Brand New 25 Leapmotor C10 160kW 70kWh 5dr Auto

The Leapmotor C10. This mid-sized EV crossover is an unfamiliar contender. But competes in a familiar genre backed by a familiar brand. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Review

New Chinese maker Leapmotor bounds into the UK market with this extraordinarily well priced upper mid-sized EV crossover, the C10. The money being asked here would normally get you something smaller and feebler of range. And there's plenty of technology too. You can see why European conglomerate Stellantis decided to part-own the Leapmotor brand.

Background

Another month, another new Chinese EV maker. Except that this one, Leapmotor, is a bit different, part-owned by the Stellantis Group conglomerate that has so many brands in Europe. Stellantis knows that it'll take more than trade tariffs to hold back the invasion of Chinese auto makers into Western markets, so thought a clever approach would be to buy into one - a cool 11.5 billion euro stake that's given them 20% of the business. Which also gives the group access into some pretty useful EV technology - as we'll see. The result of all this is Leapmotor International, which launched in Europe with two electric models, the T03 small runabout; and our subject here, the C10, a mid-sized EV crossover aimed at the Tesla Model Y segment. Both will be sold at existing Stellantis dealerships around the UK. And both undercut European (and Chinese) rivals substantially on price. So here to some extent, we have the Chinese taking on the Chinese. Let battle commence.

Driving Experience

For the time being, there's not a lot of powertrain choice if you want a C10. Just a single version is on offer with a rear-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor developing 215bhp. It's energised by a 69.9kWh battery offering a modest range of 263 miles. Acceleration is intentionally linear, but 62mph is still reached in 7.5s (en route to 106mph) and there's plenty of mid-range punch thanks to 320Nm of torque. From rest, there's a 'creep' function you can activate that gets you moving a little quicker. The C10's engineering party piece is its 'cell-to-chassis' design approach, which makes the battery pack an integral part of the body structure and improves torsional rigidity. There are three drive modes - 'Eco', 'Standard' and 'Sport'. There's also three steering modes and four levels of regenerative braking - low, standard, high or one-pedal, the latter (annoyingly) requiring you to park up first before it will activate; hopefully, that'll be fixed at the mid-term update. Through the twisty stuff, you're likely to feel this car's considerable weight - 1,980kg. That's an issue common to all contenders in this class, but some of them manage to conceal the feeling of bulk better than this.

Design and Build

There's nothing particularly arresting about the way the C10 looks, but the smoothed-off surfaces seem to be very aerodynamically efficient - or as efficient as a boxy SUV ever can be anyway. Despite the compact price, the dimensions broadly mimic those of a pricier Tesla Model Y, which means this car is a little bigger (4,739mm in length) than many of its mid-sized rivals (Ariya, Enyaq, IONIQ 5 etc). The front is set off by what Leapmotor calls 'a dumb-bell-shaped light bar' and there's a further light bar stretching across the back. Ride height is a very un-SUV-like 180mm. Inside, the first thing you'll notice is that there are hardly any buttons. That's the current trend of course, but the C10 takes it even further. Even opening the glovebox or adjusting the mirrors must be done by accessing menus on the huge Tesla-like 14.6-inch central touchscreen which runs on a Qualcomm snapdragon chip. You may like this. We didn't. A further 10.25-inch screen is provided for the driving instruments. And there's a single high spec (with a vast panoramic glass roof) and a choice of two interior colours (a muted black and purple - or a more extrovert shade of brown). Quality is OK and there's an interesting choice of materials, including a scratchy suede-like fabric on top of the doors. It's an extremely spacious cabin (Leapmotor says the clever 'cell-to-chassis' structure helps here) and you really feel that in the back where it's very roomy indeed. The boot could be bigger though, rated at 435-litres.

Market and Model

Prices started from £36,500 at launch. There's a single battery size (69.9kWh) and motor output (215bhp) on offer but two trim levels, base 'Style' or plush 'Design'. That asking price is extraordinarily good value. To give you some perspective, a similarly-sized based Tesla Model Y costs from around £47,000. And it's not as if Leapmotor has skimped on spec either. On the contrary, the C10 is extremely well equipped. There's a choice of two interior colour schemes, dark 'Midnight Aurora' or a rather more light extrovert 'Criolo Brown'. The standard wheel size is 18 inch, but you can trade up to 20 inch Trident spec rim if you want. There's a choice of 5 different paint colours. Equipment features include LED headlamps, 18-inch alloy wheels, a 360-degree parking camera, a panoramic glass roof, power-folding mirrors, Adaptive Cruise Control and a heat pump. Inside, there's a 10.25-inch LCD instrument cluster, 2-Zone automatic air conditioning, an air quality monitor, leatherette upholstery and powered front seat adjustment. Media stuff includes a 14.6-inch central touchscreen with online navigation, a 12-speaker audio system, voice control, online music and in-vehicle WiFi. Plusher 'Design'-spec adds nicer OEKOTEX silicone-trimmed front seats with heating and ventilation, plus rear privacy glass, steering wheel heating, animated LED tail lamps, 20-inch wheels and a powered tailgate. Across the range, safety kit includes a Front Collision Warning with Autonomous Emerging Braking and a Multi-Collision braking system, plus a Side collision monitor, Lane-Keep Assist and Lane Departure Warning. There's also Lane-Centring Control, Traffic Jam Assist, Blind Spot Detection, Rear Collision Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert with Rear Cross Traffic Brake, Intelligent Speed Assist and Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning.

Cost of Ownership

We gave you the EV mileage figure in our 'Driving' section - 263 miles, providing the keep the car in its most frugal 'Eco' drive mode. Obviously, the prodigious 1,980kg kerb weight takes its toll here. For comparison, a base VW ID.4 manages 224 miles, a base Skoda Enyaq 50 manages 234 miles, a base Nissan Ariya manages 250 miles, a Toyota bZ4X goes 271 miles, a base Ford Mustang Mach-E goes 292 miles and a base Tesla Model Y Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive manages 373 miles. Leapmotor quotes an efficiency figure of 3.1mpkWh. To give you some perspective, that entry-level Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive Tesla Model Y is notably more efficient, at 4.0mpkWh. As for charging, well the C10 can DC power itself only at a very modest 80kW (a Model Y powers at up to 250kW). Which means that a 10-80% DC public charge of this Leapmotor would take around 40 minutes (nearly twice as long as a Model Y). A 30-80% DC charge would be 30 minutes. AC charging from a 6.6kW wallbox would take 6.1 hours from 30% to 80%. Leapmotor claims that the 69.9kWh battery has an expected lifespan of more than 372,000 miles. There's a four year warranty (or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first). And the industry-usual eight year battery warranty. Maintenance should be straightforward thanks to the brand's network of UK Stellantis dealerships.

Summary

So to borrow the brand's marketing slogan, should you 'take a leap' and try a C10? The main reason why you might is value-led. Here's an upper mid-sized Tesla Model Y-shaped EV crossover; for pretty much the price of a smaller Volkswagen ID.3 or CUPRA Born-shaped one from the class below. That's a strong proposition. But perhaps not an irresistible one. You might not be immediately taken with the forgettable looks, the vanilla driving dynamics and the fact that so many interior functions have to be screen-based. Still, for the price being asked here, you might be prepared to make a few compromises. And with the Stellantis brand backing, there's little of the fear factor that you might usually have when buying into an unknown Chinese brand. The C10 is the kind of car the European makers feared the Chinese might try to flood our market with. Does it change things that the car is in this case part-European owned? Stellantis obviously thinks so.