Living with a… Leapmotor B10 (Month 2)
Chinese cars are taking the UK market by storm so we thought we’d better try living with one – say hello to our Leapmotor B10!
The arrival of Chinese brands like Leapmotor is one of the biggest changes to the motoring landscape in living memory, and I can’t believe this will be the first such car I’ve lived with. Sure, I’ve driven plenty. But running one day-to-day on long-term test is different. Before we get to that who is Leapmotor, and where does the B10 fit in? Short version, Stellantis (which owns the likes of Vauxhall, Citroën, Peugeot, Jeep and others) has decided that rather than compete with the Chinese brands it will work with them. Or, at least, add one to its stable.
Enter Leapmotor, already established in China and now sold through Stellantis showrooms alongside its other brands, supported by the existing network of dealers and service centres. The idea being this removes a lot of the worries you might have about going with a new brand with no established infrastructure, reputation or support. As for the B10 it’s your standard mid-size family-friendly crossover available in hybrid and – as tested here – fully electric form.
Like many Chinese cars it goes big on tech, kit and value-for-money but does it deliver, especially given the more familiar brands it sells against are now offering the same? I’ve got six months to find out!
Skip to:
Month 1 – A Leapmotor into unknown?
What is it?
- Model: Leapmotor B10
- Version: Electric
- Spec level: There’s only one!
- Options fitted: Everything comes as standard!
- Price as tested: £31,495 (before £1,500 ‘Leap-Grant’ saving available at time of writing)
Who’s testing it?
We like
- Colourful exterior and airy interior
- Seemingly very efficient
- Packed with kit
We don’t like
- Fiddly screens
- App-powered access
- Vague steering and handling
Month 1 - A Leapmotor into unknown?
Dan says: “I haven’t needed to visit any charging points yet, which is testament to the B10’s efficiency!”
How much has it cost you?
Nearly my marriage after I remotely logged my wife out of the app-based ‘key’ required to unlock and start the car. But more on this in due course.
Where have you been?
Well, I haven’t needed to visit any charging points yet, which is testament to the B10’s efficiency! Which backs up the sense Chinese manufacturers really are leading the way with electric tech. If you consider battery size the equivalent of the fuel tank on a petrol or diesel car the 67.1kWh pack on the B10 is sizeable for a car of this price, and I’m scoring around four miles for each of those kWh. Which is to say the electric equivalent for miles-per-gallon. That’s decent, and means the 270-mile claimed range looks more or less viable, at least in the warm weather we’re enjoying as I write this.
What have you been carrying?
Just the usual family car stuff, which is to say sulky tweenagers, shopping, and endless parcels to and from many and various local cornershops to feed another domestic Vinted frenzy.
Delights?
It’s not the last word in style but the Leapmotor has a clean, modern look, and the jaunty ‘Starry Night Blue’ (the only standard colour, the rest being cost options) stands out among the sea of black and silver cars you see out and about. I’m also impressed how much space there is in the back, given it presents as quite a compact car at first sight. I’ll be talking more about the digital interactions with the car in due course (and likely over the course of the loan) but, in fairness, the Leapmotor’s menus and graphics are slicker than many Chinese rivals and I appreciate the customisation and ability to quickly add shortcuts. Mainly for silencing the many and various ways it wants to bong at you.
Frustrations?
Well. Leapmotor claims unlocking and starting a car through either a phone app or an NFC card is more convenient than a conventional key. I’ve been assured a solution exists and will report back but, at the first attempt, having successfully set up the app and ‘key’ on my phone and my wife’s it seems logging into it logs the other person out. Meaning if they want to drive the car they have to log back into the app first. Which then logs the other out. And sees them doing the same next time they want to go anywhere. Which, given the rhythms of family life, is always a stress because, in the way of things, you’re always running late for wherever you need to be. And having to remember login details for an app just to unlock the car while standing on the kerb next to it is frankly humiliating. The credit card sized NFC alternative is worryingly easy to drop or lose as well, given it can disappear among your other cards in your wallet.
This month in a nutshell
I’ve spent nearly as much time battling the app as I have driving so I’m hoping the promised solution solves the access issues.
Mileage: 3,233 (on delivery)
Fuel consumption: c. 4 miles/kWh
Month 2 – Well, I can unlock it now at least!
Dan says: “The Leapmotor seems absolutely on the money when it comes to how far it goes on a full battery”
How much has it cost you?
No crashes or insurance claims yet, despite the best attempts of the random steering interventions from the ADAS to cause one. In the jargon this stands for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems but, for the Leapmotor, I’m calling it Advanced Driver Annoyance Systems. A topic I’ll be returning to in due course. And quite possibly repeatedly…
Where have you been?
A couple of longer trips into the mix the last few weeks, with runs to and from Kent to attend to some family matters. Absolute credit to the Leapmotor for making these as smooth and stress free as they can be in terms of comfort, charging speed and range, cooled seats and powerful air-con a bonus in the current weather.
What have you been carrying? A lot of stuff, most recently my mountain bike to the repair shop for some last-minute spannering ahead of my summer holiday in the Alps. With the seats down and the bike’s front wheel whipped off it was an easy fit, which bodes well for solo days out down the line. I’ll be sticking with my Ford Transit if I need to carry more than one bike for family days out, though!
Delights?
Further to the above, the Leapmotor seems absolutely on the money when it comes to how far it goes on a full battery, how efficiently it uses that charge and how quickly it replenishes when you plug in, be that at home or on a public charger. The trip computer doesn’t make it easy to get a sense of the overall efficiency, which is to say the crucial ‘miles per kWh’ equivalent to the more familiar miles per gallon most people understand from combustion cars. In the warm weather it’s usually between mid-threes to low fours per kWh, which is good. And I’m comfortable going 200 miles on a run before having to stop and top up. That makes it pretty painless to live with, whether that be for local running around or longer journeys.
Frustrations?
Thankfully with a little help from Leapmotor I resolved phone-enabled access issue mentioned last month. Turns out you can ‘invite’ another user to the main account so more than one phone can be used to unlock and drive the car, though it’s sensitive enough now it unlocks the car every time I leave the house, even if I’m just walking up the road. If you park your Leapmotor on a driveway outside your home I’d say be careful about how close your phone is to the front door, for the fact you could inadvertently have it unlocking itself. You can adjust the sensitivity but, even to the minimum distance, it still seems over keen to unlock itself. And then too quick to lock itself, sometimes doing it in the time it takes to close the boot and walk round to the driver’s door. Which is annoying.
This month in a nutshell
Some initial niggles resolved. Some new ones cropping up. But I’ll save that for next month.
Mileage: 4,785
Fuel consumption: 3.3 miles/kWh
