A recent incident involving a Chinese Zeekr 9X owner has ignited widespread discussion after the vehicle’s infotainment system was heavily restricted while crossing the border into Kazakhstan. The owner, identified as Mr. Liu, found himself stranded abroad with limited functionality for over 30 hours, disrupting his planned road trip to Europe.
Mr. Liu purchased the new SUV for approximately 500,000 yuan (73,500 USD) just six months ago. He began his journey on July 8, but upon entering Kazakhstan on July 16, the vehicle’s system activated restrictions, leaving him feeling as though the car was “half-disabled.” Despite informing dealership staff about his cross-border travel plans during a pre-trip maintenance check, he received no warnings about potential system limitations.
On July 23, a Zeekr spokesperson clarified the situation to Chinese media National Business Daily, stating: “Upon verification, the vehicle’s location was detected in an overseas region, which triggered the built-in security protection mechanism.” The company explained that the system displays pop-up warnings, followed by a persistent screen prompt if the location remains unchanged.
Zeekr emphasized that this is a standard industry anti-theft and loss-prevention measure designed to protect owner assets and comply with international regulations and import/export management, preventing risks related to smuggling or theft. The company further clarified that this mechanism does not affect core driving systems such as powertrain or braking, and there is no scenario where the “vehicle is locked” or “undrivable.” Notably, the charging port can be opened by direct pressure, and the fuel filler door can be unlocked by long-pressing the physical hazard light button inside the cabin for five seconds, bypassing the infotainment system.
According to the manufacturer, once a user verifies that the cross-border travel is legitimate, the restrictions can be lifted via an authorization code. The company confirmed that Mr. Liu’s vehicle has since been verified, and the system prompts have been removed. However, temporary unlocking is restricted to a single region; driving across multiple countries may result in the vehicle being locked again.
“We are maintaining close communication with the user to actively assist with follow-up matters and will continue to optimize our security strategies based on user feedback to improve the cross-border travel experience,” Zeekr stated.
On July 1, Geely‘s brand Zeekr released data showing that 35,169 vehicles were delivered in June, a year-on-year increase of 111%. A total of 178,370 vehicles were delivered from January to June, a year-on-year increase of 97%.
