Lynk & Co’s first EV is meant to be shared to lower its price

Lynk & Co just launched the 02, the company’s first fully-electric vehicle that’s designed from the ground up to be shared with family, friends, or anyone willing to pay for the privilege. The EV is interesting, but not nearly as interesting as Lynk & Co’s unique approach to car ownership.

Once you buy, lease, or subscribe to a 02 you can become a “lender,” in Lynk & Co parlance, to set the price and conditions for sharing. In Amsterdam, a quick browse through the Lynk & Co app shows several of its 01 plug-in hybrids available to borrow for €7 to €12 per hour (or €47 to €123 per day), usually with a “no pets, no smoking” requirement. Borrowers are automatically billed for fuel consumed when the car is returned. 

This lending model has two intertwined benefits. First, the owner can reduce their monthly payments by sharing the 02 whenever it’s not needed — weekends or evenings, for example. That then benefits everyone who lives in the same city, since increasing utilization prevents the cars from just sitting idle, taking up valuable public space. 

30 percent of Lynk & Co owners already share their 01 vehicles, and the 02 is designed to be even easier to share. It starts with a “sharing strap” next to the steering column that can be pulled to launch the sharing app on the large 15.4-inch central display — something that can otherwise be done remotely in Lynk & Co’s Android and iOS apps.

Online sales begin today in Europe with prices starting at €35,495 (about $39,000). Lynk & Co will also let you subscribe to the O2, but details won’t be announced until later. Subscriptions for the current Lynk & Co 01 model cost €600 per month (with a €200 sign-up fee) which covers maintenance, insurance, and road tax — they can be canceled at any time. At launch, the 01 only cost €500 per month and didn’t require a sign-up fee. The 02 is also available under a traditional lease with contracts ranging from 24 to 60 months. 

Now, about the 02 itself…

Lynk & Co was founded in 2016 as a collaboration between Geely and Volvo. The five-door 02 is built on Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) so you get a 66kWh NMC battery for a max (WLTP) range of 445km (277 miles). That’s not bad for many parts of Europe with its dense network of robust public chargers. The 02 can charge from 10 to 80 percent in 30 minutes with a 150kW DC charger. It’ll charge from zero to 100 percent in 7.5 hours from a home AC socket, or 4.5 hours if you opt for the pricier “More” version of the 02. 

The O2 EV is meant to be more playful than the 01 PHEV in response to user feedback. It starts with that “sharing strap,” and extends to a Hey Honk alternative to the traditional horn which “brings a set of friendly alerts that interact with pedestrians and other road users.” The O2 also features a selfie camera like the O1, but now it’s been relocated to the rear-view mirror with a USB connection for a dashcam.

And to make the most of that big-ass rolling battery the O2 also features a vehicle-to-load (V2L) power sharing capability for external devices, so you can presumably charge power stations or e-bikes using a V2L charging adaptor; things you carry inside the 410 liters of storage in the trunk and additional 15 liters in the frunk.

As a modern connected vehicle the 02 features oodles of automatic safety features, over-the-air software updates, 5G connectivity, a Wi-Fi hotspot, dual-wireless phone chargers, and the ability to control the internal temperature remotely. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be fully supported, but only after an OTA update coming shortly after the first customer deliveries.

The Lynk & Co 02 (known as the Z20 in China) is available in the €35,495 Core version, or €39,495 More variant which includes a 22kW onboard charger, 14 speakers, 20-inch wheels, and a 360-degree camera.

Lynk & Co currently operates in seven European countries: Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and Belgium. It plans to extend into a total of 22 European markets before the end of the year. 

First deliveries of the 02 to customers across Europe are expected by December.