Inside Lynk & Co’s World and the disruptive vision of mobility

Lynk & Co opened its doors for me. Literally: I had the opportunity to enter the offices in Gothenburg of the Geely Group’s company, both the headquarters and the nearby Workshop, as well as being able to test the car where it was born, in the second largest city in Sweden.

A full immersion in the brand, in its aesthetics, to better understand its vision, but also to take stock of the situation three years after Lynk & Co’s official debut in Europe. And to see what is behind the development of the car, its software, and the attention to the community, with which Lynk & Co is always in contact.

From Copenhagen to Gothenburg’s Wonderland

No planes this time. Given the proximity between Copenhagen, where I live, and Gothenburg, I took the train to reach the Swedish city. The journey, with the direct train, now takes just over 3 hours: I left at 12:42 from Copenhagen airport and arrived at 16:20 at Gothenburg Central Station, quickly reaching the new Hotel Draken (“Dragon”), opened about a month ago in a new skyscraper in the city, a short walk from the famous Feskekôrka (“Fish Church,” actually a covered market), currently under restoration.

Not a bad hotel, though: modern and with design solutions, although it may not be the most beautiful from the outside, it offers truly amazing views of the city. My room, equally well-kept and with every comfort, including an iron and ironing board, was on the twelfth floor and offered a splendid view of Haga, the most beautiful district of Gothenburg, and Skansen Kronan, located on a hill that offers equally beautiful panoramas. There are indeed many interesting points in a city that celebrated its 400 years of history this year.

Before delving into the heart of the company, I tried the model year 2023 of the only model currently sold in Europe (in Scandinavia, Lynk & Co has clubs only in Sweden), the Lynk & Co 01. Aesthetically and in terms of engine, it’s the car we now know well: modern and youthful design, made in Sweden like all Lynk & Co cars, unique 261 hp plug-in hybrid engine with over 70 km of full electric range, and lots of safety features. It continues to drive well, with well-made assembly and comfortable seats, although the integrated headrest may not be the ideal solution for a car of this kind, and covered in Econyl, fabric made from recycled ocean plastics.

It’s a car with a lifestyle vocation and quite versatile. The three driving modes go well with the various usage possibilities, ranging from urban environments where only electric is used without problems, to extra-urban highways, where the hybrid mode is preferred, using both engines to reduce consumption, unless you want to preserve the battery. The latter charges in AC in about 3 hours or more, depending on the power. I wonder if in future updates it will be one of the few plug-in hybrids that support fast charging.

Lifestyle vocation also for the open panoramic roof, for the large windows, and for the ample space. And for dynamic driving, especially in Sport mode, a bit wasted in a Sweden with very strict limits, but I wouldn’t call it sporty. The steering wheel is light but not too much, and the suspension remains soft. However, be careful when seeking some sportiness: the weight distribution is not perfectly balanced, and the car may lose some grip on the rear.

In any case, the sales model is always designed for ease of purchase, but over the years, the types of offers have expanded: from the subscription that made Lynk & Co famous, to leasing and now also renting.

A short tour of the surroundings of Gothenburg with the new features

My Swedish tour on the Lynk & Co 01 lasted about two hours. I started from Lindholmen, where the brand’s Workshop is located. Lindholmen means “Island of limes,” once independent but now joined to another island, Hisingen. Both are located on the Göta Älv, the river at the mouth of which Gothenburg itself is located and which once housed the shipyard of the Swedish city.

Today it hosts a gigantic redevelopment project, with modern buildings, including the headquarters of Lynk & Co and Geely, and the Karlatornet, the tallest skyscraper in all of Sweden; and it is a hub for research, innovation, and development in the transport and media sector through the Lindholmen Science Park. These are pieces of information that I didn’t know, and that I didn’t look up on the internet: Lynk & Co 01 told me about them through one of the new features of the infotainment.

It’s called Pretty Near, and it uses the car’s navigation system to show some points of interest on the map. Clicking on them, the speakers of the Infinity audio system give resonance to the voice of the system that tells about the indicated point. Interesting, also in terms of safety: I think of trips like mine, by car, where I don’t have time to stop but often I’m curious to understand what I see.

From Lindholmen, I looked for short routes to explore something I didn’t know about Gothenburg yet. Västra Götaland (Western Götaland, the region named after the aforementioned river) indeed has many interesting points, starting from the archipelago of Gothenburg, and several lakes including the largest in all of Sweden, Vänern, which is also the largest lake in the entire European Union.

However, I chose to go to Rådasjön, closer to the city, because on its waters overlooks Gunnebo Slott, a neoclassical palace with an adjacent nature reserve.

Also because here the roads penetrate the woods, making the driving experience even more interesting and enjoyable, before returning to the city.

By the way, I didn’t remember the address very well, so I used another of the added features, What3Words. Another very nice software that allows you to find any place in the world using three indicative words for that location, and not generic ones. “If I said ‘take me to an incredible country,’ I would get 1656 indications in about 200 km,” explains, smiling, David Green, Chief Digital Officer of Lynk & Co.

The last feature I tested basically saved my day. Not being on vacation in Gothenburg, I had scheduled a video call that I could do directly in the car because I usually use Microsoft Teams. Usually, by connecting CarPlay, you can only use Teams via audio and in a very limited way, but Lynk & Co has partnered with Microsoft to bring the software directly to its infotainment. Which actually works very well and uses the Journey Camera of the Lynk & Co 01 to allow even those in the car, if necessary, to appear.

“In this way, we can participate in a team call and show our face, as well as view the contents of the meeting presentation directly on the navigation” David Green tells me, adding that obviously the display of the presentations takes place only when the car is stationary.

There is also Let’s Chat, which uses AI to start conversations between the car and the user on various topics. For example, it asked me, “If Cinderella’s shoes fit her so well, why did she lose them?” It can make you smile, and maybe it’s more fun with friends, but if you really don’t know how time passes in the car, it’s better to listen to music with the audio system, which, if properly set up, gives a lot of satisfaction. Or, at least, that’s how I prefer it.

The evolution of car sharing

The possibility of sharing the car has more or less always existed since Lynk & Co arrived in Europe. It stems from a more concrete vision, in my opinion, of sustainability, which focuses not so much on the car and its motorization (certainly important) but on its use: today, on average, a car remains parked 96% of the time. Hence the idea of not wasting it and allowing members of the membership, i.e., those who subscribe to the subscription, to share the car.

Today, it is possible, from a regulatory standpoint, thanks to the partnership between Lynk & Co and Allianz, which has created a tailored insurance package for this particular use. But it wasn’t so simple at the beginning.

CEO Alain Visser explains that the commitment to promote it was there, “but our application didn’t work that well,” he admits. A job that took some time but today “works really well.”

Also, because everyone, while receiving suggestions, can choose their price. And so, in Sweden, Lynk & Co’s car-sharing has an average of SEK 102 or €9/h, the lowest in the country, and in Italy, it rises to €30, the highest among the countries where Lynk & Co operates. “If I tried to set it for you, since I know you, I could make it very cheap, let’s say €1. But if I were putting it on the street, the average price people pay to share one of these for two hours is about €10, depending on the market,” jokes David Green, Chief Digital Officer of Lynk & Co.

Through the app, one can decide the period during which it is available and for how long, and other members enrolled only in the membership, but without the car, can benefit from it. This allows owners to earn some extra income, all in accordance with the country’s tax system. “But it also means that maybe someone else doesn’t need to invest in their car and all the CO2 needed to make that second car that they don’t really need,” concludes David Green.

In any case, the potential utility of the service is very useful, and it is evident from the results: 1.5 million hours of car sharing were calculated in October 2023, with revenue obtained by users amounting to €850,000, in many cases useful to partially support the subscription expenses, which have now risen to 6000 SEK per month in Sweden.

Wanna join a car’s development?

My tour ends again at the Workshop, again at Lindholmen. I had already glimpsed it the first time I interacted with Lynk & Co during the “Virtual Test Drive,” and it is the first of the places that brings back part of the underground aesthetics, I would dare to say punk/camp in some points due to the high use of LEDs and exposed walls.

Here maintenance is done on the cars, but new ones are also developed, as well as new features, which start from the community. All Lynk & Co users, in fact, can send suggestions and audio requests directly from the car, using the CoLab app.

“We are always looking for new content inside the car. And to create them, we don’t sit in a room on poufs with whiteboards and pens and post-its. Not only that, at least. We actually want our customers and drivers of this car to help us with ideas. So all cars have this little application, it’s called CoLab. What it does is allow the driver to send us suggestions. Just now, someone said, ‘Hey, I’d like a karaoke machine inside the car,’ and that little message is now recorded. And if I send it, it will send it anonymously as a text message to our inbox. And that’s how we’re creating new content in the future” – David Green continues to tell me.

For this reason, through software updates, Lynk & Co 01 promises to add more and more features. “I don’t want to tell you anything secret, but very soon we will add a web browser to the car, and we have updated existing apps with new features,” he continues.

Deserving development, it must be admitted, and not simple, given that as technological as it may be, a car remains a vehicle and therefore not easy to develop like a smartphone. And above all, it’s better not to exaggerate with imagination, on objects that move.

“You have to make sure that the applications and content you create are not distracting for the driver, or that, if they are distracting, they can only be used when the car is stationary. In addition to having to adapt to the regulations of different countries. Cars can move, of course. So, if you’re not allowed to use an external camera during the trip, in some countries, we have to make sure it doesn’t work, these are challenges that, you know, don’t exist when it comes to a simple mobile device. We also want to spend a lot of time and work to comply with cybersecurity requirements. But we also create physical barriers. I mean, what you saw here is not connected to the car’s driving systems in any way” – David Green concludes.

At the Lynk & Co headquarters between design and status update

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, Lynk & Co opened all the doors for me. Including those of its headquarters, a few hundred meters from the Workshop, inserted in the largest complex of Uni3 by Geely, which houses all the brands, offices, but also the Geely Design Centre where Lynk & Co, Zeekr, and in the future also vehicles from other brands of the Chinese giant are designed.

This is also seen from the terrace of Lynk & Co’s headquarters, where employees and guests can come to relax even on cold days like those of the Swedish November, and it is within these walls that the future technologies of Lynk & Co models are also thought.

Here, for example, in these months, the second Lynk & Co car in Europe is being completed, and its first fully electric one, as Alain Visser himself, CEO of Lynk & Co, confirms to me: “Without being able to share too many details, at the end of next year [2024, editor’s note] we will have a completely electric car, but we will also keep the current car because in markets like Italy, where the infrastructure for electric cars or charging is still very limited, we believe we need both. So we will have an electric car with semi-autonomous technology, and in the not too distant future also a completely autonomous car.”

The offices of Lynk & Co bring the aesthetics of their Clubs, like the one in Gothenburg or in Stockholm, to the maximum.

“Although individuals of the same teams tend to group together on each floor, everyone is free every day to choose where to work, on which floor, and at which workstation. There are no fixed places” Frida Tillack, Chief People Officer of Lynk & Co, explains to me. Like the Clubs, therefore, each room has a very specific theme with an almost “playful” mood. The same elevator, for example, has the Shuffle button, which takes you to a random floor if you can’t decide.

Eccentric aesthetics, and rich in works of art. Not always understandable, like the room on the fourth floor, for the most important meetings, with Renaissance-style curtains descending from the ceiling, above a brightly colored table. “Especially during video calls, it’s fun to see the effect that red has on people in the room” – Frida Tillack jokes.

The offices also enjoy numerous relaxation areas, podcast stations, and a rather large canteen with fresh food every day, to “recall an informal and sustainable atmosphere, as demonstrated by the different chairs because they are recovered from other places,” continues Frida. There are also several meeting rooms, such as the Jungle Room, my guide’s favorite, which precisely takes up the vegetation and colors typical of a jungle.

Again, there are rooms for children and dogs, which all employees can bring so as not to leave them alone, and more secluded rooms for those on a break who want to watch a TV series or disconnect a bit from the rest. And when you don’t take the elevator, there are the wall works of the Swedish artist Ekta.

The entrance is also eccentric: like in the clubs, there is some merchandise from Lynk & Co’s partners, including Seletti, and a unique specimen of the 01, in black with deliberately exaggerated pink interiors, pure camp, a true exhibition piece and aesthetic manifesto of the brand.

But how to convey, in words, this aesthetic, and why does Lynk & Co emphasize it so much? “It’s a good question. I always say that we are a mobility brand linked to lifestyle. We don’t talk much about the car itself; we are more focused on the efficient use of the car and creating a community based on the model and lifestyle. That’s why we create clubs.” – Alain Visser tells me.

“It’s true that I always say we are an online company, but you need an offline experience to build a brand. You can create a company online, but you can’t create a brand online. And we think this static aspect is perhaps also one of the reasons for success, for example, in Italy, our second market. When I look at our club in Milan or the club in Rome, they are among those that work best, especially with Italians who seem to like the style.”

Indeed, Lynk & Co in Italy has targeted Italians, their sense of taste, and the desire for modernity that those living in cities tend to seek. After three years, one might wonder if something needed to change along the way, but according to Visser, the model is working.

And finally, there’s the exclusivity. “We like not having too many clubs, and for now, we are happy with those we have,” Visser reveals. In addition to the Swedish clubs in Gothenburg and Stockholm, Lynk & Co has clubs in Milan, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, and Munich. 

And could work also in a sophisticated city like Copenhagen? We don’t know, even if Alain Visser confesses to love Danish capital. But there’s only one other club planned, and it’s not in Scandinavia. “Madrid, but I think in 2024, we will focus less on new clubs to better use the existing ones. And then in 2025, we’ll return to expanding a bit,” concludes Alain Visser.

Who knows if it will really be Copenhagen, the capital of Architecture this year, where I am about to return at the end of this full immersion