ZERO EV Quick Product Development

The Lynk & Co ZERO EV was introduced as a concept at the 2020 Beijing Auto Show on September 23.

Today (December 11), the company has announced the vehicle is undergoing high-speed validation testing at the Yan Cheng test facility in China’s Jiangsu Province.

That’s less than three months from show car to pre-production vehicle.

Customer Cars?

The plan calls for customer deliveries at the end of Q4 2021.

ZERO EV: Shown at the end of September, track testing in December, and planned for deliveries by end of 2021. (Image: Lynk & Co.)

SEA Underpinning

The ZERO is based on the SEA vehicle architecture that Geely (which owns Lynk & Co, Polestar and Volvo) has developed. It plans to use SEA for other brands (undoubtedly Polestar and Volvo, for example) and is offering the platform to other companies.

About SEA and ZERO

Kent Bovellan, the Chief Engineer for the SEA Architecture at Geely Auto Group:

“The speed at which we have taken the SEA based ZERO EV from concept to production-ready is really amazing. Today, we are gathering real-world data that matches our early estimations for SEA and for the ZERO EV. We are creating a new type of electric vehicle that matches performance with quality, and quality with technology.”

What Else Is Known?

The vehicle is said to have a <4 second 0 to 100 km/h time. Controllable air suspension. And high-speed handling capabilities.

Possibly the air suspension contributing to the handling.

Range?

According to the company, they’re looking at a 700 km—435 mile—range.

For the Long Run

The 800-volt battery pack is said to have “no power degradation” for the first 200,000 km. The lifespan for the battery is projected to be 2-million km.

This is in keeping with the idea that the vehicle will have a long run: Firmware Over the Air updates are part of the vehicle’s operating system so with Geely Auto updates as well as third-party providers, the ZERO EV will get new features over time.