Written by Seth Walton Updated: 8 November 2024

Overview

The Leapmotor C10 is a take on the electric family SUV. Manufactured by Leapmotor and now distributed by Stellanatis, as per the two firms’ new partnership deal, the C10 has arrived in Europe and indeed the UK.

The C10 joins the T03 electric city car in forming a two-strong Leapmotor offensive, with which the brand intends to make a name for itself outside of China. So, what’s Stellantis’ side of the bargain? Well the European automotive juggernaut now owns a part of Leapmotor – £1.25bn worth, I might add – and together the two firms have launched a new international Leapmotor wing: aptly named Leapmotor international. 

Leapmotor will handle the development and production side, while Stellantis takes care of marketing and distribution in Europe. Fast forward a year or so, and we have order books open for the C10.

But there’s no denying the car is up against some strong competition. Unlike the T03 which is almost in a class of its own given its size and generous equipment list, the C10 enters a highly competitive and saturated market. The Leapmotor car will have to fend off the likes of the Skoda Enyaq, the Ford Explorer and the lauded Renault Scenic if it wants to make a dent in this segment. Tough ask, but then the C10 is great value for money.

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It’s powered by an electric motor that puts out 218hp and 236ftlbs of torque, for a 0-62mph time of 7.5 seconds and a top speed of 105mph. All power is sent to the rear wheels. 

It’s quite a big beast, with a footprint that covers a total 4739mm length and 1900mm width, excluding the mirrors; the C10 is 1680mm tall. As for range, according to figures quoted by WLTP, the C10 has an efficiency figure of 3.1 miles per kilowatt hour, with a top-end range estimate of 260 miles from its 69.9kWh battery. 

Read on for the full C10 review from Parkers, or head over to our how we test cars page to find out how I reached my verdict. 

What’s it like inside?

The C10 is only available in one upholstery trim in the UK – a dark, slightly blueish faux leather – closer to rubber, really – that covers the entire cabin. From my brief spell in the C10, I got the impression that it would probably stand up to wear and tear pretty effectively. I reckon you could wipe down its rubbery texture with ease, and that’s both on the dashboard and the seats, so points scored on the family car front. 

That said, the design of the dashboard is about as banal as they come. It’s clearly taken heavy design cues from Tesla, as the dash is almost buttonless and it’s finished in similar-feeling materials – the kind you can’t really tell if they feel cheap or not.

But they’re stitched together well, at least. Unlike other Chinese EVs, principally the Skywell BE11, the C10’s cabin has a sturdiness to it, and a sheen that’s often missing from the cars of its homeland. It has a premium ambiance, even if some of the materials don’t necessarily back that statement up the moment you start prodding around. Where the C10 truly excels, though, is in the space it offers for its occupants.

Head and shoulder room are in abundance from front to rear, but I was most impressed by the amount of legroom granted to rear passengers. As a six-foot-plus bloke, I can’t remember the last SUV I climbed into that offered such a comfortable amount of room – it’s the sort you’d expect from a German executive saloon, rather than a Chinese e-SUV. 

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Needless to say, three adult passengers would find themselves with plenty of room in the back, while a couple of kids will need a megaphone to get hold of you in the front. 

Does it compromise on boot space to afford all the rear leg room? Not really. The C10’s boot can carry up to 435 litres with the seats up, or 1,410 litres with the seats folded down. 

Comfort

So, we’ve covered the wealth of space, but the C10 also scores highly in other departments on comfort. For example, the model features heated and electrically controlled front seats as standard, while the panoramic sunroof serves to make an already commodious cabin feel even more airy.  

The seats themselves are reasonably comfortable, but they’re limited in this sense by the texture of the material. If luxury in the housing market is defined by light and space, then the C10 is a town house on Holland Park, only with carpets, wallpaper and kitchen counters provided by the Yokohama Rubber Company, and arranged by Elon Musk.

Safety 

The C10 includes a number of driver assistance functions – 17, to be exact – as standard. These include an advanced emergency braking system, blind spot detection and adaptive cruise control. It hasn’t yet been crash tested by Euro NCAP, but Leapmotor says the materials used to build the chassis were chosen to ‘offer the greatest protection without compromising on performance or vehicle efficiency’.

Leapmotor also says a high-resistance structure has been embedded into the C10’s design, capable of absorbing and then dispersing energy upon impact. Should do alright in a crash test, then – we’ll report back here when we have the results.

How does it drive?

The Leapmotor C10 is a big car, and so it struggles to shift its weight around through corners but in straight line, not so much. Powered by a 218hp electric motor, the car can reach 62mph from zero in 7.5 seconds, which isn’t too bad – again, the BE11 could only manage a time of 9.6 seconds – but it’s held back by its lofty mass.

Coming it at just shy of two tonnes, the C10 doesn’t handle particularly well through corners. Its body would roll effortlessly, and so approaching a corner with the right speed in mind became a bit more of an active exercise than I might’ve found in a similarly sized European car.

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I found the brakes a little grabby, but these points aside the C10 behaved itself well during my test. Around town, it was soft and compliant; it soaked up road imperfections without transferring the judder to me, though the occasional pothole would upset the car a little more. The steering is light and relatively direct, but it’s just not an EV that inspires. 

I must also mention the wind noise problem. At high speeds, the C10’s A-pillars generated a tremendous amount of wind noise, which started to grate on me. Mercifully, though, its electric motor has a subdued note, rather than the incessant whine generated by the T03’s unit. Leapmotor says the C10 has the soundproofing quality of some top-of-the-range luxury cars, with ‘precise acoustic optimisation’ to keep the racket to a minimum. It was okay, but the C10 is no Rolls.

What about range?

The C10 comes fitted with a 69.9kWh battery – the only battery available – and according to official WLTP figures, has a combined e-range of 261 miles. During my test, I was able to generate an efficiency figure of 4.3 miles per kWh, which is good going for a car of this size.

What are the trims

As already mentioned, the C10 is offered in just one trim. A cognac-like colour is offered elsewhere in the world, but the UK market has only the blue tone option. It’s a little disappointing that more customisation isn’t offered but what can you do. 

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For your £36,500, though, you do get an awful lot of stuff, most of which you’d usually have to pay a lot more for. The panoramic roof is probably the standout feature, but then the 360deg camera feed, the 17 ADAS functions and the wealth of space in the back are all usually the preserve of more expensive, higher-spec models. Not the C10. For the price, it strikes me as a bit of a bargain. Is it as refined as a Renault Scenic or Skoda Enyaq on the road? No, I don’t think it is, but the C10 is comfortable, and by virtue of the generous equipment list, some of its shortfalls can be forgiven.