Leapmotor C10 Catches Our Eye! – CleanTechnica

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Want some attention? Deliver your new Leapmotor C10 SUV electric vehicle by Black Hawk Helicopter on national television! You can watch the video here. One lucky viewer of “Sunrise” got the surprise of her life. And Leapmotor got some national attention in Australia. Follow that up by displaying your vehicle in some of the most well trafficked and luxurious malls in the country! You will get all the attention you can handle! But it doesn’t come in red!

Another Monday, another adventure! This time we went to the local mall in Brisbane to check out the Leapmotor C10! I explained that we had no intention of buying the car but would give them publicity. The sales reps were fine with that, as the main objective the company is working toward at the moment is brand recognition. And they are certainly doing well with that. After seeing lots of these on our recent trip to China, it was great to see them reach Australia’s shores.

The car we viewed was sumptuous and near price parity with a diesel alternative. Very good value for money for those looking for a family SUV. Leapmotor positioned its vehicle at the base of escalators leading down from the movie theatre at Chermside’s huge shopping mall. Brilliant stroke of marketing! “What is it?” “Is it a Jaguar?” “Is it a Porsche Taycan”? These were the questions they got. It’s European styling could lead you to think so. 

Like most Australians, CleanTechnica readers might be asking themselves the question — who on earth is Leapmotor? Of course, it is a Chinese startup. But that is no longer a derogatory remark, as we found when we drove the C10. One of the most exciting things about Leapmotor is that it is part owned by global automotive conglomerate Stellantis. Don’t know who that is? Most people don’t.

Stellantis was formed in 2021 as a merger of FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) and PSA (Peugeot Citroen). It was a merger of a merger. Reminds me a little of British Leyland. As such, it manufactures 14 brands and is the fourth largest global carmaker by sales. Why is that exciting? Because that means access to a very large and experienced sales and service network. Leapmotor has identified 9 existing Stellantis dealerships in Australia’s capital cities to sell the C10. Leapmotor is seeking expressions of interest through their website, with deliveries expected next year.

Our two sales representatives at the mall knew their car and the EV landscape, having both previously sold cars for BYD. They prefer the style of the C10 to BYD’s offerings — the Atto 3 and the Sea Lion. I do too. They estimated that they received upwards of 50 enquiries over the past weekend and provided over 15 test drives during the two weeks the car has been on display. Many have commented that “it drives like a Tesla.” The car comes with two charging cables, the “granny” and a V2 to V2. We were assured that a V2L adaptor was on its way. The car is equipped to receive over the air updates.

Now it was time for the all-important test drive. Majella, of course, went looking for a hill and a narrow street to check out the C10’s turning circle. Majella likened her drive of the Leapmotor C10 to the test drive of the Tesla Model Y. She really prefers the screen behind the steering wheel on the C10, as it makes it easier to check speed, battery level, and other important items. We used a key card for the test drive, but the car can be synched to your mobile phone through the Leapmotor app.

The air conditioning is delivered along a slot below the dash, similar to our Tesla. The C10 comes with 360-degree camera monitoring. It is equipped with an electric screen that covers the glass roof to shield us from the Queensland sun — all at the command of a push button. Driver profiles are available. While the car is in park, the driver can select one-pedal driving. The acceleration was good at 7.3 seconds to 100 km/h — but even better when we were allowed to use the secret “robust” mode. The 69.9 kWh battery is quoted as supplying a 420 km range.

The C10 has lane keeping and cruise control and monitors driver attention through internal cameras. As mentioned above, the C10 interior has a luxury feel to it. The rep told us that the seat coverings are made of silicon, making them “soft” to the touch. Thankfully, they don’t react to hair products, so there should be no discolouration.

One further lifesaving feature which we haven’t see before was the “Life Detection” mode. We have had some tragic deaths in Australia, where children have been left inside cars in the heat and have perished. The Leapmotor C10 will alert a driver through text, sound car alarms, flash headlights, and automatically turn on the air conditioning if it detects a life form left in the car.

For those needing to charge over a period of time away from home, the car has “nap mode” – the seat reclines, the air conditioner is turned on, and you can sleep while the car charges. From a car to a bed in under a minute. A similar mode is also available for camping. No need to sleep in the doghouse anymore!

Although the reps assured me that the Australian market mainly consists of SUVs and that there is plenty of room for more EVs in this segment, I expressed my concern about the lack of entry-level, smaller cars. Leapmotor makes the TO3, which sells in China for half the cost of an MG4. With some safety upgrades, it could make it to Australia for around AUD$20,000. But it’s early days. We’ll have to wait and see. 

“It really depends on the market demand. We’re still working very closely with the local team [and] trying to identify the opportunities for the [product] portfolio,” Lei told Australian media, including Drive. “I know that Australia is a wonderful market. Let me say it this way: it’s continuously growing, and the local economy is also doing great. We see a lot of potential opportunities … to develop the best product strategy and to make sure that most of the consumers can enjoy our wonderful products,” he added.

Leapmotor is also talking about a 4-wheel drive version of the C10 as well as an EREV model. Hopefully these will be available to the Australian consumer in 2025. Sadly, they still won’t have a red one!