Leapmotor B03X review

The Leapmotor B03X is spacious and well equipped, but the driving experience and tech needs improvement

RRP £30,495

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Introduction

Performance & drive

Interior

Passenger & boot space

Buying & owning

Oliver Young

Updated: 11 September 2026

How we test cars

The Leapmotor B03X. Sure, the name sounds like something out of the Star Wars films, but the styling is more, well, Paw Patrol – if you look closely, you’ll see smiley faces in the front and rear light designs. 

That’s right, the B03X is aimed at young families; buyers who want an electric SUV that’s small enough for the city, affordable enough to suit a modest budget and roomy enough to accommodate one or two kids (and their bits and bobs).

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The B03X hits UK showrooms in November 2026, priced from around £27,000. It competes against small electric SUV class leaders like the Kia EV3, Nissan Leaf and Renault 4, so read on to find out how the B03X stacks up. 

Read more: Leapmotor car reviews

Verdict

The Leapmotor B03X is a mixed bag. It’s good on interior quality, space and equipment but let down by its sloppy handling and poor user friendliness. As such, it ends up in the middle of the pack; class leaders like the Kia EV3, Nissan Leaf and Renault 4 remain in front. 

What's new?

• September 2026: We attend the B03X’s media launch in Malaga, Spain, and drive it for the first time
• November 2025: The Leapmotor B03X makes its global debut

Pros

• Roomy interior
• Big boot
• Plenty of standard kit

Cons

• Woolly steering
• Fiddly interior controls
• So-so driving range

What's new?

• September 2026: We attend the B03X’s media launch in Malaga, Spain, and drive it for the first time
• November 2025: The Leapmotor B03X makes its global debut

New car deals

Performance & drive

What it's like to drive, and how quiet it is

Strengths

• Quiet at a cruise
• Relatively quick to charge
• Good efficiency but…

Weaknesses

• … still not a fantastic range
• Vague steering
• Squirmy acceleration

How fast is it and which motor is best?

There’s just one Leapmotor B03X variant available in the UK, and it has a 194bhp electric motor driving solely the front wheels. The resulting 0-62mph time is 8.6sec, meaning on paper, it’s slightly slower than the rival Kia EV3 (7.5sec), Nissan Leaf (8.3sec) or Renault 4 (8.2sec).

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Still, 8.6sec is hardly sluggish, and in the real world, the B03X feels like it has plenty of grunt… almost too much at times. You see, if you’re at all hard on the accelerator pedal, the B03X will spin its front wheels (even with the traction control on). We’d prefer if the power was fed in more gradually; it would make for more controlled acceleration. 

Is it agile and is the ride comfortable?

With its light steering and tight turning circle, the B03X handles well around town. However, pick up the pace and your confidence diminishes. The steering, though ideal at lower speeds, never builds much weight; it feels vague and woolly. What’s more, the front end is slow to react to your inputs and, once it has, you’ll notice some body lean – although we’d argue that’s the least of its issues. 

The B03X’s handling is a step below its key rivals, especially the Renault 4. The 4’s steering is more precise, its front end is more responsive and there’s less body lean. 

Thankfully, the B03X’s ride is more positive – mind you, the bar is rather low. The suspension is soft enough to cushion you relatively well over bumps and potholes, but it’s not so soft that the car feels wallowy. We found it more comfortable than the Renault 4 (which feels firmer), though the Kia EV3 and Nissan Leaf ride even more smoothly. 

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Is it quiet and how easy is it to drive smoothly?

The B03X is indeed quiet, with not much wind or road noise to disturb the peace. Driving smoothly is unfortunately a different story, mainly due to two things: the brakes and the lane-keep assist. 

There are three intensity settings for the regenerative braking system and none of them feel particularly smooth or predictable, especially in how they’re blended with the physical brakes. Because it’s not seamless, it can be hard to gauge how much pressure to apply to the brake pedal – plus the pedal itself is quite soft. 

Then there's the hyperactive lane-keep assist; when you’re vaguely near (not on) the white line, it’ll tug at the steering wheel. It’s annoying, and you can turn it off – either via a button on the infotainment screen or through your driver profile – but we’d rather it just worked well. It’s a safety system, after all.  

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What’s the range and efficiency like, and how quickly can it charge?

Officially, the Leapmotor B03X has a range of 237 miles, so on paper, it falls short of the equivalent Renault 4 (250 miles), Kia EV3 (270 miles) and Nissan Leaf (280 miles). 

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On the plus side, at least 237 miles seems like a realistic figure; conservative, even, if we’re to go off the B03X’s trip computer. After our test drive – which took place on a variety of roads during a warm, sunny day – it displayed a remarkable efficiency figure of 5.5mi/kWh. Take that with a fistful of salt, though: as we’ve seen in the past, trip computers can prove optimistic. 

When you need to top up the battery, the B03X has a maximum charging speed of 133kW; for reference, that’s slightly faster than the equivalent Renault 4 (100kW), Kia EV3 (100kW) and Nissan Leaf (105kW). If it’s hooked up to a fast-enough charger, the B03X should take around 21min to complete a 10-80% charge. 

I found myself fighting the lane-keep assist whenever the road was even slightly twisty.

Oliver Young, Senior Reviewer

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Interior

The interior layout, fit and finish

Strengths

• Lots of soft-touch materials
• Good build quality
• Many parking aids

Weaknesses

• Thick rear pillars
• Almost no physical buttons
• Slightly laggy touchscreen

What does the interior look like and is it well made?

Aside from a few cheerful appearances of Leappy (Leapmotor’s electric car mascot), the Leapmotor B03X’s interior is fairly subdued and minimalistic in its styling – it doesn’t have the retro flair of the Renault 4 or the slightly sci-fi look of the Kia EV3. Out of its rivals, it most resembles the Nissan Leaf inside. 

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And like the Leaf, the B03X’s interior feels solid and features lots of soft-touch materials on the dashboard, doors and armrests. There are plenty of scratchy plastics below the waistline, sure, but the same goes for its key rivals. 

Is the driving position comfortable and is it easy to see out?

The driving position features plenty of adjustment: it’s easy to get comfortable, and you sit slightly higher than the Renault 4 and Nissan Leaf, giving you a grand view of the road ahead. The front pillars are pretty thin, meaning it’s easy to see out at junctions. 

Our only gripe is that the rear pillars are quite thick, so it’s not easy to see over your shoulder. Thankfully, every B03X comes with a 360-degree camera, as well as front and rear sensors. 

Is the dashboard and infotainment system easy to use?

Not really, because the B03X funnels lots of functions through the 14.4in infotainment touchscreen. There are some handy, permanently displayed shortcut buttons, as well as a useful voice assistant; nonetheless, doing things like activating the heated seats or adjusting the mirrors can be a faff. 

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Life is much simpler in the Kia EV3, Nissan Leaf and Renault 4: their interiors have more logical layouts and more physical controls. 

The B03X’s screen has graphics that are crisp and clear, but the icons and text are small, and the system can be quite slow to react to your inputs. By contrast, the Renault 4’s infotainment unit is a clear step ahead, being more responsive and easier to use. 

If you’re simple with your commands, the voice assistant works well. Mind you, as soon as I began to speak more conversationally, it gave up.

Oliver Young, Senior Reviewer

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Passenger & boot space

How it copes with people and clutter

Strengths

• Flip-up rear seats
• Deep boot
• Decent space in the back

Weaknesses

• No front boot

How much space does it have for people?

For a small SUV, the Leapmotor B03X has a lot of interior space: even if you and four friends happen to be six feet tall, you can all fit – and with some room to spare. It's certainly roomier than the Renault 4, which is much more cramped in the back. 

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Sitting in the middle seat often means you’ve drawn the short straw, and in the B03X, even though it’s still not ideal for long journeys, it’s absolutely doable for short ones – it also helps that the floor is completely flat. 

How much room does it have for luggage?

The B03X has a 405-litre boot, meaning it falls short of the Kia EV3 (460 litres), Nissan Leaf (437 litres) and Renault 4 (420 litres). However, the B03X has a trick up its sleeve, or rather, under the boot floor: a deep 105-litre well. 

As such, removing the boot floor boosts the capacity to an impressive 510 litres; that’s easily enough space for a few shopping bags, a suitcase or two and the charging cables. 

Sure, it’d be handy to have a front boot too, but with such a big main boot, that’s a small quibble. If you’d like a front boot (albeit a modest 25-litre one), you’ll need the EV3. 

As for seating flexibility, the rear seats split and fold in a 60/40 fashion, but the seat bases can also flip up to make room for tall items (like plants or golf clubs): none of the B03X’s key rivals have this feature. 

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We had three people in a car, plus our carry-on luggage, and there was still plenty of room to spare.

Oliver Young, Senior Reviewer

Buying & owning

Everyday costs, plus how reliable and safe it is

Strengths

• Plenty of standard equipment
• Slightly longer warranty than some rivals

Weaknesses

• Unknowns regarding pricing, safety and reliability

How much does it cost and what equipment do you get?

Official pricing for the Leapmotor B03X remains under wraps (at the time of writing), but rumours suggest it’ll cost around £27,000, making it more expensive than the Renault 4, slightly cheaper than the Nissan Leaf and a whole lot less than the Kia EV3. 

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The B03X will be generously equipped as standard; it’ll have 18-inch alloy wheels, automatic air-conditioning, automatic LED headlights and taillights, as well as electrically folding side mirrors.

Ways to buy

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Is it reliable, and how long is the warranty?

We’ll have to wait and see about B03X reliability, and because Leapmotor is still a fairly fresh brand in the UK, we don’t have any brand reliability data. 

At least, if anything were to go wrong, you have a four-year/60,000-mile warranty to fall back on, plus an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty on the battery. That’s better than the cover you get with new Nissans and Renaults, but Kias come with a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty. 

How safe is it?

The B03X is still awaiting safety testing by Euro NCAP, but at least the car comes with plenty of passive and active standard safety features, including blind-spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert and seven airbags. 

Buy it if...

- You want a small SUV with a roomy interior and big boot

- You appreciate getting lots of standard kit

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- You’re after quiet cruising manners and a relatively comfy ride

Don't buy it if...

- You drive a lot on country roads, because the handling is quite sloppy

- You get confused by big, complicated touchscreens

- You want something as cheap to buy as a Renault 4

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The B03X looks rather expensive next to the Renault 4, but at least you get more standard kit.

Oliver Young, Senior Reviewer

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If you're interested in finding a Leapmotor B03X, or any of the other electric suv cars mentioned here, head over to our Cars available now pages to find new cars listed for sale at great prices.

Leapmotor B03X specifications

RRP price range

FAQs

Is the Leapmotor B03X a good car compared to the Renault 4?

It depends. If your biggest priorities are practicality and equipment, then it is a better option, but overall, we rate the Renault 4 more highly because it’s better to drive and has a more user-friendly interior. 

Is Leapmotor a Chinese company?

Leapmotor is indeed a Chinese car brand, although Stellantis owns a stake in it. 

What is the price of the Leapmotor B03X?

Pricing for the Leapmotor B03X currently remains under wraps, but rumours point towards a starting rate of circa £27,000. 

New car deals

Best price from £27,495

What is What Car? best price?

The What Car? best price shows you the cheapest way to buy your new car, whether it's by choosing an in-stock car through our partner Autotrader or placing a factory order.

Available now from: £27,495

RRP from: £30,495

About the writer

Name: Oliver Young

Title: Senior Reviewer

Follow Oliver Young on

Oliver Young spent three years as What Car?'s used car reporter, before becoming a reviewer in 2024 and senior reviewer in 2026. Oliver produces new car reviews for What Car? magazine and whatcar.com as part of the road test team.

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