Electric vehicles are still on the upswing globally. But I think the market is facing a come-to-Jesus moment, especially when it comes to the electrification of bigger and more expensive vehicles.
Consumers aren’t biting at the rates they were projected to. The global market leader is stumbling after alienating its core audience and letting competitors pass it by. And other automakers are having trouble selling the EV concept to a clientele that considers charging to be a bit gauche.
Even in China, where full electrification is well underway and accounts for about half of new cars sold, there are still weak spots for full EVs—for example, buyers of big luxury SUVs are less willing to make the switch.
Hence, electrified vehicles that also use a gas engine are having a kind of moment.
That’s why Zeekr introduced its cut-rate Rolls-Royce Cullinan range-topping SUV as an EREV—extended-range electric vehicle—and not an EV. It’s why the moonwalking Yangwang U8 is also a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). The top sales of big luxury SUVs in China aren’t cars like the Tesla Model X or Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV; instead, they come from brands like Li Auto or Aito, which sell EREVs with fuel tanks and gas engines. These big brutes use electric propulsion to move down the road, but have a tiny three or four-cylinder engine to recharge the battery as needed.
Thus, the Geely Group had to rethink how it would court the large number of big luxury SUV buyers in China. A full EV wouldn’t work, so here comes the Lynk & Co 900, the brand's new flagship big PHEV SUV that has serious Range Rover vibes. (Lynk & Co, as you may recall, is a kind of cousin to Zeekr and Polestar, and shares a good amount of Volvo DNA as well.)
This hulking behemoth promises the convenience of an ICE car, as well as the quickness and smoothness EV for most of its driving life. Even more so than the PHEV models we have access to in the U.S.
And if gas power is needed to win over more people on electrified cars, it may just be what the future looks like.
Gallery: Lynk & Co 900
Geely's Secret: Big Battery, Smaller Engine
Essentially, the Lynk & Co 900 is a balancing act of gas and electric technologies all working in concert. The crossover’s main battery is the star of the show. Called Freevoy, this battery, made by CATL, is 52.38 kWh and promises 4C charging.
That means it should have the ability to hit speeds that are four times as fast as its capacity, allowing the 900 to charge and operate like a full EV as it needs to. Other PHEVs may not even be able to DC fast charge, or if they can, the speeds aren’t fast. Lynk & Co says the 900 can sprint from 20-80% in as little as 17 minutes, in part due to the Freevoy battery.
That large battery also gives the 900 a stunning range in full EV mode. The brand claims it can do up to 174 miles (280 km, CLTC) on electric power, with a combined range of up to 897 miles when using fuel. (Hence, the name.) This means that most of the 900’s daily and city driving could comfortably be fully electric.
Still, that 174-mile range isn’t enough for Chinese big luxury car buyers, so Geely used that battery in tandem with an altered version of its NordThor hybrid system. This was all placed in an altered version of the XC90’s platform, called SPA Evo. So what you get here is basically an XC90, but more powered by its battery than its gas engine, and also nicer and with better software.
From what I can see, the front half of the Lynk & Co 900 is similar PHEV hybrid setup we’ve driven last year on cars like the Lynk & Co 07 and 08, as well as the Geely Galaxy L7. This takes a gas engine (in this case, a similar unit to the 2.0-liter turbo found in most Volvo products), and mates it to a three-speed dedicated hybrid transmission (DHT).
The system is very similar to Honda’s hybrid setup, where its twin electric motors (one generator, one traction) move the car around, but a three-speed planetary gearset is placed right before all that power goes to the ground to make delivery a little more flexible than just a single fixed direct drive.
Perhaps it’s a bit overkill, but the top-of-the-line 900 adds two big electric motors to the rear axle for AWD. The result is a car with a stunning amount of power, up to 835 horsepower according to Lynk & Co, but the ability to do most of its driving in an engine-off manner.
And it works.
Editor-in-Chief Patrick George and I got about a solid hour-and-a-half driving the 900 around Hangzhou, China. The crossover is incredibly well resolved when it comes to the vehicle’s powertrain. The last time I got behind the PHEV Lynk & Co products, I was generally impressed—but didn’t feel like they were as electrified as I thought they would be.
By contrast, this 900’s power delivery is smooth and strong. Our tester had a battery that was a little more than 35% charged, and the engine only came on twice under max 100% throttle for 15 to 20 seconds to boost the battery and deliver a small amount of driving force to the wheels.
Otherwise, the 900 was perfectly content to cruise around Hangzhou streets and freeways, completely engine off.
With the engine off, it was easy to just notice how sumptuous the 900 is. I’m a little tired of using the word “sumptuous”; it’s kind of a cliche, but it’s the only accurate adjective to describe the 900’s color-matched interior, creamy ride quality from its air suspension, whisper-quiet interior and crazy high-resolution responsive screens.
I mean, just look at the thing.
The 900 isn’t a small thing; not in the slightest. At roughly 206 inches long, the 900 is about eight inches longer than the already super-sized Kia EV9. And like the EV9, it delivers on utmost interior comfort. There’s plenty of legroom for every seat in the house; some models even have a picnic mode that includes swiveling 2nd row seats and a table for relaxing in the countryside. And lest we forget the huge fold-down screen for entertaining rear seat passengers. Patrick said it was his favorite car he drove during his entire time in China.
If you’re in China, this can all be yours for a starting price of about $42,000. Our top-of-the-line tester with the largest battery, engine, and tri-motor setup would be more in the $60,000 range – a bargain in the U.S., but not so much in China.
What Does It Mean For Future Hybrids Everywhere?
For Chinese buyers, they have yet another big, glamorous crossover to choose from in an important segment.. Now, if you’re in search of a luxuriously large“new energy SUV”, you won’t have to buy a Li Auto, Aito or some other brand.
For everyone else, the 900 could be a preview of what is to come at Volvo or other associated brands across the globe. Unfortunately, Volvo is walking back its plans for an EV-only future, with plans to still support ICE development beyond 2030. This is seconded by Volvo and Lynk & Co’s parent company, Geely, whose chairman recently affirmed, “We are not giving up on gas engines.”
Of course, EV development at the whole Geely umbrella will continue, as will future electrification efforts via PHEV and EREV development. The future of automobile-based transportation won’t likely be solely ICE alone, but instead it will mostly be electrified models like this, with an engine to assist when out of energy.
Future PHEV hybrid models amongst Geely’s brands could be similar to what we see here on the Lynk & Co 900. There are rumors that the just-introduced-in-Europe Smart #5 EV model could spawn an EREV spinoff. Similarly, Volvo just announced its intention to build a PHEV crossover with the XC70 name with up to 125 miles (200 km) of range. We don’t know much yet, but it could be similar in principle to what I’ve driven with the Lynk & Co 900.
Also, Lynk & Co itself is continuing to branch out to other markets. Recently, it finally added two new models to supplant the aging 01 crossover: the 02 small EV crossover and the 08 PHEV midsized SUV.
The 900 could percievably make its way to other markets as a range-topping SUV, but don’t expect it to be cheap.
Still, if you’re in a market that will get the 900, it could be worth a hard look. For everyone else, if you want to know what the future of EREVs and PHEVs looks like, we can only hope it’s as good as this.
Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@InsideEVs.com
