This compact, reasonably priced EV meets a small household’s wants – however has a experience that left me wanting refinement

Leapmotor is already constructing a formidable portfolio of electrical vehicles, the Leapmotor B05 being the standout expertise for me to this point over the tiny Leapmotor T03 and Leapmotor B10 crossover SUV. The Chinese language model has now taken the covers off this, the B03X, which I’d anticipated to be barely cheaper than it truly is.

That’s as a result of it’s up in opposition to stiff competitors from the likes of the Renault 4, the Kia EV2 and the wonderful Skoda Epiq. Anticipated to be round £27,000 (with no US gross sales deliberate), it’s not cut price basement.

It’s a sturdy bundle, thoughts, with a good specification and spectacular ranges of equipment coming as commonplace. Nonetheless, despite the fact that the design follows an analogous theme and matches in with the remainder of the Leapmotor fleet, the appears to be like are a teensy-weensy bit generic. Issues are higher on the within, with a top quality really feel to the coverings, a lot of storage and beneficiant ranges of area. Simplified pricing and trim choices will make it a doddle to buy too, with solely the paint color as an additional factor to argue about.

The Leapmotor B03X can be completely tailor-made to common household automotive patrons. It comes with a 53kWh battery, good for round 237 miles. Efficiency is sprightly however commonplace fare and, pushed sensibly, this compact crossover is simple to dwell with. Nonetheless, there are just a few niggles that may hopefully be ironed out with just a few teaks right here and there. The most important difficulty goes to be warding off that competitors, with different rivals other than the above talked about that embrace the Ford Puma Gen-E, the Vauxhall Frontera Electrical and the Citroen e-C3 Aircross. The latter pair come from mother or father firm Stellantis, similar to Leapmotor…

The styling

The Leapmotor B03X appears to be like alright on the skin and though it doesn’t have significantly memorable design traces, the general vibes have been optimistic. I’d have appreciated to have seen some zingier paint choices although; with the check examples I had to select from sporting relatively muted tones. The smoothed off entrance and rear ands characteristic trendy mild designs whereas the edges are lifted just a little with contrasting black sills and window surrounds.

I’m not usually too eager on charging ports on the rear finish of the entrance wing, however as a result of the Leapmotor B03X is comparatively compact, there shouldn’t be a difficulty pulling in shut at charging factors. The trendy alloy wheels, shod with initially spectacular Yokohama tyres helped to carry the general look a bit. However, the Leapmotor B03X isn’t fairly as thrilling to have a look at as the apparent rivals I discussed above.

Whereas the outside is a bit bland, the highlights have been to be discovered inside. The inside was properly performed, with beefy trim mouldings that would have been lifted from one thing within the quirky Sensible line-up. The cockpit is dominated by a chunky central console that gives loads of arm help, smart cupholders and extra storage too.

Leapmotor designers have tried their greatest to make the expertise just a little funkier, with squashed oval air vents and a slimline dashboard graphic that contains a ‘Leapy’-type characature. The steering wheel could be very minimalist save for some thumb rollers, with all the most important controls contained within the central landscape-oriented infotainment display. I did just like the squishy and really accommodating seats that additionally boasted what felt like very sturdy coverings. Not unhealthy in any respect.

Naturally, for a barely generic automotive, there are options which were seen someplace earlier than, with a nifty decrease boot field that takes its inspiration from the Ford Puma. There have been additionally ‘magic seats’, which provided the identical ranges of versatility as those discovered within the Honda Jazz.

The drive

The Leapmotor B03X is a smart, family-focused electrical crossover and, as such, it’s completely suited to the job in hand. There was little to do to be able to get underway, with a column-mounted drive stalk on the steering column and the choice for adjusting door mirrors utilizing the steering wheel rollers. The B03X is subsequently very a lot a press and go expertise. It felt fairly good trundling round city areas too with loads of glass providing good views of the highway.

It was largely quiet, comfy and fuss-free though anybody who will get irked by persistent diver alerts will need to spend a while previous to setting off to be able to silence them. This needed to be performed by way of the touchscreen and wasn’t a two second job. Par for the course in most fashionable vehicles although. As soon as I’d bedded myself in with the controls, I began driving the B03X just a little extra enthusiastically, which was the place it began to really feel much less confident.

The degrees of energy are literally good and felt good for the kind of automotive that is. Nonetheless, these Yokohama tyres appeared much less eager on providing the type of grip I’d been anticipating. Whereas this isn’t a really highly effective automotive, having weight and drive on the entrance meant spinning the entrance wheels was very simple to do. I puzzled what the Leapmotor B03X can be like on our roads within the moist, as a result of even on easy, dry tarmac it was positively a bit lairy utilizing something greater than featherlight urgent of the accelerator.

Going hand-in-hand with this was the experience, which was fairly comfortable ant in all probability fairly nicely suited to taking over harsher highway surfaces. The draw back was that it felt fairly bouncy going over issues like pace humps. Going round corners and roundabouts at greater speeds delivered some roll too. I quickly realised that the B03X was greatest pushed gingerly however, to be trustworthy, that’s not unreasonable for a automotive of this sort. It was additionally quiet and carried out nicely sufficient in a straight line on greater pace most important roads.

The sunshine steering was, nicely, actually mild, which mixed with an amazing 10-metre turning circle meant the B03X was actually manoeuvrable in addition to being simple to park. Faculty runs, purchasing journeys and Saturday sports activities occasions for anybody with youngsters wouldn’t be a difficulty. Nonetheless, I’d wish to see the marginally woolly really feel of the steering tightened up a bit personally as it might in all probability make the B03X far more enjoyable to dwell with.

The know-how

I appreciated the simplicity of the Leapmotor B03X bundle in that the whole lot is basically bundled into the value. There was rather a lot on provide too, with LED headlights and heated seats plus electrical adjustment for the motive force’s aspect in addition to a warmth pump all included. On a regular basis necessities like wi-fi telephone charging and 360-degree digicam together with 64-colour ambient lighting and an affordable 12-speaker audio system topped off the important thing gear record very properly. In the meantime, all that pretty tech performance was predominantly managed by way of the central touchscreen.

Which was the place issues grew to become rather less simplistic. Each the Leapmotor B03X dashboard screens felt fairly busy and a few data, particularly on the 8.8in driver’s show, wasn’t all the time instantly simple to learn. The identical may very well be mentioned for segments of the 14.6in infotainment display and adjusting something hidden deeper down within the menu system was greatest saved for once I’d pulled over. I fairly appreciated the best way the steering wheel controls may very well be used to function shortcuts, however once more, this wanted to be investigated previous to heading off once more.

There was a default satellite tv for pc navigation system, full with a voiceover backdrop that was definitely diligent when it got here to providing advisories on continuing straight forward. Nonetheless, if I’m driving on unfamiliar roads in a wierd nation then extra data is all the time higher than much less. Additionally provided was Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and getting this arrange and working was an excellent possibility if most popular. I reckon most people who purchase this automotive will discover the Leapmotor B03X boasts greater than sufficient on the tech entrance to maintain them glad.

Do you have to purchase a Leapmotor B03X in 2026?

The Leapmotor B03X wants some fettling earlier than it will get a full thumbs up. The experience and drive aspect of issues are, for now, common. Pushed something greater than sedately and the compact EV can really feel like a little bit of a handful. With that aspect of issues tightened up, the Leapmotor B03X may very well be a a lot better automotive.

Elsewhere although, there’s heaps to love, with a properly executed inside, good ranges of area and luxury plus a plethora of tech albeit solely accessible by way of some touchscreen antics.

Whereas the usual bundle is strong, the Leapmotor B03X feels a bit expensive alongside some top-quality rivals which are additionally relatively extra memorable to have a look at.

Leapmotor B03X technical specs