We drive the Lynk & Co 01, an SUV to which we can subscribe as if it were Spotify

Many, especially in large cities, will have come across one of their cars on the street in recent days, always black or blue, since only those two body paints are offered on their 01 model. Lynk & Co, a young brand that is not yet on the radar of most users, has landed in Spain with a business model different from what we are used to seeing in other companies, since we can choose between buying the car or subscribing to it as if it were Spotify or Netflix, enjoying it in periods that are at least one month, and without any type of permanence.

Lynk & Co is a new firm that belongs to the Chinese giant Geely, which also owns Volvo, so the models of both brands share a lot with each other. The 01 is his first European adventure, an SUV 4.54 meters long, 1.86 wide and 1.69 high, with 495 liters of trunk capacity and of which two versions are offered: one is a conventional hybrid, or self-recharging, and the other has plug-in hybrid mechanics. El Confidencial has gotten behind the wheel of one of the first units that have arrived in our country, and coinciding with that test we have also been able to chat with Alain Visser, CEO of Lynk & Co worldwide, who has explained to us key operating lines of your company, his future plans or how he sees our country in terms of the brand’s progress.

Regarding the possibility of ending up producing the 01 in Europe, Visser recalled that “this was the plan at first, to manufacture it in the Belgian Volvo plant in Ghent, but the success that the Volvo XC40 in Europe made the remaining space for Lynk & Co production insufficient for us, so we decided that manufacturing takes place in China, although we do not exclude in the medium term the possibility of transferring production to Europe”.

And it is that the brand is extending its network throughout the old continent through its so-called ‘clubs’, Well, Lynk & Co decided not to have regular dealerships, but rather places that are meeting places, with an industrial aspect and in which marketing and brand image prevail more than sales themselves, since these are carried out exclusively online. . Currently they already have seven, in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Hamburg and Munich, but they have plans to also install in our country, with the first opening its doors in Barcelona at the end of April and one after that will be in Madrid from summer.

At the moment its only model for sale in Europe will be 01, with a price of 35,000 euros for the hybrid version 197 hp (average consumption of 6.6 l/100 km and eco label) and 40,500 euros for the plug-in hybrid (zero emissions label), which raises its power to 261 hp. But if what we want is to obtain it through the subscription formula, we can do it for 500 euros per month.

Simplicity and minimalism seem to be two key points in Lynk & Co’s strategy, because, to begin with, when we talk about prices we don’t see a ‘since’, because they only offer the model as is: a single pricewithout the possibility of discounts, no optional items, just two body colors to choose from… In Visser’s own words, “simplicity is part of our DNA, if someone wants a red car, too bad (laughs), it won’t be ours.”

We tested the plug-in hybrid

The version that we we were able to try a few kilometers around Madrid was the plug-in hybrid mechanics, and the first thing that stands out is the rolling quality, because it is a very comfortable and quiet SUV, with a soundproofing according to its price and an electrical system that works very well and that announces 69 kilometers of circulation without emissions in the WLTP cycle, which allowed us to test both the Electric mode in the city center and the Hybrid mode on suburban roads; and also the Sport mode, which accentuates the sensations. In the first two programs, the car tries to stretch the use of electrical energy to the maximum, circulating at low and not so low speeds with the 82 CV electric motor, and having a way B for greater tenacity of regenerative braking.

As for the interior, the 01 is really technological, along the lines of a XC40, with which it shares a lot, from the modular platform until the drive system, with the only difference that the Lynk & Co battery is larger: 14.1 kWh in 01 (the self-recharging hybrid version mounts a 0.7 kWh), for 8.5 kWh in the XC40 Twin Recharge. Behind the wheel we enjoy a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel with very good definition, quite customizable and with the possibility of displaying the full-size navigator map. And on the dashboard we found a large 12.7-inch center display with an intuitive operating system and many possibilities to customize it to our liking; and, in addition, with profiles that allow us to have the car adapted to us every time we take one, a really useful detail if we decide to share the car with other users.

And that is another of the interesting points of the brand, the possibility of sharing the car when we are not using it. First of all, if we want to have a Lynk & Co 01 but don’t want to buy it, we subscribe and pay 500 euros a month, all included. Solved that, through a mobile application we can put our car in ‘share’ mode, establishing rules, hourly or daily rates, a collection and delivery point, and a series of data to take into account. After that, if another person subscribed to the application wants to use a car, he only has to open the app and press the ‘borrow’ button, which automatically displays a map with the location and indicates the cars available in that area, the rates, the hours in which it is available, the score that the owner has, etc. A bit like Airbnb. We select the one that suits us best, we take some photos around it before using it (and also after using it), we receive a ‘key’ on the mobile phone, we open the car and that’s it. In this way, not only will there be fewer cars in circulation or parked idle, but the ‘owner’ can lower that monthly cost by sharing it with other users when you don’t need it.

And the maintenance? The question arose almost automatically after Alain Visser himself explained the business formula and the procedures for using it. What will Lynk & Co’s after-sales service be like in our country? And there they have also opted for an innovative and pragmatic solution, because Volvo workshops will take care of it.

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