Leapmotor C10 BEV Real-Life Stories

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It is eight months since the Leapmotor C10 was launched in Australia. Majella and I took one for a drive and were impressed by the affordable BEV. You can read about our experience here. Our article elicited comments such as: “You are so lucky in Australia to have such a widening choice of EVs. No tariff bull**it there, maaaate!” and “Damn it, colour me envious of all the Goodies Oz is getting….” Hopefully this article will provoke some more justifiable jealousy.

Since then, it has also come out as an extended-range electric vehicle (more on that later). Since over 300 Leapmotor C10 BEVs have sold into the Australian market, I thought it time to contact the owners and collect stories of how the C10 was meeting their needs in the real world. So much better than just a 30-minute test drive.

Remember, Leapmotor is a Chinese brand, with Stellantis as a major shareholder. Stellantis is the 5th largest automaker in the world and is made up of PSA (Peugeot) and FCA (Fiat Chrysler). Stellantis has 14 well-known brands under its corporate umbrella.

I contacted C10 owners through the Facebook page and these are the stories they shared with me.

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“Hi David Waterworth, here’s our experience so far: We have travelled a total of 1,400kms with overall average of 17.3kWhs/100kms. We did a trip the other weekend, doing 180kms on the open road and consumed 49% of battery indicating 360kms range at around 100kph. At 100% charge car was indicating 440kms range based off previous driving habits (mainly town driving).

“Range is ok for our use. We live in the middle of the North Island of NZ and expect range to be sufficient to get us wherever we would typically travel without needing to stop to charge. As such the 84kw max charge rate equally doesn’t bother us either. A 10–15-minute top-up should get us to Wellington (we’d need to stop for at least that long anyway) and we’d comfortably get to Auckland without stopping to charge.

“Our current electricity plan gives us 3 hours of free power each night which is more than enough to cover our current use (at 7kw). The Leapmotor App is great, with a good number of features and functionality, including phone as a key for proximity locking/unlocking, state of charge/charging, location and preconditioning. We’d come from a Suzuki Vitara turbo. Love the space and comfort as well as the value for money.

“We’ve found the C10’s performance good and enjoy driving it. The climate control works well and provides plenty of cooling, we do appreciate the seat ventilation, we haven’t had cold enough conditions to properly test the heating yet, but with heated seats and steering wheel don’t anticipate any issue. We hadn’t cross-shopped against another model specifically, but had test driven: Atto3, Omoda E5, bZ4x, EV6, Ioniq5 and had sat in, but did not drive the Torres EVX.

“The only issues we have are related to the driving “aids” and have got into the habit of disabling the lane-keeping/emergency-lane-keeping, intelligent speed assist and driver monitoring before driving. Interestingly the car often warns “driver has left the seat” while my wife drives, presumably a calibration issue with the seat sensor (have heard other owners have also experienced this).”

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Thank you for sharing! And another C10 driver:

“Hi David. I have had mine for about 5 weeks and already done about 11000km. Absolutely love the car. Very spacious, comfortable and quiet. Only issue is the adaptive cruise control is very jerky. Also, the rear-view mirror is manual -not auto for high beams behind at night. Quite surprised as that is old technology. Other than that, I give it 10/10.”

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One responder highlighted the competitive pricing after cross-shopping against the BYD Atto 3 and the Tesla Model Y. The Leapmotor C10 with 477 km (296 miles) of range from a 70 kWh battery could be had for AU$46,000. There are even better deals now that we have entered the next financial year.

And the most recent:

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How did you come to buy the Leapmotor?

“Initially, my dad and I were waiting for more sub-$70k BEVs (i.e. ‘affordable’) to arrive in Australia. That happened this year and we spent some time together test driving and discussing a few options, as well as considering a few models shown overseas which might make it to Australia in future. Was great to do this together, we think similar yet see different details. The more input the merrier for a large purchase decision.

“For me personally, the next car would be a BEV rather than PHEV or ICE. We tend to export 60% of units generated from our home PV system, so channelling some of that to power transport makes sense. May-August is leaner on the generation so that is factored into the overall charging costs.

“I came across the Leapmotor from an ad online around August 2024 and kept a keen eye on it since. I suspect the ad popped up as I had garaged and driven a 2020 Tesla Model 3 for a close friend of mine for a week earlier that year. You’d find me web searching online every evening for things like using the wipers, headlights, topping up wiper fluid etc, as well as general info about the car and EVs in general to be a little more confident driving a borrowed car.

“After lots of reading, viewing and seeing some models in real life, the C10 ticked the boxes for me beyond the strong gut feeling of this car being the most ‘me’ among the options available. As it turns out, there was a C10 BEV Design available locally, and everything lined up well to get it at a good price.”

Did you cross-shop other cars? Which ones?

“Yes, the other models were: BYD Sealion 7, Xpeng G6, and Geely Ex5. We took all these for a test drive. Saw the Zeekr X but only sat in it at the showroom; among other things it was too small to make the shortlist.

“For me, the C10 was more spacious on the inside and had practical design inside and out. Between the two screens, steering wheel controls and stalks, it does everything I need as the driver. A front passenger can easily assist if the driver feels like delegating. Regarding features, it allows for an owner to pare things back or go all out on tech. I’ve found a happy mix that works for me and enjoy every drive.”

Have you had any issues? Resolved?

“Going from my previous vehicle to this one had a leap in tech, so it was a week of getting used to how this one operates vs what I was used to for many years.

“It was explained before I took delivery that it would take a few days for the VIN to be transferred so that I could use the app, which I now see is quite standard among cars with apps. I got a call when it was ready to go, and I hooked up the app easily. Ended up contacting the dealer about a vehicle operation password for the app and vehicle as this didn’t appear in the set up process, but I was prompted to enter one. Turns out it was a case of entering a default code followed by setting up your own vehicle operation password; this was easy enough to get sorted.

“I haven’t had any issues with the car. There are packaged features I hadn’t used in my previous car (largely as the tech was not present) and I don’t use them in the C10 either. It drives well, the cameras are great, the map works, it plays music, it feels safe and comfortable.

“I am waiting for the next OTA update, while some may say for MANY models on the market today “how can a car be sold with all the claimed assists and it being not polished and reliable?” I’m more realistic that it takes time for software to learn, and improvements happen along the way. I wouldn’t blame the manufacturers for this, it’s a regulatory agency allowing the claims, sales, and fixes. A perfect world would have modern vehicle safety system sensors and software shared as freely as the three-point seatbelt.”

Have you been on any long trips? Comments about charging?

“We’re metro dwellers with a mix of short suburban trips, longer trips to appointments as well as longer trips for sports and recreational activities. There’s the odd trip to visit friends just out of town. So far all are within 200km of a day’s driving and that’s well within the range of the C10.

“For a vehicle’s claimed range and range anxiety, re-frame it as a new routine rather than a direct comparison to a fuel tank driven from full to empty cycle. Previously I’d fill up on the cheaper end of the price cycle (a long-standing Western Australia thing) and if extra driving would mean filling up on an expensive day, then I’d get annoyed at the extra cost. Translating kms driven to recharging isn’t hard, it is just different to fuelling up.”

“Trickle charging at home works well for us, and if the PV panels don’t cover it, the units imported from the grid are still cheaper than fuel.”

Any reactions from colleagues/family?

“Internal space and a comfortable ride are a big hit with the family! It’s big without being huge or unmanageable on the outside.

“I was the designated driver for a girl’s night out and all four passengers loved the space, lights, look, the ride… and the price.

“A lot hadn’t heard of Leapmotor before, which is fair, it’s a new badge here. So glad it popped up on my radar, it is a fantastic car for us and came in at the right price!”

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There you are — three real-life stories from satisfied customers. Here’s to more Leapmotor C10s on Australian roads as people discover the features and the value. Once again, the future is bright and electric.