Leapmotor C10 review

Is the Leapmotor C10 a good car? 

The Leapmotor C10’s price, and associated strong kit list, is its unique selling point. There is no arguing the sheer value on offer – at a price that not only undercuts its European rivals, but many from its home market as well. It’s big and practical, too. But as an electric car, it’s little more than mediocre; the range is neither here nor there and the charging speeds are woeful. Ultimately, that could hold it back alongside more efficient, faster-charging family cars such as the Skoda Enyaq or Tesla Model Y.

How much does the Leapmotor C10 cost?

Leapmotor brand director Damien Dally has confirmed that the firm’s UK line-up will be bookended by the dinky T03 and this: the Tesla Model Y-sized C10 electric SUV. With four models yet to launch, the maker hopes to cover all bases with an extensive range of good-value EVs.

But this is the car that really sets the tone for what’s to come. While the T03 is the bargain benchmark, the C10 not only shows off Leapmotor’s new family face, but raises the bar when it comes to interior quality and connectivity – even overall driveability. 

It’s world’s apart from the T03, to the point where it’s almost impossible to draw any worthwhile comparisons. Instead, it’s best to focus on the C10 as a standalone product – and indeed, what it might represent for the future of the brand.

Founded in 2015, Leapmotor has become a big player in the Chinese market – so much so that Stellantis bought a 20 per cent stake in the company. The two subsequently partnered to create Leapmotor International, which will be in charge of rolling out the T03 and C10 to the European market. Leapmotor International will make use of existing Stellantis dealership locations all around the UK, and if that’s not reassuring enough, the brand is keen to promote this affiliation on its website, where it proudly states “trusted sales and services by Stellantis” beneath the logo. 

Leapmotor is keeping things simple with its introduction to the UK. As with the T03, there’s no trim level structure, so there’s just one version of the C10 to choose from. Every C10 gets those two clear, crisp screens with over-the-air updates, voice control and customisable driver profiles, plus wireless phone charging, heated and cooled front seats and a heated steering wheel. There’s dual-zone climate control, 360-degree cameras, a 12-speaker stereo and numerous USB ports dotted around the cabin.

As if that’s not enough, customers also get those aforementioned alloy wheels, a panoramic glass roof with a power-operated sun shade, flush door handles and customisable entry and exit lighting signatures. It’s fair to say the C10 packs the kind of equipment list you’d not reasonably expect on a car costing 30, 40 or even 50 per cent more.

A single powertrain is offered – a 69.9kWh battery sends power to a 215bhp electric motor on the rear axle. Maximum range stands at 263 miles. 

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The C10 comes with Leapmotor’s ‘cell-to-chassis’ technology, which incorporates the battery into the structure of the chassis to improve rigidity and safety. It's an interesting concept that presumably Stellantis could access for its own EVs, although according to Leapmotor there have been no talks regarding platform sharing across the group. 

You start the C10 via an RFID card that can slip into your wallet – simply by touching or leaving it on the wireless phone-charging pad on the centre console. The column-mounted gearlever is simple to operate, and the various cameras situated around the vehicle make parking pretty simple as well.

Larger than many of its rivals, the C10 weighs 1,980kg. You might think that it would struggle in tight urban areas, but it’s easily capable of threading down a narrow street and finding parking gaps. The kerb weight is disguised at low speeds thanks to incredibly light steering and a tight turning circle, plus there’s terrific visibility all around thanks to a traditional boxy shape, proper, rear three-quarter windows and a relatively low window line.

Indeed, this is an easy car to drive, if not a particularly fast or fun one. The 215bhp single motor feels more than capable of pulling this SUV along and keeping up with traffic, but it won’t set your pants on fire; 0-62mph apparently takes 7.5 seconds. Nor does it ever feel particularly rear-driven; this is a car that prioritises a safe and relatively refined driving experience above everything else.

There are three pretty self-explanatory driving modes in the C10: ‘Eco’, ‘Standard’ and ‘Sport’. While throttle mapping changes are almost imperceptible across the three, the steering weight switches from absurdly light in Eco to marginally heavier in Standard and then genuinely stiff in Sport. It’s good to have the variation, although Sport is way too heavy for the C10 at low speeds and Eco is concerningly vague at high speeds – so we’d just keep it in Standard. Elsewhere, the brakes offer pretty good stopping power, although we found the pedal’s bite to be a little abrupt initially.  

Ride comfort is largely fine; the Leapmotor C10 is perhaps a little bumpy about town, but things smooth out at higher speeds. It’s a shame, therefore, that the 69.9kWh battery can give the car an official range of only 263 miles; an entry-level Skoda Enyaq has a smaller 59kWh battery and a similar range – while a bigger 77kWh battery (with a 360-mile maximum) is also available. The C10 does at least get an energy-saving heat pump as standard.

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Range and charging are areas where the C10 isn’t particularly competitive. There’s only one version of the Leapmotor C10 and its 69.9kWh battery allows for a range of 263 miles. As mentioned above, a basic Skoda Enyaq makes do with a smaller 59kWh battery, yet matches the Leapmotor for range; a bigger battery is also available on the Czech-built SUV.

That said, while the exterior of the C10 doesn’t appear to be particularly aerodynamically efficient, with a bluff front end, wide tyres and large proportions, look closely and you’ll notice that there is very smooth surfacing, flush-fitting door handles and underneath, a flat undertray. This, along with the standard-fit heat pump, should all help with real-world efficiency. 

Leapmotor doesn’t quote a peak charge speed, but online data suggests the electric SUV tops out at just 84kW. That same Skoda, in its most basic form, has a peak of 165kW – almost twice as fast. To make matters worse, Leapmotor quotes its times from 30 to 80 per cent rather than the conventional 10 to 80 per cent. A 6.6kW AC charger is equipped as standard, returning the same top-up in just over six hours. 

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Visually, there are whiffs of Hyundai at the front and if you squint, perhaps some Porsche Cayenne at the rear. Proportionally, it looks quite European, and the colour palette isn’t as wacky (we’re looking at you, MG and BYD) as some of the stuff currently en-route from China. The 20-inch gunmetal wheels look smart, too.

It’s equally pleasing inside, at least on first glance. The layout is fairly minimalist, with a big 14.6-inch touchscreen taking centre stage, complemented by a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster. It’s all very responsive, but it’s a shame Leapmotor has no plans to offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto at this stage.

Quality seemed pretty stellar on our test model – especially given the list price of £36,500. It’s worth noting, however, that the car we drove was quite literally factory fresh (registered just three days prior), so it’s difficult to know how the fit and finish might fare after three years or 30,000 miles. The only chargeable option is for the various shades of black, white or grey paint (£700 each); green is standard, and would be our preferred choice.

A tall side profile shows off the C10’s rather low-lying ground clearance of 180mm and to the rear there is another light bar. But there’s little in the way of distinctive design details.

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

Given the 14.6-inch central touchscreen is in charge of nearly every interior function, it has to work well. The Leapmotor C10 uses a similar, yet far more detailed system to the T03, running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. It’s a supremely responsive system, and we experienced no delays in switching between various screens and asking the car to do multiple tasks in quick succession. The mapping is a nice design that feels pretty similar to Google’s offering (which can’t be used in the C10, as there’s no Android Auto or Apple CarPlay connectivity). 

The system layout itself is also fairly easy to understand, although we didn’t particularly enjoy using the climate control functions within the screen; physical buttons would be preferable. Leapmotor says it can roll out over-the-air updates for life on the C10, and we hope that one item high up in its list is a fix for the night mode setting. On too many occasions, the screen switches to dark then back to light depending on exterior light (going under a tree can upset it for example). 

The 10.25-inch driver’s screen is configurable, but only for three different small readouts on one side. The resolution is great, however, as it also is on the larger central screen. An app store is available, which includes the Vivaldi browser Mercedes has started to offer in its latest cars. 

Leapmotor has also added five charging areas throughout the C10, with two ports in the front row, two ports in the rear and a wireless charging pad in the centre console. A 12-speaker sound system is also standard with 840W of power.

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It’s also remarkably roomy. There’s loads of adjustment in the front seat, and even when it’s slid back for a tall adult there’s space in the rear for someone of similar size. There’s no intrusive hump in the floor and that glass roof floods the cabin with light even on a grey day. Buyers shouldn’t feel too concerned about the quoted 435-litre luggage capacity – it’s a perfectly useable size and shape that should suit most families.

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As with the T03, the C10 is covered by Leapmotor’s four-year/60,000-mile warranty, plus an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty for the battery. Leapmotor also claims the C10’s battery has an expected lifespan of more than 372,000 miles.

But unlike the T03, which hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP, the C10 has. It received a full five-star safety rating, including an 89 per cent score for adult-occupancy protection. Some of the myriad driver-assistance features are a little overactive – and there are still too many intrusive chimes from the speed-limit warning and lane-keep systems – but at least you know you and your family will be well looked after in the event of an emergency.

Reliability is a bit of an unknown, because the first Leapmotor cars are yet to arrive in the UK. With Stellantis backing, we would hope that any potential issues will be addressed as promptly as is the case from the more established brands in the group. We found build quality to be solid throughout the C10, especially inside, where everything felt properly constructed and built to last. 

Leapmotor C10 alternatives

At just over £36,000, Leapmotor has priced the C10 incredibly keenly. Most rivals sit above the £40,000 mark and generally don’t get as much kit as standard. The Skoda Enyaq is the C10’s closest competitor, despite the fact it’s no longer available in base ‘50’ guise. The facelifted ‘60’ model with the 59kWh battery costs £39,999 and offers a near-identical range to the Leapmotor. 

The C10 will be the flagship Leapmotor in the UK, with no plans for the brand to launch anything larger – at least before 2027. The upcoming B10 electric SUV, which uses a completely new platform, will sit beneath the C10.