Leapmotor C10 review

Is the Leapmotor C10 a good car? 

There is a plan for Stellantis dealerships to take on Leapmotor vehicles, although with no brand awareness in the UK it would be understandable if potential buyers are hesitant to follow the advice of the firm’s slogan and ‘take a leap’ on the new C10. Not that it’s a bad car. It beats some tough competition from well-established brands for range and technology, plus its generous cabin space really sets it apart. However, while it’s a comfortable and refined electric car, the driving dynamics aren’t amazing and the over-reliance on the touchscreen might annoy some people. 

How much does the Leapmotor C10 cost?

One of two cars that will launch Leapmotor in the UK – the other being the tiny T03 EV – the C10 is a mid-sized, electric SUV that’s designed to take on the likes of the Volkswagen ID.4, Toyota bZ4X, Skoda Enyaq and the Nissan Ariya. At just over £36,000, it’s significantly cheaper than all of those cars, and Leapmotor is claiming that the C10 also comes with “industry-leading” electric technology. 

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. Some other markets get ‘Design’ and ‘Style’ specifications, so we’ll have to wait and see if we’re given further choice in due course. 

A single powertrain is offered – a 69.9kWh battery sends power to a 216bhp electric motor on the rear axle. Maximum range stands at 262 miles.  

13

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. 

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. 

Performance from the rear-mounted electric motor is solid and able to match or better plenty of the C10’s direct rivals. A 7.5-second 0-62mph time sounds impressive, although the electric motor is a little sluggish from standstill, so we’d recommend keeping the C10’s ‘creep’ function on. With fairly wide tyres and 320Nm of torque, we imagine the C10 could easily cope with an extra dollop of power to the rear wheels when you really need it, rather than what feels like a tentative traction control system. It feels like it has 216bhp ready and waiting once you’re on the move, and it doesn’t drastically tail off at high speeds either. The brakes offer pretty good stopping power, although we found the pedal’s bite to be a little abrupt initially.  

Take the C10 onto faster roads, and you’ll notice the ride gets better, although it’s not particularly uncomfortable around town. The weight helps it smooth out uneven surfaces and it’s a capable motorway cruiser, with only the occasional bit of wind noise upsetting the ambience. We found the seats to be supportive in all the right areas, too. 

There are three pretty self-explanatory driving modes in the C10: ‘Eco’, ‘Standard’ and ‘Sport’. While throttle mapping is 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. We’d just keep it in Standard. 

In corners, the C10 doesn’t provide much in the way of feedback, with over-assisted or sluggish responses to the steering, depending on your driving mode. Body roll is well controlled, however, and there’s a general feeling of stability and security when pushing on. Get too overzealous with your inputs and you can easily upset the C10’s balance – and not in a nice way, either. 

13

There’s only one version of the Leapmotor C10 and its 69.9kWh battery allows for a range of 261 miles. It’s a fairly competitive figure, with the base-level Volkswagen ID.4 topping out at 224 miles, the Toyota bZ4X at 271 miles and the Nissan Ariya at 250 miles (when fitted with the smaller battery). 

The exterior of the C10 doesn’t appear to be particularly aerodynamically efficient, with a bluff front end, wide tyres and large proportions. But look closely and you’ll notice that there is very smooth surfacing, flush-fitting door handles and underneath, a flat undertray, which all help in this respect. 

The ‘cell-to-chassis’ technology that Leapmotor has also brought to the tiny T03 is crucial to the C10’s efficiency. The firm claims that it allows for uprated battery cooling along with the improvements to the car’s structural rigidity. 

All of the C10’s main rivals can offer a charging speed well over 100kW, something the Chinese car cannot match. At its maximum 84kW recharge rate, Leapmotor claims the C10 will top up 30 to 80 per cent of its battery in 30 minutes. A 6.6kW AC charger is equipped as standard, returning the same top-up in just over six hours. 

13

The dimensions of the Leapmotor C10 are larger than the Toyota bZ4X, Nissan Ariya, Skoda Enyaq and Hyundai Ioniq 5. It’s odd that it doesn’t have as much presence on the road as its rivals, however, and that is possibly due to the frumpy-looking face with its ‘dumbbell-shaped’ light bar, as Leapmotor puts it. 

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.

The interior is another exercise in minimalism. A huge 14.6-inch touchscreen dominates the dash in a Tesla-like fashion, and is combined with a 10.25-inch display for the driver. Physical buttons are few and far between; we only found the window switches, overhead switch for the panoramic sunroof and the steering wheel scrollers. 

It might be a touch dull for some, but it’s a neatly designed interior with an airy feel provided by expansive windows and the massive panoramic sunroof. Two interior colours are offered – a muted black and purple combination, or a rather outlandish and all-encompassing brown. 

The quality is commendable, with no flimsy bits of plastic or big panel gaps on display. There’s a strange suede-like material on top of the doors, though, which somehow feels both premium and tacky. We’ll be interested to see how well that stacks up after a few years. 

13

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.

13

Given the Leapmotor C10 is larger than all its rivals, impressive interior space is no surprise. Up front you’re able to stretch out, with tremendous legroom and headroom. This carries over to the rear, where tall adults will be able to get comfortable on the reclined bench seat. The huge panoramic sunroof and low window line allow plenty of light to enter the cabin, too. 

But boot space isn’t as remarkable at 435 litres. That’s 108 litres less than you get in the VW ID.4 and 31 litres less than a front-wheel drive, single-motor Nissan Ariya. Fold the rear seats down and you’ll free up a decent 1,410 litres of boot capacity. 

13

As with the T03, Euro NCAP hasn’t tested the C10 yet, although Leapmotor confidently claims the electric SUV will be “aligned with the Euro NCAP five-star development standard”. 

The C10 should perform well in Euro NCAP’s safety assist category. It’s very well-equipped with 17 driver-assistance functions including advanced emergency braking, lane keeping, blind spot detection, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, rear cross alert and adaptive cruise control. Most of these systems work pretty seamlessly, but the driver-attention assist is far too intrusive, and can send an alert right in the middle of the central touchscreen. 

As it’s such a big car, there’s help with parking in the form of front and rear parking sensors, coupled with a 360-degree camera as standard. 

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. 

The C10 gets a four-year, 60,000-mile warranty with 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.

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 thanks to the Czech car’s new ‘50’ trim level, which costs just under £37,000 and offers a respectable 234-mile range. 

The C10 will be the flagship Leapmotor in the UK for now, although the brand has hinted an E-segment SUV will arrive before the end of the decade. The upcoming B10 electric SUV, which uses a completely new platform, will sit beneath the C10.