Ever spent a sleepless night worrying about drowning in a sinking car? Of course you have.
It’s a combination of horrors – the claustrophobia of a locked car, struggling to breathe as oxygen runs out and deep water consumes you.
Thankfully, those fears have been addressed by Chinese carmaker Zeekr, which has come up with a built-in feature to assist with evacuating a submerged vehicle.
Debuting on the new 7X electric SUV, the emergency window breaker is activated via a lever located in the driver’s door, underneath the power window switches.
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In the case of an aquatic emergency, the driver is required to the pull the lever which triggers a small hammer to smash the window glass.
The lever can only be accessed by removing a small panel on the underside of the window switches, while the hammer pull itself requires just 50 newtons of force to trigger.
The system is mechanical in nature, ensuring that it will work effectively regardless of whether the car has power or not, with electronic systems more likely to be compromised underwater.
Zeekr has developed the unique feature, said to be an industry first, “to address urban flooding and the dangers of water ingress”.
Skeptical? Well you shouldn’t be, because Zeekr has tested its new window breaker in real-world conditions.
The manufacturer sent a member of China’s Blue Sky Rescue crew to drive the 7X into a lake, fully submerge it and then escape the car, which he did successfully using the window breaker. Zeekr will equip every 7X with the lifesaving feature.
Owned by Geely, Zeekr will launch in Australia with the X SUV later this year before bringing the 7X Down Under in 2025.
The 7X will slot in above the X SUV, and measures in at 4825mm long, 1930mm wide, and 1656mm tall, with a 2925mm wheelbase.
This makes it slightly larger than the Tesla Model Y and around the same size as the seven-seat Kia Sorento.
The 7X is expected to offer a single-motor rear-wheel drive powertrain with 310kW, as well as a dual-motor all-wheel drive variant with 475kW.
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