chances of the Zeekr Mix exiting China are pretty slim. It’s a cool design, but the concept seems like it was designed very much for Chinese audiences. In China, a vehicle is commonly considered a third space outside of the home in ways that are a little different from what we think here. For those in the West, the only time we spend extended time in our cars without driving them is if we’re doing the tiny home thing or overlanding. However, it would be foolish to think the SEA-M platform’s technological advantages or innovations won’t come to other vehicles in the Geely umbrella. The Zeekr M-Vision (Waymo self-driving car) uses the same guts as this consumer-oriented MPV. Perhaps we’ll get a one-off Volvo or Polestar that tailors the Mix’s ideas to an American or European audience.

The Zeekr Mix just went on sale today in China, starting at a base price of $39,278 (279,900 CNY).