Tesla Has Lost The EV Race

Zeekr’s affordable 600+ mile range EV will keep Elon up at night.

Tesla is the king of the electric vehicle (EV) world, right? Surely, no one comes close to their performance, range, or affordability. After all, they were the ones who kicked off this automotive revolution, and now everyone else is playing catch-up. Yet, Zeekr recently announced that their 001 EV will receive a new battery pack, but it’s not just any old batter as they will be using CATL’s Qilin pack. This brilliant upgrade will make the 001 faster, cheaper, quicker to charge, and have a longer range than any Tesla. But can Zeekr really take on Tesla? And should Elon be worried?

Before we look at the Zeekr 001, we first need to understand this remarkable battery. You see, CATL (a major battery supplier for Tesla, BMW, and VW) wants to become the industry leader for automotive batteries. To achieve this, they recently launched two new batteries, the M3P and the Qilin. The M3P is a unique version of an LFP cell, and its goal is to make EVs incredibly affordable as it is one of the cheapest batteries on the market. But the Qilin is designed to be incredibly energy-dense, with insane charging speeds and performance, without excessively increasing costs.

Unlike the M3P, the Qilin isn’t just a new battery chemistry. It is an entirely new battery system. Everything from the cell shape to the cooling method and even battery management systems has undergone a complete overhaul, all in the name of better energy density. The result of this single-minded mentality is that an EV using a Qilin battery can go a whopping 620+ miles per charge!

CATL launched the Qilin battery back in June 2022, allowing any EV manufacturer to come and purchase this incredible pack for themselves. Many (including myself) saw that such an offering could mean the end of Tesla’s EV dominance.

(To read more about the Qilin, click here).

This is where Zeekr comes in. You probably haven’t heard of Zeekr yet, but that’s only because it is a new branch of Geely, the parent company that owns Volvo, Polestar, Lynk & Co, and Lotus. So, while this is a new company, it is backed by decades of automotive experience.

Zeekr recently announced that their 001 EV will be one of the first cars to get the Qilin battery in 2023, and the upgrade will give it an astonishing 622 miles of range! That is 54% more range than the $96k Model S.

The 001 has been on sale in China since 2021 and has an impressive spec list. For a cost of only $48k, it gets a 100 kWh battery pack, 435 miles of range, 360 kW charging, 536 horsepower, and 0–60 mph in only 3.8 seconds. It’s not like Zeekr has sacrificed quality either, given the interior and exterior look modern and sleek with plenty of room and plush materials. All of this is already butting up against Tesla in terms of cost and performance.

For example, a Tesla Model Y Long Range (similar internal size to the 001) using Tesla’s new 4680 battery currently costs $68k, and it only has a 75 kWh battery, 330-mile range, 250 kW charging, 507 horsepower, and a 5 second 0–60 time. As you can see, even without the Qilin, the 001 is already beating Tesla in many ways.

But it wasn’t supposed to be like this. Tesla has poured millions of dollars into getting the 4680 battery into its cars. This in-house designed battery is supposed to make their cars much cheaper to produce by being easier to manufacture and assemble while also delivering higher energy density and faster charge speeds. Yet, getting them developed and produced at scale has been nearly impossible.

Tesla is now finally able to get this new-age battery into some of its latest cars. But because development and manufacture have been so arduous, there is no cost saving, and they have abandoned the design elements that boosted density and charge speeds (including tabless design). This is why these new Model Y’s and Model 3’s don’t have any longer ranges, aren’t cheaper, and don’t charge any quicker.

(To read more about the 4680, click here).

This means that even if the Qilin battery costs an extra $20k per vehicle, the 001 will still be leagues ahead of the Model Y. In reality, it seems like it will probably only cost an additional $5k–$10k more. To make matters worse, the 001 will be available outside of China in 2023 as Zeekr seeks to expand into the EU and American markets.

Soon, the Zeekr 001 will make all Teslas look antiquated, and they will start to expand past their homeland and encroach on Tesla’s turf.

The question remains, should Tesla be worried?

In short, yes. This development demonstrates that the 4680 is already becoming obsolete, and even if it could be produced in large enough numbers to hit its performance and cost goals, it would still be outgunned by the Qilin. If Tesla doggedly sticks with their in-house technology, they will soon be left behind as more and more manufacturers turn to the Qilin.

But if Musk allows Tesla to use the Qilin instead of their 4680, then he has a chance of staying in the EV race. However, they may not be able to do this. Tesla has spent millions developing the 4680 in order to make more money from their upcoming EVs like the Cybertruck. This is because they profit from selling the car and its battery rather than just the car, like all other EV manufacturers. If they switch to the Qilin, they won’t be able to do this, and the whole 4680 venture will be a total waste of money.

Money that they may not be able to afford to lose.

So Elon probably shouldn’t be worried. He has a quick and easy way to match, if not beat, Zeekr. After all, CATL has been supplying Tesla with ordinary batteries for years, so the partnership is already well established. But this does show that Tesla is no longer on top of the EV food chain, and soon every manufacturer will have access to technology that can run rings around Tesla. And it isn’t just CATL doing this. Companies like Quantumscape and Group14 are also developing battery technology that can deliver far more than the 4680. The future of Tesla is looking less bright, but the future of EVs is looking better and better by the day.