Leapmotor C10 review

SUVs are the top car choice for families now and it's a fiendishly competitive market, so it's brave of Leapmotor to launch in the UK with an electric SUV – this Leapmotor C10.

The C10 is going to have to do something special if it’s to tempt customers away from cars such as the Skoda Elroq and Renault Scenic. So what does it bring to the table? Well, for starters, it costs around the same as those rivals but is much bigger – 4.7m long to be exact, and that’s the same length as a BMW iX3.

What’s more, while it’ll cost you less than a Kia EV6 or Skoda Enyaq (which are both around the same size), Leapmotor’s focus on value means it shouldn’t feel cheap next to them, with the single trim level getting lots of standard equipment.

Does that mean it’s just cheap and cheerful? Read on to find out, as we rate the Leapmotor C10 against the best electric SUVs...

Every Leapmotor C10 combines a 69.9kWh battery with a 215bhp electric motor. That sounds like a decent amount of power, but at nearly two tonnes it needs it.

Even so, the C10 builds speed quickly enough and will officially sprint from 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds. That’s slightly quicker than most of its rivals, including the entry-level Renault Scenic and Skoda Elroq but can’t keep up with higher specced versions of those rivals.

With a 69.9kWh battery, the C10 can officially travel up to 263 miles between charges, which is further than the 59kWh Elroq 60 and about the same as the 60kWh Scenic Comfort range. That said, the Elroq 85 has a 77kWh battery and a 360-mile range for around the same price as the C10.

The C10’s size is its trump card though, because while the similarly-sized Kia EV6 and 77kWh Skoda Enyaq will both go quite a bit further than the Leapmotor between charges, they’re both much more expensive.

As with many electric cars, the C10’s suspension is on the firmer side to help deal with the weight of the battery. For the most part, it helps to keep the car controlled over undulating roads and ensures you don’t feel the body lean you’ll experience in the Scenic. On the minus side, you feel road imperfections far more than in the Scenic, with a bit of a thud through potholes.

It’s never what you’d call uncomfortable, but an Elroq will be even more comfortable to drive around in, especially one with optional adaptive suspension (which is not available on the C10).

As you might expect, handling isn’t really a priority of the C10 – and it shows. True, the firmness does a good job of keeping the C10’s body upright, but it’s rather easy to find the limit of front grip if you start to push on around corners.

That's not helped by the steering, which doesn’t give you all that much feedback at pace. Driving normally, however, it makes slow speeds around town and moderate country road speeds a doddle.

In better news, the C10 is quite a refined car to drive around in, suffering from little road and wind noise regardless of whether you’re driving slowly around town or at motorway speeds. The brakes are initially quite sharp as you press the pedal, but it’s better than the Elroq’s spongy brake pedal and the C10’s regenerative braking is generally well judged.

"Around town, switching from Sport or Comfort mode and into Eco mode makes the steering really light. I found it similar to when Fiat used to offer a city mode, and is ideal for navigating tight car parks." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Stepping inside the Leapmotor C10, you instantly notice that the designers must have had pictures of Tesla car models on their walls. Indeed, all the materials feel very similar, with the tops of the doors getting the same rubberised material across them.

That's certainly not a bad thing, and the interior of the C10 has plenty of showroom appeal, with very few boring plastics and any harder, untextured surfaces, hidden low down and out of sight. It seem to have been built pretty solidly too.

Every C10 comes with a digital driver's display as standard, so you don’t have to look at the main touchscreen to see how fast you’re going, as you do in, say, a Tesla Model Y. At 10.3in, the display is pretty impressive, showing you all the info you need with a high resolution. 

While we’re on the topic of screens, the C10's infotainment touchscreen measures 14.6in, has a sharp resolution and reacts quickly when you prod it. You do have to delve into the touchscreen to do pretty much everything, including making changes to the air conditioning, which is more distracting than, say, the air-con control panel in the Kia EV6 or the physical buttons in the Renault Scenic. 

You’ll find hardly any physical buttons inside the C10, with the only exceptions being four buttons on the steering wheel and two scroll wheels. Aesthetically, they’re identical to what you’ll find in the new Tesla Model 3.

If you like the high seating position of a family SUV, the C10 will be right up your street. It’s also really easy to get comfortable behind the wheel, thanks to every C10 coming with electrically adjustable front seats that have plenty of movement forward, back, up and down.

Forward visibility is good, with small window pillars and large front windows giving you a good view out at junctions and over the car's nose. The view over your shoulder is impressive too, with large rear windows and large cut-outs in the rear pillars increasing what you can see.

To make parking easier, rear parking sensors and a 360-degree camera come as standard. You’ll also see plenty when it gets dark, thanks to the standard-fit automatic LED headlights.

"While the infotainment screen is pretty impressive, it’s a bit of a shame you don’t get Apple CarPlay or Android Auto because the built-in maps aren’t the best." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Even if you’re over 6ft tall, you won’t have any complaints when it comes to front space in the Leapmotor C10. In fact, we’re pretty sure even your tallest friends will have head, leg and shoulder room to spare. 

Front storage is decent too, with the C10 offering a deep cubby under the central armrest, a large space under the centre console, a pair of cupholders and a wireless charging pad to place your phone on. The only place where it's not so good is the door bins, which will take a standard water bottle but are not very big.

Rear space in the C10 is just as impressive as it is in the front, with those tall friends having generous head and leg room that’s on the level of the Kia EV6. There’s also a flat floor across the rear, making it more comfortable for people sitting in the middle seat. Speaking of which, the width of the C10 means you should fit three people comfortably in the rear.

The rear seats don’t do anything particularly interesting, with only the ability to split 60/40 and fold down flat. That’s not as versatile as the 40/20/40 seats you get in a BMW iX1 or Renault Scenic.

At 435 litres, the C10’s boot space is pretty big and should easily swallow a family’s luggage for a weekend away. Even so, that’s less space than you’ll find in pretty much all of its rivals, with the Elroq offering 470 litres, the EV6 490 litres, the Scenic 545 litres and the Enyaq 585 litres.

"Given the length of the C10, it’s disappointing that the boot isn’t as big as its rivals'. That said, at least you get a frunk for storing the charging cables, giving you more space in the boot." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

If you’re buying the Leapmotor C10 with cash, you’ll find its price tag pretty appealing, because while the 52kWh Skoda Elroq will cost you less, the C10 undercuts the rest of its rivals, including the Kia EV6, the Renault Scenic and the Skoda Enyaq.

Better still, if you’re a company car driver, the C10’s lower list price should mean it costs slightly less than most rivals, despite sitting in the same BIK tax bracket.

Despite the low price tag, Leapmotor certainly hasn’t skimped on standard kit, with the single trim level getting 20in alloy wheels, vehicle-to-load (V2L), dual-zone climate control, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, keyless entry and start, a panoramic sunroof and an EV heat pump.

You’ll be slightly less impressed by how quickly (well, slowly) the C10 charges up. You see, with an 83kW maximum charging speed, it’s not as quick as rivals – getting from 30-80% charge in 30 minutes, when the Scenic and Elroq will get from 10-80% in about the same time.

Being such a new brand, Leapmotor wasn’t included in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. Every Leapmotor comes with a four-year standard warranty, and the brand is backed by Stellantis so you’ll have easy access to service centres and parts.

The C10 scored the full five stars when it was tested for safety by the experts at Euro NCAP. Standard safety equipment includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-centring control, lane-departure warning, blind-spot detection, rear cross-traffic detection and braking, and a driver drowsiness monitor.

"Leapmotor doesn't have a proven reliability record here, but it has access to Stellantis service centres and parts, which will hopefully make it much less hassle if anything goes wrong." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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