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The minivan is one of those segments that hasn't seen many EV entries, despite the bodystyle being well suited to an electric drivetrain, typically featuring a long wheelbase and a short nose. But we had a feeling we'd see some of the earliest luxury minivan debuts in China.

Volvo parent company Geely

Zeekr

The box-shaped minivan is powered by a choice of two batteries, both of them massive. The base version uses a 116-kWh battery, good for 436 miles of range in the very optimistic CLTC cycle, while the beefier 140-kWh Qilin by CATL promises an even more optimistic 511-mile range.

While the metallic grille with waterfall inlets is the first thing one might notice about the Zeekr 009, the vertical LED headlights are an innovative design touch that is sure to be this model's calling card. Here it works remarkably well, especially if you're into modern architecture.

But despite the blunt nose and plenty of flat surfaces, Agent 009 still manages to offer a 0.27 drag coefficient.

Perhaps even more impressive than a promised 511-mile range will be the performance numbers: 536 hp and 505 lb-ft of torque, which will propel the cinder block-shaped minivan from a standstill to 62 mph in 4.5 seconds.

The Zeekr 009 is not really a minivan, but rather a luxury yacht masquerading as a boxy minivan.

Quite a bit of tech will be under the skin as well, including seven 8-megapixel HD cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors, four 2-megapixel surround-view cameras, and one long-range millimeter wave radar, all meant to keep the driver-assist systems fed with information.

While all of this tech certainly sounds expensive, the Zeekr 009 will actually start at a surprisingly reasonable $68,400 for the 116-kWh version, while the 140-kWh version will require at least $80,600. Given the battery sizes alone this seems like a rare bargain, and perhaps nicer than many studio apartments.

There's no immediate danger of the Zeekr 009 making it stateside, at least not under the Zeekr brand, but we have to wonder just which automaker will be the first to field a battery-electric minivan stateside, and whether it will even happen in this decade. For now, automakers seem sure that most EV buyers would rather have a medium or large crossover with a luxury badge.