China’s Zeekr on Sept. 20 unveiled the 7X, its first family sports utility vehicle with off-road capabilities and enhanced safety features, with a cheaper price tag than Tesla’s Model Y letting it compete against the world’s top-selling model in its home market.

Zeekr said more than 58,000 customers gave refundable deposits to reserve a place in the production line queue following the car’s debut on Aug. 30. The New York-listed electric vehicle maker is ready to deliver at least 3,000 units in the remaining days of September by ramping up manufacturing rates as demand grows, vice president Jason Lin said in an interview with TechNode.

Why it matters: Geely’s stand-alone EV brand has a tough task ahead to ensure the Zeekr 7X is successful in the highly competitive mainstream market. At least four new models from Chinese car brands, including Zeekr, NIO’s Onvo, and Dongfeng’s Voyah, are testing themselves against the benchmark in the class – the Tesla Model Y.

Details: The Zeekr 7X comes in three variants with a number of creature comforts on offer, including heated front seats with massage functions and large, automatic sun blinds on the rear-side windows and car roof.

• All the variants also boast high-tech specs such as NVIDIA chips and a lidar unit for automated driving, a 36.21-inch augmented reality head-up display for navigation, and an 800-volt electrical system that can charge the battery from 10% to 80% in 10.5 minutes.
• The entry-level 7X travels 605 kilometers (376 miles) on a single charge and goes from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.8 seconds at a sticker price of RMB 229,900 ($32,632). The dual-motor version costs RMB 269,900, has a 705 km-plus driving range, and is able to reach 100 km/h in as little as 3.8 seconds.
• Zeekr said the five-seater is great fun to drive off-road, as the standard version has 197 millimeters (7.8 inches) of ground clearance, while its air suspension can raise it another 33 mm for maximum clearance. In the case of an emergency submerging, a car driver can break one of the car’s windows with the press of a hidden button.
• With its raised ground clearance and a high roofline, the compact SUV goes for a traditional SUV shape, which the automaker said gives passengers ample interior headroom. It features an LED strip that can display customized lighting sequences with animation on the front hood, like its sibling, the 007 sedan.

Context: Designed to provide sufficient space and a gutsy performance catering to family occupants, the 7X will expand Zeekr’s portfolio into the Chinese mainstream SUV segment with a price range between RMB 200,000 and 300,000. The EV penetration rate surpassed 46% in this price segment last year, according to figures compiled by Chinese brokerage Guolian Securities.

• Zeekr delivered 121,540 vehicles across four models from January to August, including the 001 shooting brake and the 009 van, representing an 81% growth annually. It aims to deliver 230,000 EVs this year. Tesla shipped 354,693 Model Y vehicles from its Shanghai Gigafactory over the same period, including an undisclosed number for export, according to figures released by the China Passenger Car Association.