China's EVs Drew Big Crowds At CES. They Should Make Everyone Else Nervous
Zeekr, Great Wall Motors and others have cars on sale right now that the rest of the industry is trying to "catch up" to. And CES 2025 is proof.
"Man, Zeekr isn't messing around."
That's what I heard from outside the cockpit of the Zeekr 001 FR I was sitting in at the Las Vegas Convention Center yesterday. I heard it distinctly, albeit softly, because the 001's cabin is remarkably quiet. I don't even know who said it; he was just one of thousands of CES 2025 attendees who had gone over to see and feel something Americans have little experience with—an advanced electric car from China.
I should mention that when I heard this, I was on my third visit to sit in the Zeekr myself.
I went back a few times to play around with its high-resolution touch screen, to scope out what seemed to be impeccable build quality and to scroll through the menus of its central screen. It felt more like a supercomputer on wheels than any car you can buy in the United States right now.
Zeekr was one of several Chinese car companies with a presence at CES, the gigantic annual technology trade show where you go when you supposedly want to see the future. None of them seemed prepared for the amount of attention they were getting. And I'm not sure the automakers we know are prepared for what's coming out of China.