Leapmotor T03 review

They say good things come in small packages, and by that logic the Leapmotor T03 should be right on the money. After all, it measures just 3.6 metres long and 1.6 metres wide – about the same as the now retired VW e-Up.

But what is the brightly named Leapmotor? Well, it's a Chinese car brand with a key characteristic that sets it apart: it has the backing of the Stellantis group.

As for the T03, it's Leapmotor's smallest model, and thanks to the Stellantis tie-up, it's been developed with help from the group behind plenty of other small electric cars, including the Citroën ë-C3, the Fiat 500e and the Vauxhall Corsa Electric.

We've driven the Leapmotor T03, and in this review we'll tell you whether it's a worthy rival to the best electric cars or whether you'd be better off with, say, a Dacia Spring. Read on to find out how it performs...

You'll have no issues deciding which Leapmotor T03 you want because there's no choice. Every version comes with a 37.3kWh battery and a 93bhp (70kW) motor powering the front wheels.

Leapmotor has not yet given a 0-62mph sprint time for the T03, but we can tell you it's not a fast car. It builds speed quickly enough once it gets going, but there’s a delay between you planting your foot and the car surging forwards, removing some of the nippy performance you’d want from a small city car.

It’s not fair to call it slow, because you can, after all, get up to motorway speeds, but it does take a fair bit longer than it does in a Citroën ë-C3. It also feels less versatile, especially when you’re trying to accelerate from higher speeds – from 50mph to 70mph, for example.

Better news is that the T03 rides impressively well, with its well balanced suspension soaking up all but the worst imperfections around town. In fact, even as speeds increase the T03 is a comfortable thing and, while it does start to feel a little more floaty over undulations at motorway speeds, it’s generally very settled.

Indeed, the only thing that really lets it down is the steering. While there are three driving modes to choose from, we’d suggest leaving it in the default Sport mode. That gives you the most steering feel, but even then it's a bit too light and doesn’t give you much of an idea what the front wheels are up to in a corner. It’s fine around town, but doesn’t do much for your confidence on a country road. 

The T03's other two driving modes – Standard and Comfort – are best left for slow and tight city back roads and car parks. They both feel way too light when driving at any speed above 20mph.

The battery is larger than the one you’ll find in the Dacia Spring (26.8kWh) and, as a result, the T03 will officially travel slightly further between charges, managing 165 miles compared with 140 miles.

For buyers living in cities, that range will likely be more than sufficient, but if you want to go further afield, you'll want to consider spending more for a Citroën ë-C3 or Vauxhall Corsa Electric.

At first glance, you might think a small and inexpensive car like the T03 would have some issues with refinement, but for the most part that's not the case.

At motorway speeds there's not much wind or road noise. In fact, the only real annoyance is the volume of the noise that warns pedestrians of your presence – which you hear when you're driving at up to 20mph.

"The T03 doesn’t feel slow around town, but a city car should be able to nip in and out of spaces in traffic. Due to the delay between hitting the accelerator and gaining speed, the T03 loses that a bit." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

While the Leapmotor T03 has an affordable price tag, it still comes with a comfortable driver’s seat that can be adjusted up, down, in and out, helping to make it easy to get comfortable behind the wheel.

Our only real demerit is that the steering wheel adjusts up and down but not telescopically, which isn’t ideal for drivers with long legs.

Even so, the small proportions of the T03 mean that you have a good view out the front, making it really easy to place on the road. It's slim front pillars make for an uninterrupted view out at junctions.

The view over your shoulder is pretty good, and it’s only the small rear windscreen that lets it down. That said, it’s easy to park the T03 thanks to its small proportions and the standard rear parking sensors and rear-view camera.

Every Leapmotor T03 comes with two screens upfront, the first of which is an 8in digital driver’s display. The display is pretty impressive when it comes to its definition, making it really easy to read, but it’s a shame it has no functionality beyond showing you your speed and brief navigation details.

The other screen is a 10in touchscreen that gives you access to the infotainment system. Again, its definition is good for the most part and it reacts quickly as you prod around the menus.

On the minus side, almost all the car’s systems are accessed through the screen – a third of which is obscured by the steering wheel. As a result, you can’t see a lot of the menu options or navigation details, which is far from ideal.

Leapmotor has said that over-the-air updates will be supported for several years, so hopefully it’ll find a way around the issue. Indeed, at the time of writing, the system has had four quality-of-life updates.

When it comes to infotainment features, every T03 comes with DAB radio, Bluetooth, built-in sat-nav and smartphone connectivity. You don't get Android Auto or Apple CarPlay support though.

As you might expect from something at this price point, prodding around the interior reveals that it’s dominated by hard plastics. They’re far from offensive, though, thanks to all of the materials having some form of colouring or texturing, to add to the showroom appeal. It’s more appealing on the surface than the Dacia Spring but not as funky as the Citroën ë-C3.

"While the interior is filled with hard plastics, you can’t argue with the T03’s build quality. I did lots of prodding around in it and it feels like the T03 should stand the test of time." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

You’re probably thinking that anyone over six feet tall would struggle to fit inside this dinky city car but that's not the case. You see, there’s actually a surprising amount of space inside the Leapmotor T03.

Starting in the front, there’s more than enough head room for a pair of six-footers, plus loads of passenger leg room. It’s actually wide enough to give two broad people sitting up front enough space without rubbing shoulders.

Front storage is less impressive, but you do get a cupholder and a holder for your phone below the dashboard, a small cubby between the front seats, and small door bins with a cupholder large enough for a big water bottle.

When it comes to rear head room, it’s much the same story as in the front, with even those just over 6ft tall having more than enough space without their hair rubbing on the roof lining. Leg room, meanwhile, is sufficient rather than generous, with those under 6ft having a decent amount of knee space and loads of room under the front seats for their feet. 

Shoulder room is decent, with two people sitting in the back, but you only have space for two people. That’s worth bearing in mind if you often use all three rear seats. If you do, you might want to look at the Citroën ë-C3 or MG4 EV instead. At least you have five doors, making it easier to climb into the rear than in the three-door Mini Cooper Electric.

Boot space really isn’t anything to write home about, with every T03 getting just 210 litres of space. That’s less than even the Dacia Spring (308 litres) let alone larger rivals including the ë-C3 and Vauxhall Corsa Electric. Worse still, the T03’s boot is deep but narrow, so you’ll struggle to get anything wide into the rear.

If you need more space you can fold down the rear seat backs in one piece (as you can in the Spring), but it's not going to be that useful for, say, a trip to Ikea.

"Given the size of the Leapmotor T03, I'm impressed by how spacious it is inside. Indeed, we managed to fit two six-foot road testers in the back seats with no real issues." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

As a cash purchase, the Leapmotor T03 will cost you more than the Dacia Spring but quite a bit less than all of its other rivals, including the Citroën ë-C3 and Vauxhall Corsa Electric. 

Those more expensive rivals will go further on a charge though. Speaking of which, when the T03’s battery is empty and you need to recharge, you can plug into a CCS fast charger and recharge at a rate of up to 48kW – which is quicker than the maximum charging rate of the Spring.

In more relatable terms, that means going from 30-80% in around 36 minutes, or if you plug in at home, the same charge in around 3.5 hours.

It’s very easy to choose which T03 to go for because there’s only one version available. It gets a decent amount of standard kit, including 15in alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, automatic air-conditioning, and electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors.

When it comes to safety, the experts at Euro NCAP are yet to test any model from Leapmotor. The T03 does have all the key boxes checked in terms of safety equipment, getting lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assistance, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking (AEB), door opening warning and speed-limit recognition as standard.

Leapmotor is too new to have featured in our What Car? Reliability Survey but every T03 comes with a three-year standard warranty should anything go wrong. That’s nothing special when compared with its rivals, but thanks to the brand’s partnership with Stellantis, there are plenty of service centres and easy access to parts. You don’t get that with all of the newer electric car brands.

"Officials at Leapmotor say the brand is all about value rather than being cheap, and you can see that in the standard equipment list. I find it genuinely quite surprising that you get so much for so little." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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