• The Zeekr 009 Grand Collector’s Edition features gold-plated exterior brightwork and costs $123,150.
• It has two 24-way captain’s chairs in the back, alpaca wool carpets and real stone trim.
• With 778 hp from its two motors, it accelerates to 62 mph in 3.9 seconds and tops out at 143 mph.

Zeekr wants to become an established player in the global premium car market and it’s in the process of creating a lineup with a wide range of models. Like any self-respecting luxury automaker, it has to have special ultra-fancy versions of its largest models like the 009 in Grand Collector’s Edition trim, which gets actual 24-karat gold plating on some of the exterior brightwork.

The Zeekr 009 people carrier is the company’s largest offering, with the most lavish back seat arrangement. The Grand Collector’s Edition (that’s a step above the Grand trim) has a gold rather than silver theme for all the exterior brightwork, and some of the gold is real. Only the strip running along the top of the side windows and the slim trim on the door handles have actual gold plating and the car features additional gold details in the form of a pinstripe, a strip on the lower part of the doors, blades on the front bumper and the badging.

While it can seat up to seven, this top version gets just two individual 24-way adjustable captain’s chairs in the back, which can recline to give you a very relaxed position. It also comes with carpets made out of alpaca wool.

There’s a huge 43-inch 4K screen that turns the rear passenger compartment into a movie theater. This is like what Mercedes put in its Vision V, but that’s a concept whose massive rear screen isn’t making it to production, while the Zeekr is a vehicle you can buy today. The only thing we have to compare the 009’s rear screen to is the drop-down display you can get in a BMW i7, but the one in the Zeekr is bigger and much more cinema-like.

You can get the 800-volt 009 with one or two motors, and the Grand Collector’s Edition has the highest-output dual-motor setup with 778 horsepower. This allows it to accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.9 seconds and up to 143 mph (230 km/h), which is surprisingly fast for an electric minivan.

Powering the 009 is a 108-kilowatt-hour battery pack with a claimed range of 436 miles (702 km) on the Chinese test cycle. It has a starting price in China of just over $60,000, while the top-tier Grand Collector’s Edition is more than twice as expensive at $123,150. It’s been quite popular in China but Zeekr hasn’t announced any plans to sell this in other markets, such as Europe, where the manufacturer is now trying to establish itself.

Photo by: Patrick George

Photo by: Patrick George

Photo by: Patrick George

We recently drove the Zeekr main model with which it wants to conquer Europe, the 7X SUV, which is pitched as a more posh and comfort-oriented alternative to the Tesla Model Y. We already knew what to expect after having already experienced the 7X in China, and it made an equally good impression when we drove it in Portugal.