Leapmotor C10 review: An affordable electric SUV rival to the BMW X3 and Skoda Enyaq

Leapmotor’s new electric SUV combines strong range, generous space and sharp pricing to challenge established European rivals in Ireland

Leapmotor C10: A sub-€40k electric SUV offering 420km range, strong value and serious competition for European brands.

LEAPMOTOR C10
Rating	★★★★☆
Price	€38,995
Power	Single electric motor with 215bhp
Range	Range amounts to 420km
The Spec	Ridiculous for the money
Verdict	Value, specification, handling and range excellent. Tech somewhat overwhelming.

IT’S A rare thing in this gig — especially perhaps because I’ve been at it so long — that something comes along and truly surprises you, but that was most certainly the case recently when I took delivery of a Leapmotor C10.

Now, I have been advising readers for several years that “the Chinese are coming”. Having started from little acorns, the Chinese automotive industry has, in a remarkably short time, grown into very sturdy oaks and is steadily taking over the forests previously inhabited mainly by the Europeans, Japanese, and Americans.

As recently as late February, we gave our first five-star review to a Chinese car — the Xpeng G6 — and that marked a rather startling occasion when such vehicles transcended into a new era, when the country’s automotive sector moved from making cheap European knockoffs into having a discernible credibility.

Leapmotor are slightly different from the rest of the Chinese pack in that the rest of them have come to Europe stone cold, having to build everything from the ground up, from product to dealer networks to parts supply networks.

Because they are part-owned by the giant Stellantis group, Leapmotor has had all that stuff done for it, and while it does have to establish itself with the buying public, it is doing so via established dealers who have some existing connection with one of the Stellantis brands, be it Opel, Fiat/Alfa or whatever. This gives it a serious leg-up in the market.

We’ve already reviewed the company’s electric T03 supermini and found it to be at or near the top of its segment in terms of price, build quality, specification, and range. The mid-sized SUV C10 is a very different ballgame altogether, going up — as it does — against such strong sellers as the BMW X3, the Mercedes GLC, the Kia EV6, and the Skoda Enyaq.

Once again, it will be marketed on its strong selling points — range, price, spec and so forth and, on the evidence I’ve seen, this thing is going to take the market by storm. Starting from scratch, to the end of March, the marque had sold some 169 units, with 79 of those clocked up by C10, 71 by the bigger B10 and the rest by the T03.

That’s not a bad start by any standards and a healthy indication of where the brand is headed.

The car itself is a wow, and there is an almost discernible excitement among dealers when the subject of the C10 is raised — and especially so when the sub €40,000 price tag is mentioned. The guys at both Greenhall Motors and Dan Seaman Motors — not to mention those across the Irish dealer network — are palpably energised by its potential.

The tester arrived at Chez Colley wearing a stunning “emerald green” overcoat, and while the car itself has a vaguely similar overall look to it as many of the Chinese armada landing on our shores, this shimmering paint job itself sparked much comment during my time with it.

The Leapmotor C10 is going to take the market by storm, the Irish Examiner predicts.

Whatever you might think of the look of the car, what is truly impressive is that Leapmotor designed the battery from scratch and also came up with its cell-to-chassis technology, where the batteries are incorporated into the chassis design to make it more rigid and also free up interior space, of which there is loads.

The Chinese have often been described as having an ability to “liberate” the ideas of others into their own creations, be it from golf clubs to washing machines. They’re now doing the same with a lot of their automotive technology.

To those familiar with the — by now — broad spectrum of electrics, much of the tech on display here will be familiar.

Tesla’s ultra-minimalist dashboard layout is replicated pretty well, for example, and there are many other things in the cabin that generate chin-stroking moments where you’re saying to yourself — “where have I seen that before?” The overall effect is not so much how much of others’ design ideas they’ve, em, borrowed, but the manner in which they’ve implemented them into a coherent whole.

There are downsides to all of this in that the infotainment screen controls pretty much everything and can be terribly annoying, particularly when you’re on the move.

Its ADAS safety systems are thorough and immensely annoying, even if you can turn most of them off. It is ironic that while you’re trying to negotiate stuff like lane changing and speed alerts, it will start picking on you for inattention to the road ahead.

There has also been criticism of this motor from various media outlets for having “choppy” handling. This was not the case at all, and I thought it to be one of the best Chinese cars I’ve thus far been exposed to, and particularly so when you consider the state of our roads.

It was smooth and controlled at all times – it did lean a little into corners if you were pedalling especially hard — but there was nothing like the terminal understeer that besets so many of its compatriots. It was also largely unruffled by scarred and potholed surfaces.

The Leapmotor C10 is going to take the market by storm, the Irish Examiner predicts.

It might be more of a good cruising car than anything else, but then most families don’t want or need something that handles like a Ford Sierra Cosworth.

On the move, it was also a largely silent experience, and that’s not something all the Chinese have yet mastered. It might be a tad on the bland side to look at — apart from its wonderful exterior colour — but they’ve obviously got the aerodynamics well sorted.

It is a rear-wheel-drive machine with a single electric motor sited on the back axle. This produces just 215 bhp, and some might consider that a bit weedy, but the 7.5 second 0-100 km/h time and the 170 km/h top speed belie those fears. I’m a pretty demanding driver, and I had no issues here.

Power was there when you wanted it, and the accelerator was nothing like the light switch operation of early EVs. Delivery was smooth and linear. The one-pedal operation was great too.

Range amounts to 420km and again, some will have issues with that. But the fact is that the claimed range is not too distant from the reality — as it is with so many others. Even driven hard over a 125km route which has found so many others out, it was much more on the money than so many rivals — European, Japanese, and Chinese.

As is the way of tech these days, there are all sorts of knick-knacks on offer here in what is a comprehensive package — stuff like turning on the heating system while you’re still brushing your fangs on a cold morning and so forth.

The interior is bright and very airy — helped undoubtedly by the vast panoramic sunroof — but the sheer amount of space for the front passengers was impressive, but for those in the back, it was massive. You could nearly get lost back there. Oh, and all the seats fold completely flat, so no need for a tent at your favourite music festival this summer.

Material and build quality too are close to being top drawer, and as a package, it covers most of the ground most modern families demand these days and throws in a luxury feel as well.

Without doubt, this is not a completely flawless car, but it still came damn close to a five-star review.

Thanks to Barry O’Shea and his team at Greenhall Motors for their assistance with this review.