- Well-equipped
- Comfortable
- Decent cabin space for a city car
- Limited range
- Tiny boot with no rear seat split
- Obscured infotainment screen
Range (WLTP): 165 miles Top Speed: 81mph 0 to 62: 12.7 sec Efficiency (WLTP): 4.4 miles per kWh
Introduction
If you haven’t heard of Leapmotor, let us enlighten you: it's the latest in a long line of Chinese car manufacturers hoping to make it big in the United Kingdom.
The origins of some of these Chinese brands sometimes seem unconventional. Some have a background in batteries, making refrigerator parts and, in one case, good old VHS video players (remember them?)
Leapmotor was carved out of a company that makes video surveillance equipment.
While that might not inspire confidence in its ability to build cars, Leapmotor has had assistance from Stellantis – the owner of over a dozen car brands, including Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot, and Vauxhall – which has taken a 51% stake in Leapmotor’s ventures outside of China.
Having the fourth-biggest car company in the world buying a controlling stake in your international operations can only be a vote of confidence, after all.
Through this partnership with Stellantis, Leapmotor is bringing two cars to the UK for now – a mid-size C10 SUV and the small, all-electric city car T03.
If the T03 does well, it will have the playing field largely to itself, as the only other electric city car is the Fiat 500e, which costs almost £10,000 more to buy outright.
In that respect, the T03’s biggest rival is the bargain–budget Dacia Spring – and when you compare them, the Leapmotor’s specs will raise eyebrows for all the right reasons.
Price and Options
The Leapmotor T03 costs £15,995, making it one of the cheapest cars in the UK.
Yes, the Dacia Spring is cheaper, but the equipment list is bare compared with the T03.
The Leapmotor gets 15-inch alloys, a 10.0-inch infotainment system with DAB radio and SatNav, an eight-inch digital instrument display, sports seats, automatic air conditioning, LED day running lights, rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera. It even gets a panoramic sunroof.
Power comes in the form of an electric motor with 95PS and front-wheel drive.
There are no trim levels or optional extras apart from three body colours: white, silver, and blue.
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