UK Drive: Can the Leapmotor B10 stand out in a crowded market?
The Leapmotor B10 is one of several new electric SUVs to arrive on the scene, but what can it do differently to rivals? Jack Evans finds out.
What is it?
This car – the B10 – is its more compact SUV, sitting underneath the larger C10. It’s got some formidable competition in the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq, so can it come out on top? We’ve been finding out.
What’s new?
In addition to that value, a decent focus has been placed on practicality. A healthy 430 litres of boot space isn’t bad at all, though it’s less than you’ll find in both the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq.
What’s under the bonnet?
Range-wise, Leapmotor claims up to 270 miles from a single charge in the B10, while a decent charge speed of up to 168kW means that a 10 to 80 per cent top-up could be completed in under half an hour.
What’s it like to drive?
The suspension also leaves a lot to be desired. It’s soft, which means it leans when you’re going through bends, but potholes and other road imperfections really unsettle it. It just means that the car never feels ‘happy’ and overall leads to a rather unrefined effect.
How does it look?
Could it be more interesting? Absolutely. But with its vanilla styling, the B10 shouldn’t be turned down by many.
What’s it like inside?
Space is good, mind you, with rear-seat legroom good enough for even taller passengers to get comfortable. As we mentioned, there’s a decent amount of boot space to go alongside this and the load area is flat and easy to access as well.
What’s the spec like?
There are also all manner of safety assistance systems, some which are good and some bad. There’s front collision warning and blind spot detection, alongside a door opening warning to help protect both the car’s occupants and cyclists moving alongside. However, we did have an incident where the autonomous emergency braking triggered with nothing actually ahead of the car. The B10 attempted to do a full emergency stop on a slipway, something which didn’t inspire confidence in the car overall.
Verdict
The Leapmotor B10 doesn’t do an awful lot to set itself apart from the competition. For sure, it’s priced well and does include all of the equipment that you could want. If you’re focused on value, then it’s likely that the B10 will look quite appealing.
But rather lacklustre dynamics, a screen-heavy layout and somewhat glitchy systems mean that it’s tricky to recommend the B10 over its rivals.
