The influx of new Chinese electric SUVs to Australia is now well and truly in full swing, and one of the latest entrants is the Leapmotor C10.
This all-new battery-powered mid-sized SUV is a key rival for the likes of the top-selling Tesla Model Y and the new Kia EV5, as well as other fresh entrants from China like the Deepal S07 and Xpeng G6.
Leapmotor is a young company, founded in 2015. It exclusively offers electric vehicles (EVs) and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), the latter of which also incorporate a combustion engine.
In October 2023, automotive conglomerate Stellantis – which owns Jeep, Ram, Peugeot, Maserati and Fiat, among others – announced it would invest €1.5 billion (A$2.5 billion) in Leapmotor, purchasing about 21 per cent of the Chinese carmaker.
It also obtained a controlling 51 per cent stake in Leapmotor International, a joint venture between the two carmakers to export vehicles to markets including Australia and Europe.
Locally, Leapmotor has tapped both Stellantis’ existing dealers plus some new partners. It currently has 12 dealerships across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory.
There are plans to double its dealer network by the end of 2025, bringing the total number of outlets to between 20 and 30.
Although the C10 EV is the first model that Leapmotor is offering in Australia, it won’t be alone for long. The C10 REEV (Range Extender Electric Vehicle) is due on sale here in the first half of 2025, followed by the B10 small electric SUV later this year.
We got our first chance to experience the Leapmotor C10 on local roads as part of the Australian media launch in the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria. Does the newest member of the Australian new car market offer enough to stand out from the fast-growing crowd? Read along to find out.
How much does the Leapmotor C10 cost?
From launch, there are two trim levels offered. And the asking prices for both of them considerably undercuts similarly sized rivals like the Model Y, EV5, S07, and the G6.
| Model | Price before on-road costs |
|---|---|
| 2025 Leapmotor C10 Style | $45,888 |
| 2025 Leapmotor C10 Design | $49,888 |
To see how the Leapmotor C10 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What is the Leapmotor C10 like on the inside?
Leapmotor claims the C10 is a software-defined vehicle, and this seems appropriate given virtually everything inside the cabin pivots around a large, Tesla-like 14.6-inch central touchscreen infotainment system.
Walking up to the car, you need to unlock it either using your smartphone, or with the physical key card on the driver’s side mirror. It’s easier with your phone as the car unlocks when you approach, and then locks as you walk away.
Unlike other vehicles with smartphone-based keys, you can only have one digital key, meaning that if you share the car, the other person will need to use the physical key card. Hopefully this is something that can be rectified with a future software update.
Hopping in is easy thanks to the lifted ride height that’s synonymous with crossover SUVs. Once you’re inside, everything appears plush and high-tech, especially for the price point.
In the top-spec Design variant, the silicone leather upholstery is uber soft and squishy. It’s obviously not proper leather and Leapmotor isn’t shying away from the fact it’s constructed from man-made materials.
The driver’s seat has six ways of electric adjustment, which is fine, though there’s no thigh adjustment. Because of this the seat base feels flat, which is a common trait of many Chinese vehicles.
There’s also no adjustable lumbar support, which didn’t cause too much of an issue on shorter drives, but on longer stints my lower back did start to ache.
The front passenger seat on the other hand only has four ways of electric adjustment. It’s surprising to find any level of front-passenger seat power adjustment at this price point, but it is a little disappointing you can’t change the height of the seat.
Ahead of the driver is a minimalist two-spoke steering wheel with only two tactile scroll wheels and a couple buttons. It looks similar to a Tesla steering wheel and a number of its functions are identical.
The scroll wheels are used to adjust things like the stereo volume, cruise control speed and distance, and can also be used to adjust the side mirror placement. All of this is exactly like a Tesla, though it is cool how you can adjust each side mirror with the respective scroll wheel, rather than one at a time.
Something I appreciate in this car compared to a Tesla is there’s a manually adjusted steering column for tilt and reach. This means you don’t have to faff with the scroll wheels yet again to set the wheel where you want it.
Despite the lack of buttons, it’s great there are still physical stalks for the gear selector and indicators. They look and function similar to a Mercedes-Benz, and ultimately they’re ergonomic to use.
Behind the steering wheel there’s a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster that immediately sets it apart from a Model Y. The display is bright and clear, plus it shows the critical information in a minimal and clean way. It’s not perfect though because there’s not a great deal of adjustment besides a few informative pages.
Moving across is the aforementioned centrepiece of the cabin, the 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 8195 chip which makes swiping around and opening new pages ultra snappy.
The system is Android-based but it runs an operating system called LeapmotorOS, which is the company’s own creation.
The menu interface can be overwhelming at first, but once you dig in there are a lot of elements that are reminiscent of Teslas. Because of this it doesn’t take too long to understand and navigate where you need to go to adjust things.
If navigating the menus is too arduous there’s a voice assistant that is supposed to be triggered with the phrase ‘Hey Leapmotor’ and carries out a wide range of tasks like changing the climate control, and opening windows and sunblinds, among others. In practice, however, the system only worked when I used an American accent and it would often get confused with what I wanted. It also took an awkward amount of time to switch off.
Given much of the infotainment system feels derivative of what Tesla offers, it’s not surprising there are a number of different modes that can be accessed using the touchscreen. These include a ‘Camp’ mode, and even a ‘Nap’ mode, among a number of others, which can be handy when you’re charging.
A big point of contention with the Leapmotor C10’s infotainment system is there’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto connectivity. This won’t come until a mid-life update or new-generation model, when the car’s architecture is changed to the LEAP 3.5 platform. For reference, the current car is on the LEAP 3.0 platform.
It’s not unheard of for a car to not have smartphone mirroring, however. No Tesla vehicle has this and, instead, you must rely on the built-in apps that are connected to the internet via the built-in SIM.
The C10 also has a built-in SIM you can use to download apps like Spotify and TuneIn, among others, directly to the infotainment system from an app store. TikTok is even coming with an imminent over-the-air software update.
The car comes standard with connected satellite navigation, but at this stage you cannot get Google Maps. Hopefully this comes with a future update.
Despite having almost every app that you’d likely use in your everyday commute, there were times during my test drive when I yearned for Apple CarPlay because I got sick of faffing with the touchscreen.
There are barely any buttons around the cabin, so it’s not surprising you need to adjust the climate control through the touchscreen. It’s not too tricky use the key functions at the bottom on the screen, but you need to open a separate climate panel for more settings.
Annoyingly, however, if you want to change the air vent direction, you also need to do this through the touchscreen. I dislike how Tesla has made this commonplace because it’s clunky and not very intuitive.
Although it doesn’t completely fix the issue, there are a number of different fan modes you can choose from, including a sweeping mode which acts like a split system. The Deepal S07 has an identical function and it’s helpful at distributing air around the cabin.
Looking around the cabin, there is a multitude of soft-touches surfaces, which is surprising in a car that costs around $50k. There are also lots of rounded edges, which further leans into the minimal look.
Buyers can opt for two interior colours, including Midnight Aurora, which is a dark purple, and Criollo Brown, which like its name suggests is brown. My pick is the latter because it makes this arguably bland cabin look more special.
All C10s come with a fixed panoramic glass sunroof which helps make the cabin feel bright and airy. And I appreciate having a retractable block-out sunblind, especially in the hot Australian summer.
In terms of front-row amenities, there are two cupholders, a wireless phone charger with ventilation, USB-A and USB-C charging ports, a big storage area under the centre console, an adequately sized glove box, and big door pockets. It’s fairly generous for a mid-sized SUV.
Moving to the second row, it’s arguably the place to be as there’s so much space offer back there. At a leggy 182cm, I had oodles of leg, head, shoulder, and toe room – much more than in your typical mid-sized SUV.
Like the front seats, the second-row bench is squishy and soft, which makes it feel like you’re sitting on a big couch. The backrest in its default position is already laid back, much like in other Chinese vehicles, but it’s capable of reclining back even further – almost too far to sit comfortably.
The second row is a fantastic space for two people, and you could even push it to three abreast given there’s a flat floor.
Second-row amenities include rear centre-console mounted air vents, USB-A and USB-C ports, seatback map pockets, door pockets, and a fold-down armrest. A notable absence in the second row is cupholders, which is a strange oversight in a family-oriented vehicle.
A cool feature in this car is that you can fold the front seats back to create an almost-flat space for lounging. You need to remove the front seat head restraints in order to achieve this, but once you do it’s a fun novelty feature to show off to your friends, or use while charging.
Around the back, the top-spec C10 Design has a power tailgate. The button to operate it isn’t immediately clear and took a while for me to find. For those playing along at home, it’s not in the cutout that looks like where the button should be, but instead near the right-hand side indicator. Riddle me that…
When the tailgate is open, the boot space on offer is adequate but not standout. Leapmotor claims there’s 581 litres of boot space with the rear seats upright, expanding to 1410 litres with them folded.
Beyond a carpet cargo floor mat, there aren’t many boot-related amenities. There’s a light, some bag hooks, and also a retractable cargo cover.
Like many EVs, there’s no spare wheel, which is something to keep in mind if you frequently travel long distances away from tyre repair shops.
The C10 also doesn’t come with any under-bonnet storage, which is disappointing given the car is rear-wheel drive. It’s claimed there is a solution in the works as an optional accessory, but that remains to be seen.
| Dimensions | Leapmotor C10 |
|---|---|
| Length | 4739mm |
| Width | 1900mm |
| Height | 1680mm |
| Wheelbase | 2825mm |
| Boot space | 581L (5 seats) 1410L (2 seats) |
To see how the Leapmotor C10 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What’s under the bonnet?
The Leapmotor C10 range is powered by a single rear-mounted electric motor producing 160kW of power and 320Nm of torque. This is fed by a 69.9kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack.
| Specifications | Leapmotor C10 |
|---|---|
| Drivetrain | Single-motor electric |
| Battery | 69.9kWh LFP |
| Power | 160kW |
| Torque | 320Nm |
| Driven wheels | Rear |
| Weight (kerb) | 1995kg |
| 0-100km/h (claimed) | 7.5s |
| Power consumption (claimed) | 19.8kWh/100km |
| Power consumption (as tested) | 17.0kWh/100km (200km) |
| Claimed range (WLTP) | 420km |
| Max AC charge rate | 6.6kW |
| Max DC charge rate | 84kW |
To see how the Leapmotor C10 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How does the Leapmotor C10 drive?
Like many EVs, the Leapmotor C10 doesn’t actually have a start button. In order to switch it on, all you need to do is sit in the driver’s seat, put your seatbelt on, and press the brake pedal. If you’re using the physical key card, you also need to tap that on the wireless charger area.
To get moving, you then flick the column-mounted gear selector up or down to drive either forwards or backwards. It’s not an unfamiliar concept and is easy to understand quickly.
There are multiple different ways to drive and experience this car. The ‘Eco’, ‘Comfort’, and ‘Sport’ drive modes change the throttle calibration, steering feel and regenerative braking sensitivity.
There’s also a ‘Custom’ drive mode which allows you to configure each aforementioned variable. This was mainly how I drove the car during my testing because I could change the car from being comfort-oriented to sportier-feeling, depending on the road and how I felt.
I particularly liked playing around with the regenerative braking settings. In the light setting, the system’s intervention is minimal, requiring a lot of brake pedal use to slow down. Unless you prefer a combustion engine-like driving experience, however, the regular and strong regen settings feel more natural as the car slows down more progressively when you let off the throttle.
Regardless of whether you opt for light, regular or strong regen, you need to press the brake pedal to come to a complete stop. When the friction brakes engage they can be grabby and hard to modulate, however, like in a number of EVs, especially in slower-traffic situations.
In addition to the above drive modes, there’s a one-pedal driving mode, which remedies the grabby brake pedal gripe, though it can only be selected or unselected when stationary in park. For this reason I only briefly got to try it out, because I needed to pull off the road to activate it.
The C10’s rear-mounted electric motor is powerful enough and will get you moving in tandem with traffic at the lights. There’s a noticeable amount of accelerator pedal input lag, which may grate if you want instantaneously snappy acceleration, but this helps smooth out the acceleration curve.
Don’t go thinking this car is slow though. It’ll still pull ahead of traffic if you push the accelerator hard, though you can tell it prefers to be driven with more docile throttle inputs.
But it almost goes without saying that this car isn’t very dynamic. Its suspension is claimed to be “European-tuned” by Maserati engineers, but it firmly leans more towards comfort. Thankfully at low speeds it soaks up pretty much all pimply road imperfections.
There are three different steering settings you can choose from, but none of them feel great and they all lack feel. The best of the bunch is the normal mode, as light feels overly assisted, and firm dials up the artificial resistance too much.
Despite this, the car has a great turning circle, especially for its size. You can easily do a U-turn in tight spots, which makes navigating places like carparks easier.
On the parking front there’s surround-view camera, which surprisingly only has mediocre quality. This is very apparent given the high-resolution touchscreen.
There are also only rear parking sensors, which is bizarre given this car is so family-focused. I wish there were front parking sensors because there’s only so much a surround-view camera system can do.
Out of town, the C10 has enough punch to get up to higher speeds. The acceleration doesn’t feel like it tapers off at highways speeds, where there’s power in reserve for overtakes, if needed.
Something that surprised me is how hushed and quiet the interior is at higher speeds, even on rough coarse-chip roads. There’s barely any wind or road noise, making it easy to have conversations inside the car.
Although the suspension is settled around town, it can get overwhelmed with poor or undulating rural roads. The car jostles about and doesn’t feel at ease, further reinforcing its focus as an urban-focused vehicle.
In the twisties, the almost 2.0-tonne mass of this car is very apparent. It feels heavy and, from the passenger seat, the amount of movement made me feel carsick after a while.
The safety front is where this car is let down the most. After driving for only a few minutes I experienced so many bings and bongs that I felt extremely overstimulated. It was almost like an orchestra of chimes, and not in a good way.
Unfortunately these annoying safety chimes are growing more commonplace, especially with newer Chinese vehicles, in an attempt to achieve the highest Euro NCAP and ANCAP safety ratings possible.
But the C10’s safety chimes are up there with some of the worst I’ve experienced so far, as they’re so incessant, loud and obnoxious. A lot of the time it also wasn’t clear what each chime was for, so I’d be yelling at the car to tell me what I’m doing wrong.
The main culprit of the bings and bongs appeared to be the driver attention monitoring, which has been a personal gripe with many new cars. Even wearing sunglasses would trip the system and cause a large warning to come up on the touchscreen, telling you to remove the obstruction.
This is a big issue if you’re required to wear prescription glasses when driving, especially if your glasses have transition lenses that darken when exposed to sunlight.
The intelligent speed limit assist system, which beeps at you when travelling faster than the sign-posted speed limit, also grates because it’s frequently wrong. It only draws from road signs the cameras see and not sat-nav data.
Thankfully, both of these safety systems can be quickly turned off using a swipe-down control centre-style menu on the touchscreen. Annoyingly, however, they reactivate every time you drive the car, so you’ll likely be frequently visiting this menu.
The emergency lane-keep assist and regular lane-keep assist systems in this car are also intrusive, especially on poorly marked and tight rural roads. They vibrate and kick at the steering wheel the moment you drift from the centre of a lane, and it feels like you need to fight the resistance to correct your steering.
There are two settings to change the sensitivity of the lane-keep assist, but both struggled on roads with a singular lane marking in the middle of a road.
Unlike the driver attention monitor and intelligent speed limit assist, the lane-keep assist is yet another system that cannot be turned off while driving. This is infuriating from behind the wheel and could easily be fixed by a software update.
The adaptive cruise control in the C10 is activated the same way as with a Tesla. You press down once on the gear selector to activate it, and then a double tap to engage lane centring.
As standard, the adaptive cruise loves to leave a generous gap between the car ahead, which is a common trait of Chinese vehicles. It’s too much, as other cars will cut in front, causing the car to slow down further.
The lane centring function, when it works, can be helpful to reduce driver fatigue on longer journeys. It also isn’t as intrusive as the lane-keep assist, but for a lot of our drive loop the system refused to activate, even on clearly marked freeways.
To see how the Leapmotor C10 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
What do you get?
There are two trim levels offered. During our launch program we only got to drive the top-spec Design.
2025 Leapmotor C10 Style equipment highlights:
- Eco, Comfort, Sport and Custom drive modes
- One-pedal drive mode
- Mode 2 and Mode 3 charging cables
- Panoramic fixed glass roof with electric sunshade
- 18-inch alloy wheels
- Automatic LED headlights
- Rain-sensing wipers
- 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
- 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- WiFi and 4G connectivity
- Over-the-air updates
- Satellite navigation
- Ability to log into embedded apps like Spotify
- 12-speaker 840W sound system
- Wireless phone charger
- Dual-zone climate control
- Heat pump
- TechnoLeather upholstery
- Six-way power driver’s seat
- Four-way power passenger seat
Leapmotor C10 Design adds:
- 20-inch alloy wheels
- Rear privacy glass
- LED rear light bar
- Silicone leather seats with Oeko-Tex
- Heated and ventilated front seats
- Heated steering wheel
- Power tailgate
- Multi-colour ambient lighting
- Air quality monitor
Colours
There are five exterior paint colours offered, as well as two interior colourways.
Exterior paint colours:
- Pearl White
- Terra Grey (+$990)
- Midnight Grey (+$990)
- Metallic Black (+$990)
- Jade Green (+$990)
Interior colourways:
- Midnight Aurora
- Criollo Brown
To see how the Leapmotor C10 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
Is the Leapmotor C10 safe?
The Leapmotor C10 has a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on testing conducted in 2024 by Euro NCAP.
| Category | Leapmotor C10 |
|---|---|
| Adult occupant protection | 89% |
| Child occupant protection | 87% |
| Vulnerable road user protection | 77% |
| Safety assist | 77% |
Standard safety equipment highlights:
- 7 airbags
- Adaptive cruise control
- Autonomous emergency braking
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Driver attention monitoring
- Lane centring
- Lane-keep assist
- Emergency lane-keep assist
- Rear cross-traffic assist
- Safe exit warning
- Surround-view camera
- Rear parking sensors
All C10 owners also get three years of complimentary connected services access. This includes the use of the Leapmotor smartphone app, which can provide the following functions:
- Schedule battery charging
- Battery pre-heating
- Remote climate control
- Remote vehicle status
- Remote control convenience features
- Remote central locking
- Bluetooth key support
- Real-time car location
To see how the Leapmotor C10 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
How much does the Leapmotor C10 cost to run?
The Leapmotor C10 is covered by a seven-year, 160,000km warranty, while its high-voltage battery pack is covered by an eight-year, 160,000km warranty.
Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first, and pricing is capped for the first five services.
Buyers also get a 12-month complimentary Chargefox subscription with their purchase.
| Servicing and Warranty | Leapmotor C10 |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 7 year, 160,000km 8 year, 160,000km (HV battery) |
| Roadside assistance | 5 years |
| Service intervals | 12 months, 20,000km |
| Capped-price servicing | 5 years |
| Total capped-price service cost | $2000 |
To see how the Leapmotor C10 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool
CarExpert’s Take on the Leapmotor C10
There’s a lot going for the Leapmotor C10, especially given it’s a mid-sized electric SUV, as this type of vehicle are hot commodity right now in Australia, where there’s more competition arriving all the time.
Like many in the segment, it’s clear that technology is key focus of this car. You need to interact with a large touchscreen infotainment system for virtually all functions, but while it’s not perfect, there is a proper digital instrument cluster ahead of the driver, unlike in a number of rivals.
While a lot of the tech can be seen as derivative of Tesla, this means that for those owners it’ll be familiar. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel if it’s not broken, but having said that I do wish there were physical air vent adjusters, Apple CarPlay connectivity, and generally more physical buttons around the cabin for key features.
Speaking of the cabin, there’s a generous amount of space inside this mid-sized electric SUV, especially in the second row, and there are plenty of properly plush and soft finishes. It’s also not very often you get to choose between a purple or brown interior colour in a mainstream vehicle.
And that’s before you even consider how much it costs. The top-spec C10 Design has a sub-$50k starting price, which considerably undercuts major rivals like the Model Y and EV5. You also got a lengthy seven-year warranty, relatively affordable servicing, and a 12-month complimentary Chargefox subscription with your purchase.
Where this car is let down, however, is the driving experience, which is vanilla at best. Sure, it’s decently efficient and quiet, but its comfort-oriented suspension, numb steering feel and raised body height limit how dynamic and fun this car is to drive.
Then there are the safety systems, which are by far the most infuriating part of this car. The amount of shrill and incessant chimes from the driver attention monitoring, intelligent speed limit assist and lane-keep assist functions drove me mental after just five minutes of driving. They are some of the worse I’ve experienced.
It’s also annoying that they have to be switched off every time you drive the car. That said, I appreciated the easily accessible swipe-down control centre menu, where you can switch off the driver attention monitor and intelligent speed limit assist.
For the lane-keep assist and one-pedal driving functions, however, I despise how you cannot turn them off while driving. It’s such a pain having to remember to switch them either on or off before you head off, or to have to pull over during your journey to do so.
Despite all my grumbles, I look forward to what Leapmotor has in store with future C10 updates. A lot of my quibbles can theoretically be fixed with over-the-air software updates. We’ll see if this eventuates.
Interested in buying a Leapmotor C10? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here
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