LEAPMOTOR C10 160kW 70kWh 5dr Auto 11 KWCh

Ten Second Review

Chinese maker Leapmotor bounds into the UK market with this extraordinarily well priced D-segment upper mid-sized crossover, the C10, tested in this case as a full-EV. The money being asked here would normally get you something smaller and feebler of range. And there's plenty of technology and lots of standard equipment 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

This C10 shares absolutely none of its engineering with anything the Stellantis Group has ever marketed before. Certainly not the full-electric version's 69.9kWh battery - the only one on offer if you want a full-EV. It's a battery that Leapmotor makes almost entirely itself and seems very proud of, despite the fact that its potential 263 mile drive range figure is very unremarkable by class standards. Or at least that's what it offers in the EV model. Leapmotor also has an alternative C10 variant you might like rather more, a range-extender REEV version that matches a smaller 28.4kWh battery to the same 218bhp e-motor and can more than double its electric counterpart's range - to over 590 miles. It's the pure EV variant though, that's our focus here. Just a single version is on offer with a rear-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor developing 215bhp. Acceleration is intentionally linear, so the car actually doesn't feel anything like as fast as the figures suggest it is - 62mph takes 7.5s en route to the usual very modest EV maximum (in this case, 106mph). The range extender model is a second slower but shares this EV's 320Nm torque figure, which allows for decent mid-range punch. Or at least there is in the more urgent of the provided drive modes, 'Sport'. But with this EV variant's relatively restricted range figure in mind, you won't want to be using that setting too frequently and in the other two main modes ('Comfort' and, of course, particularly in 'Eco'), the C10 feels far less eager. Within the modes menu, you can also select 'Custom', which allows you to set up powertrain, steering and brake regen settings as a one-touch option. Talking of brake regen, there are four levels of that provided - 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. What you don't have to activate is the useful 'freewheeling' function that automatically disengages the drive motor on flat or downhill sections of road where it isn't needed. We're reasonably certain that, in the hands of an experienced manufacturer, the rigid platform and low centre of gravity enabled by the 'cell-to-chassis' technology in play here could create a really excellent-handling EV of this size. But Leapmotor isn't an experienced manufacturer and, to be frank, that shows in this C10's drive dynamics, despite the fact that Stellantis apparently loaned the brand some Maserati engineers to help tune this car for Europe. Contrary to the promises of the 'cell-to-chassis' tech, there's plenty of body roll through the corners, mainly due to a very comfort-orientated suspension set-up; which would be fine if such suppleness led the C10 to be as floaty over urban bumps as it is at speed through fast corners. But it doesn't and you'll feel pot holes and speed humps more than you ought to.

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 for the EV and 400-litres for the REEV. There are no cargo sidewall catches for flattening the rear backrest, but at least it does go completely flat, freeing up 1,410-litres. It's 1,375-litres in the REEV range extender version. Only the EV variant gets a further 34-litres of storage space beneath the bonnet, useful for the charging leads.

Market and Model

From launch and at the time of this test in Summer 2025, prices started from £36,500 for the full-EV version of the C10 that we're trying here. But from that, as we completed this test, Leapmotor was offering an 'Electric Car Grant' to reduce the price by £3,750. The REEV range-extender version hadn't yet been launched as we compiled this review, but we don't expect it to be priced too much differently from this EV. Either way, there's just one fully-stacked standard of trim. At the time of this test, there were 44 Leapmotor dealers in the UK - all of them familiar local garages stocking other Stellantis Group brands; the marque expects to increase that number to around 80 dealerships by the end of 2025, so you shouldn't ever be too far from one. It's a pity that the UK is only offered this car with the brand's plusher 'Design' level of trim; other markets also get a perfectly well-equipped base 'Style' spec level that allows the car to be priced against much smaller supermini-based SUVs - and obviously then, its value proposition looks even better. But it's still an impressive proposition with this 'Design' spec level. This gets you large 20-inch 'Trident' alloy wheels, automatic LED headlamps, animated LED tail lamps, rear parking sensors, power-folding mirrors, rear privacy glass, a powered tailgate, automatic wipers and a heat pump. Drive stuff includes four driving modes, three steering modes, 3-level regenerative braking and Adaptive Cruise Control. Plus there's the Leapmotor app, via which you can check your vehicle status and location, remotely lock or unlock it - or schedule charging. Inside this C10, there's a 360-degree parking camera, a 10.25-inch LCD instrument cluster, 2-Zone automatic air conditioning, steering wheel heating, an air quality monitor, OEKOTEX silicone-trimmed faux-leather upholstery and powered adjustment, heating and ventilation for the front seats. You also get a panoramic glass roof with a powered blind, ambient lighting and a wireless 'phone charger. Media stuff includes a 14.6-inch central touchscreen with online navigation, a 12-speaker audio system, voice control, online music, over-the-air updates and in-vehicle WiFi. Plus two USB and two USB-C ports. But disappointingly, you don't get either 'Apple CarPlay' or 'Android Auto'. The camera safety kit tally is based around no fewer than 17 different ADAS features, including Front Collision Warning with Autonomous Emerging Braking, plus Lane-Keep Assist and Lane Departure Warning. There's also Lane-Centring Control, Blind Spot Detection, Rear Collision Warning and Rear Cross Traffic Alert with Rear Cross Traffic Brake. Drive assist features include Intelligent Speed Assist and a Traffic Jam Assist function that'll virtually drive this Leapmotor for you in low speed urban queues.

Cost of Ownership

We gave you the EV mileage figure for the pure electric C10 in our 'Driving' section - 263 miles, providing you keep the car in its most frugal 'Eco' drive mode. Obviously, the prodigious 1,980kg kerb weight takes its toll here, though you do at least get a standard heat pump to maintain range in cold weather. Driving range though, isn't the area where you'll really find the major catch that you might have been waiting to discover within this car's buying proposition. For some potential owners, that's more likely to lie in the available DC public charging speed; for the C10 EV it's a feeble 84kW, which really isn't good enough. To give you some class perspective, a Skoda Enyaq 60 charges at 165kW - something like the sector norm, but even that car is embarrassed by the way that a Tesla Model Y powers at up to 250kW or a Kia EV6 charges at up to 350kW. All of this means that DC public charging with this full-EV Leapmotor takes longer than the norm - though not that much longer; a 10-80% DC public charge of this C10 EV needs around 40 minutes (nearly twice as long as a Model Y). A 30-80% DC charge would be 30 minutes. Still, if all you do most of the time is charge this C10 EV from home, that might not much matter. AC charging from a 7.4kW wallbox takes around 10 hours for full replenishment - though you can reduce that to 6.1 hours if you only need to charge from 30% to 80%. If you have a three-phase supply and can charge at 11kW (as the C10 allows you to), the full replenishment time would be 6 hours and 21 minutes. Leapmotor claims that the C10 EV's 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), though that looks a touch disappointing compared to the six year package you get with a rival BYD. There's the industry-usual eight year / 100,000 mile battery warranty. The brand claims the battery pack has an expected lifespan of over 372,000 miles.

Summary

So to borrow the brand's marketing slogan, should you 'take a leap' and try a C10 EV? The main reason why you might is value-led. Here's an upper mid-sized Tesla Model Y-shaped D-segment electric crossover; for pretty much the price of a much smaller C-segment one. And with much more standard equipment than you'll find with cars in either category, unless you pay an awful lot more for them. 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. And, take it from us, the many standard ADAS camera safety functions will quickly irritate. 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. In summary, 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. It'll be interesting to see if customers agree.