Toyota Prius C vs Zeekr 7X

What's the difference?

It's as if the the future is firmly rooted in the past at Toyota. The Prius is still undoubtedly clever, frugal and easy to drive, but it is feeling so old in places that the bad had begun to weigh on the good. If you're a tech-head or have a right foot crafted from lead, then there's nothing to see here. But if the thought of saving money at the bowser sets your heart aflutter, then step right this way.

The Zeekr 7X looks better in the metal, impresses with its European cabin ambiance and slick build quality from behind the wheel, and dazzles with its impressive specifications and wild software.

There’s unfortunately a lot riding on local calibration, all the way from ride and handling to driver assist tech. We’ve driven cars from new brands which initially look impressive, but end up being infuriating to live with, and it will only take local testing in the second half of 2025 to figure out whether Zeekr can manage to bypass some of the teething issues its rivals have faced.

It’s also a shame some combination of ADRs and the relatively small size of our market will kill off some of the coolest features this car gets overseas.

Regardless, there’s an impressive product here at least on our limited initial impressions, one which leans on its blended DNA to seemingly provide the best of both worlds - Chinese forward-facing tech, with European platform design. If this sounds like it could call out to you the Zeekr 7X is certainly a launch in 2025 worth keeping an eye on.

The good news is that it doesn't look quite so quirky as the full-size Prius. The not-as-good news is that it's still no beauty-contest winner. Not helping matters was the fact our test vehicle was painted in a retina-burning yellow (they call it Hornet Yellow, and it's new for 2018) that looked almost nuclear.

Viewed front on, the blacked-out section of grille and bumper gives the littlest Prius a vaguely manta ray-shaped front-end, while the headlights climb both upwards and back into the body, lending a sense of sportiness to this very unsporty hybrid. From the back, the chunky bumper, vertical taillights and rear windscreen spoiler all add a little attitude to the design.

Inside, you'll find a small but premium-in-places space, with a gloss-black stereo surround that angles the main controls toward the driver, while the digital driver's binnacle is pushed toward the centre of the car, displaying speed, fuel and other key info above the stereo, rather than in front of the steering wheel.

At a distance the 7X looks, I suppose, like just another Chinese electric SUV. The sleek amorphous body shape is so synonymous with new electric vehicles, they may as well be designed by AI.

A closer inspection reveals a more subtle car, with a hint of aggression about its alloys and sturdy wheel arches. Its stance on the road is certainly more ‘European performance SUV’ than ‘generic family mid-sizer’, especially in the high-spec versions we had a chance to sample.

While I do think it will miss out on a bit of personality in its face without the clever pixel LED light bar it gets in the Chinese market, the rear three quarter might be its better angle, with 3D-style light fittings sliced out of the bodywork, blending with the bootlid spoiler and little flick of the panelwork down below to make for a hint of the sporty capabilities which lie below.

The inside is even better, though. Frameless doors give way to a space packed with lavish trims complete with an immediate and surprising feel of quality. You could be sitting in an upmarket Volvo or Polestar easily, you’re just confronted with an unknown logo on the steering wheel.

It also takes on more personality on the inside, with clever 3D-look ambient lighting inlays, ultra-sharp screens with dazzlingly fast software, and switchgear which feels as premium as any luxury brand.

The giant and completely dominating central touchscreen might not be for everyone, but it’s part of Zeekr’s mission to bring the overbearing sense of tech from the Chinese market to the luxury space.

It strikes me, sitting in the 7X, the days of Chinese cars being cheap and cheerful are laregely behind us. There aren’t even remote reminders, as you might still find from time to time in a GWM or MG product.

There aren’t cheap plastic panels where there shouldn’t be, there aren’t areas where it feels like the design doesn’t quite match up, there aren’t odd bits of switchgear which don’t feel as quality as they should, or mismatching fonts, or software which doesn’t match the rest of the car. 

It’s this attention to detail which makes a car feel more than the sum of its parts, and it’s clear Zeekr’s Gothenburg design studio hasn’t been limited in its scope in bringing a sense of completionism to every part of the cabin.

Not very. This is a Yaris-based city car, let's not forget.

That said, it never feels cramped up front, with enough shoulder and headroom to ensure you feel separated from your fellow passengers, where you'll also find two cupholders, and an infuriating USB connection housed in the touchscreen - so your cord dangles from the dash when connected.

Climb into the back, and you'll find yourself in a pretty snug space. Sitting behind my own (5ft-8inch) driving position, it's only the scalloped back of the driver's seat that affords me any clear air between my knees and the seat in front, and the space behind my head and the roof lining is minuscule, too. But again, we're talking city car space here, so you can't expect to lounge about back there.

The ambience in the backseat leaves a little to be desired, though. The door trim pushes into the passenger space, and the plastics used in the rear are rock hard. There's a single cupholder to share, and a seat-back pocket on the rear of the passenger seat, but that's it; there's no vents, USB or power sources. There's no bottle-room in the rear doors, either.

An easy-access boot space will swallow 260 litres with the 60:40 rear seats in place. And there are two ISOFIX attachment points, one in each window seat in the back.

The 7X’s dedicated electric SEA platform (a derivative of the same platform which underpins the Polestar 4) allows for familiar EV innovations like a flat floor and better integration for the battery pack. As a result, this feels like a quite, spacious mid-sizer.

Up front there seems to be great adjustability and a nice width to the cabin, and a nice sense of coziness provided by the plush trims and raised centre console.

A tilt-opening centre console box provides a large storage area below (which can be converted optionally to a fridge) while there’s decent storage in the doors, and a large cutaway under the centre console area.

Atop, there’s dual wireless chargers and dual cupholders with a sliding cover piece to keep things tidy when they’re not in use. Overseas versions at least also have nifty lift-open armrests with small storage areas good for sunglasses and the like.

While the screen is massive and is required to control many of the car’s functions, it’s not clear year exactly how deep the functionality of this software in Australian cars will be, suffice to say it will be more streamlined than the complex suite available in China at launch.

However, there are a set of four shortcut buttons plus a volume dial below the screen to add some physical functionality, which is always welcome.

There are also various customisable elements to the digital instrument cluster, setting it apart from the more basic versions out there on some rival vehicles.

Suffice it to say it will be easier to use for non-screen people than the Model Y, the incoming version of which will no doubt dump nearly all physical controls.

The second row immediately stands out thanks to its ease-of-access. The doors intentionally open a full 90 degrees, and you’re greeted with the open flat floor, making it easy to shuffle the whole way across if you’re only able to board or exit on the kerbside.

Space seemed more than sufficient for me (at 182cm) in the rear row, with airspace for my knees and plenty of headroom. The rear seats also offer power adjust and heating in overseas models.

We’ll miss out on the built-in mechanised tray and high quality entertainment screen option which was in the Chinese versions we tested.

In a clever touch, there are even a set of drawers under the rear seats for additional storage, to add to the standard bottle holders in the doors and drop-down armrest.

There’s tri-zone climate with touch panel controls on the back of the centre console, as well as some USB-C outlets for rear passengers. Adjustable air vents are located in the B-pillars.

The boot measures in at 539-litres which is decent, but perhaps not segment leading. It’s offered with quick release seats and a partitionable boot floor as well as a ski port.

Up front there’s a frunk, great for your charging cables, which measures either 66 litres in RWD versions or 42 litres in AWD versions.

Towing capacity according to European-spec vehicles measures in at 2000kg braked, although keep in mind it’s likely to be different for locally delivered vehicles as it will be measured when the car is complied with local suspension settings and to specific ADRs.

Put simply, we don’t yet know how much the Zeekr 7X will cost. In fact, Zeekr in Australia probably hasn’t even decided how much it will cost yet. For a clue, though, pricing was just revealed in Europe, the 7X’s first export market.

There, it starts from roughly $75,000 for a base rear-wheel drive version, although it’s worth noting Geely group vehicles attract a 18.8 per cent tariff in Europe, and therefore we’d expect it to be quite a bit cheaper in Australia.

However, it will also need to steer clear of its much smaller Zeekr X sibling, which comes in two variants priced at $56,900 and $64,900, respectively. Based on these two factors I think it’s fair to speculate a range of $65,000 to $80,000 depending on variant.

On the topic of variants, expect three as the brand will look to mirror its range in China (as it has already done in Europe).

Kicking off proceedings is a standard range RWD with a 75kWh battery pack good for a 480km driving range on the WLTP cycle.

Then there’s a Long Range RWD variant with a 100kWh battery pack good for a 615km driving range, and finally there’s a Performance AWD.

For anyone shopping around for an EV, especially in this mid-size segment this will be a very familiar line-up.

It also boasts a solid amount of equipment, although some particularly impressive items available in its Chinese home market won’t be available in Australia thanks to some buzzkill Australian Design Rules (ADRs).

Still, you can expect extensive Nappa leather interior trimmings, not just the seats and wheel, but in the console and across the dash, too, with a full array of electric adjustments for the front seats with heating (EU cars have the option for ventilation and message functions, too).

It immediately leaps out at you on the tech front with a 16-inch 3.5K centre multimedia touchscreen. This unit is ultra-fast (using a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, for those who care) and has clever graphics on the home screen which show the surrounding weather conditions thanks to its always-online suite.

For those sick of cars without instrument clusters, the 7X gets a 13-inch unit for the driver and there’s also an option to add a 36.2-inch head-up display (at least on EU-market cars).

On the outside there are a set of LED headlights and tail-lights, frameless doors and 19-inch alloys.

Stepping up a grade on Euro-spec cars nets some minor items alongside the larger battery, including an auto-dimming rear vision mirror, and a power-adjustable steering wheel, while the top-spec all-wheel drive adds a significant boost to performance, active air suspension, upgraded brakes and perforated leather trim on the inside.

Again, these standard items might not mirror what ends up being available in Australia, but it should give you at least a good indication of what kinds of things to expect.

Some particularly cool things on the Chinese market versions we drove which can’t come to Australia thanks to design rule limitations include the pixel pattern panel on the front of the car (which adds quite a lot of personality to it), as well as a big electrically-folding touchscreen panel and tray table on the back of the driver’s seat perfect for entertaining kids.

Like Europe, it’s also possible we won’t get all the interior options available in China either, like the Ming Dynasty vase-inspired blue and cream interior trim option.

The other thing to note is despite its premium positioning, expect Zeekr to continue to undercut electric mid-size SUV rivals like the Audi Q6 e-tron, BMW iX3 and the Genesis GV70 electrified.

While the brand agreed comparisons to Tesla’s Model Y are “inevitable”, the car doesn’t really feel like a competitor, because its larger and also because it clearly intends to shoot above the mainstream space with its specs and interior feel.

Perhaps the biggest threat to the 7X though will be the surprisingly plush Xpeng G6 (from a crazy low $54,800) which should be arriving in customer hands imminently.

Under that little hood lives a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine good for 54kW, which pairs with a 45kW electric motor. Toyota lists combined outputs at 74kW at 4800rpm and 111Nm at 4000rpm.

That hybrid setup partners with a CVT automatic, pumping power to the front wheels.

There are two drivetrains on offer with the 7X. The rear-wheel drive cars are equipped with a 310kW/440Nm motor, while the AWD version adds a second motor on the front axle for total outputs of 470kW/710Nm.

It’s a punchy set of outputs compared to most options in this segment, but as we’ve learned with electric cars, it’s all down to how well the car’s traction software and transmission settings communicate this power to the wheels.

Acceleration times look promising. Zero to 100km/h is delivered in six seconds for rear-wheel drive versions, or just 3.8 seconds in the all-wheel drive (0.1 of a second slower than a current Model Y Performance). Max speed on all variants is an electronically-limited 210km/h.

The top-spec Performance AWD also adds the aforementioned larger brakes and air suspension with active dampers to help keep things all tidy.

If that last section didn't impress, this one surely will. The little Prius c will sip a claimed 3.9L/100km on the combined cycle.

That's very low, and the fact it accepts cheaper 91RON fuel makes it a very affordable car to run. Except... the onboard computers revealed a slightly less-impressive 5.1L/100km after my time with the car.

Emissions are a claimed 90g/km of CO2, which is very good.

Efficiency seems about on par for a car this big and heavy, though it would be nice to see a step-change improvement. RWD versions have a WLTP-rated consumption of 17.8kWh/100km for the base Premium, or slightly less for the Long Range (17.7kWh/100km). The Performance AWD has a relative lust for energy, rated at a less impressive 19.9kWh/100km.

High consumption, of course, requires large batteries. The base Premium RWD gets a 75kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) unit, providing a WLTP-measured 480km of range (about on par for the segment) while the Long Range RWD and Performance AWD versions get a 100kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) pack, providing an impressive 615km or 543km of range, respectively.

Regardless of battery choice, all versions have an 800-volt electrical architecture allowing a claimed 480kW max DC charging speed.

According to the brand this means a 10-80 per cent charge time as low as 13 minutes for the LFP battery or 16 minutes for the NMC battery.

It would make the 7X one of the fastest-charging vehicles in Australia, but keep in mind there aren’t many chargers (if any) currently capable of outputting such speeds.

Impressively, European versions at least can extract the maximum 22kW off an AC charger, allowing a slow-charging time of just 4.5 hours (LFP) or 5.5 hours (NMC).

We’ll have to wait and see whether this specification carries over to the Australian market, but it would be the only car in the class to get 22kW as standard if so. Again, good luck finding public slow chargers capable of outputting such speeds (most are 11kW or less), but it’s nice to have from a future-proofing point of view.

Additionally, the 7X is capable of outputting up to 3.3kW from its charging port in vehicle-to-load mode, which not all rivals offer. Check back next year to make sure this feature is equipped to Australian-delivered cars.

In much the same way that you don't buy an exotic performance car for its ability to run to the shops, you're unlikely to be buying the Prius for its ability to set your pulse racing.

But happily, it doesn't feel wobbly or disconnected, either. It's aided by being such a small package, and when you're not wafting silently about in electric mode, and you've coaxed that little petrol engine into life, it serves up more than enough poke to navigate the city, and even to leave the slow-reactors in your rear-view mirror at traffic lights.

The ride is good, too, feeling connected to the road below without feeling uncomfortable, although the little Prius does tend to track with the corrugations in the road, leaving you to wrestle it back into line. That's a job made easier by light and surprisingly direct steering, which feels tailor-made for the city.

Finally, the leather-look seats are comfortable, even over long distances, the razor-thin A-pillars make forward vision easy and it's a very simple thing to drive and manoeuvre  into parking spaces. And all of those are good things.

Not so good? Well, the entire drive experiences feels a little beige and emotionless, it can get noisy and there are parts of the cabin that feel downright cheap. Worst of all, though, is that for a car that once heralded the future, it's feeling very, very dated.

But there are some amazing quirks attached to driving an (almost) electric car, including the delivery of eco awards for using the least amount of fuel (they were awarded for 2.6, 3.2 and 3.6L/100km over as much as 25km - none of which occurred during my tenure). The hardest thing to get used to was the absolute silence served up in electric mode. I counted four seperate occasions when I walked away from the car with it still turned on.

I had a very short test drive of the top-spec AWD Performance 7X on a test course at the brand’s home test circuit at Ningbo, which included a pre-prepared ‘off-road’ feature and about two laps around the car park. So our drive impressions are limited.

Still, the 7X immediately feels the part from behind the wheel. Heavy, purposeful steering communicates the heft of an electric premium SUV well, and the top-spec air suspension handled its weight nicely on a curve course. The big brakes certainly work well and the ride dispatched a set of speed bumps with ease.

The ‘off-road’ section, a steep incline designed to be mounted sideways to showcase the car’s clever torque-vectoring traction system, was also easy to navigate, and the additional clearance provided by setting the active suspension to its off-road setting was notable.

Additionally, the set of surround cameras were some of the better ones I’ve used lately to get a sense of where the important bits of the car actually are when you can’t see yourself.

From what I could tell, though, you can certainly feel the weight of the massive 100kWh battery pack, so don’t expect the 7X to be an ultra agile machine. You can also feel the increase in dimensions compared to a Model Y - this is certainly a larger SUV.

Still, the quality of the cabin and the ambiance inside jumped out at me, as did the sleek software and overall premium feel.

Make sure to check in prior to the local launch of the 7X for more detailed impressions of cars with local calibration settings. It’s likely Australian delivered cars will receive regional damper settings, and as always, the calibration of the driver assist systems will be key.

Even in my brief steer I felt the faint tug of lane keep assist on the wheel, so here’s hoping these features score their own local calibration which isn’t deal-breaking on day one.

I was also able to sample this car’s lower riding sibling, the 007 sedan, on the track. It proved as violently quick as you’d expect with its impressive specifications, although wrangling such power and weight requires a pretty strict electronic stability control (ESC) system. That occasionally sucks the fun out of corners and makes the car feel like it sometimes knows what’s best (and actually, maybe it does).

The brakes also proved to fatigue quickly at track velocities, although the same can be said for most EVs I’ve sampled, aside from the Audi e-tron GT which had impressive sustain.

If you’ve got your eye on this class of vehicle then, it might be worth the wait to compare it to the likes of the techy Audi Q6 e-tron, sedate but predictable BMW iX3, and decidedly more intriguing Polestar 3.

This car gets a set of active (crash avoidance) safety features so comprehensive whether they’re good or not will really come down to calibration.

Like Teslas, the 7X gets so many sensors and cameras it can provide a 3D visualisation in the dash cluster of all the people and objects around the car. It’s one of those new-age features which is undeniably cool and gives you an insight into how the car’s brain works.

The usual array of features otherwise is present including freeway-speed auto emergency braking, lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear and front cross-traffic alert, as well as door open warning, driver monitoring (with facial recognition, scary), as well as adaptive high beams.

It can even automatically park itself. Actually, in China, at least, it can completely drive itself. We were treated to a tech demo of this car’s fully autonomous “level three plus” driving mode on public streets in Hangzhou.

When on, it shows a complete visualisation of its surroundings and the road conditions on the nav screen. It performed reasonably well in immensely complicated surroundings.

It pre-emptively changes lane itself, somehow avoids the plethora of two-wheeled vehicles and rickshaws driving through every busy intersection in a Chinese city, and is completely capable of stopping then driving through sets of lights all on its own.

The only problem is the system taps into and relies on China’s vehicle-to-infrastructure connectivity. This is how it’s so accurate at knowing when to go and when to slow down at intersections. We’re way behind where we’d need to be for such technology to be deployed in Australia.

Plus it’s far from completely being able to drive itself. Occasionally it would merge into a bus stop lane and then have to merge back out, and at one point it managed to miss a freeway on-ramp and needed to circumnavigate the block to get back on.

Still, it’s a more sophisticated take on the tech than the exclusively freeway test I sat in for Tesla’s self-driving software a few years ago.

The Zeekr 7X is yet to be rated by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

Toyota offers a three-year/100,000km warranty, while the batteries are covered for eight years or 160,000km. The car's six-month service intervals might sting a little, though, but with each service capped at $140 for the first three years, even taking two trips to the dealership a year isn't too expensive. Just annoying.

Zeekr currently offers a fairly run-of-the-mill five-year and unlimited kilometre new car warranty and an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty on its X small SUV which has already launched in Australia, terms which we expect will remain the same on its follow-up vehicles.

Additionally, there’s five years of roadside assistance and the X at least offers long service intervals of two years and 40,000km.

On top of this, Zeekr claims its OEM-backed dealer model will allow for better aftermarket support and parts supply compared to importer outfits, and it is adding a raft of features for a premium ownership scheme similar to those offered by Lexus and Audi currently. From launch the X is also offered with a 7.0kW home charger, as an example.

The brand also tells us it is planning to launch with a more basic version of the software suite in this car, but is also planning at least two major software updates a year which will progressively add more of the features available to Chinese consumers as time goes on.