Zicher wants Australians to drive their future EV on snow before anyone else

Most people test drive a new car around the block. Zikar will hand you the keys In the middle of New Zealand’s Southern Alps.

The premium EV brand has opened bookings for Zeeker on Ice, an exclusive customer program combining luxury hospitality with a full day of driving on ice at the Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground in Queenstown.

The big hook is what the participants will actually be driving. Along with Zeekar’s current Australian lineup, guests will sit behind the wheel of two models that have not yet reached local showrooms.

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Ice, Power Slides and Unreleased Cars

The Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground is no gimmick. Located high in the Southern Alps, it has become one of the world’s premier winter testing facilities, used by car manufacturers to push vehicles to their limits in extreme cold weather.

Zeeker is using it to lead guests through an entire day of structured snow driving, including slalom courses, vehicle mobility exercises, controlled power slides, gymkhana circuits and hot laps with professional instructors.

Cars available on the day include the Xyker

Getting seat time in unreleased models before a brand’s local launch is not something most manufacturers offer to retail customers. Zeekar clearly knows how it works for buyers who are still making up their minds about the brand.

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Two nights and a helicopter finale in Millbrook

Driving is the centerpiece, but Zicher has carefully built the rest of the weekend around it.

Guests stay for two nights at the five-star Millbrook Resort, which includes premium dinners, concierge transfers and a helicopter flight experience over the Southern Alps.

The full driver package costs NZ$5,500 (~$4,600 AUD). Spectator packages start at NZ$1,500 (~$1,250 AUD). Places are strictly limited, and flights to New Zealand are not included.

This is a deliberate way of introducing a brand that is still relatively new to Australian buyers. The showroom tour and test loop around a quiet suburb tells you something about the car.

Two days on the snow in Queenstown, in conditions where the vehicle’s dynamics are really highlighted, tells you something different. Whether the 8X and 9X can hold their own against more established premium EVs is a question the event is designed to answer publicly ahead of the official launch.

Zeekar is expanding rapidly into global markets, and Australia is clearly being treated as a priority rather than an afterthought.

Providing local customers early access to unannounced models in one of the world’s most demanding driving environments is no small step.

This is the kind of thing a brand does when it wants to be taken seriously even before a full product line comes out.