I love starting with an SUV no-one cares about, and immediately dismissing it because they're useless death machines and no-one has been crying out for more of those monstrosities, so you can talk about cars that are important which is to say, cheaper and smaller.
Totally agree with you. A polo is big enough even if you have 2 children. Convincing the wife that she doesn't need a 2 ton SUV with a heigh seating position is another ball game.
Honestly, all cars are equally useless death machines if amassed. This channel should really start focusing on more lightweight means of travel or better public transport options instead of cars.
@@clacton17 perhaps 'product' or 'form factor' is a better word to use then. I love the form factor. Compact electric vehicle. Lightweight. Instant torque. Automakers take note. We need more cars like these.
I bought a used 2013 Fiat 500e ($32k new) with 25,000 miles on it for $7,000 in 2017 and drove it for 5 years. It was a compliance car using the Fiat 500 chassis. It was similar in size to the Leapmotor T03. We need afforable electric cars, not luxury ones. The used electric car market is too expensive as well.
The factory in Poland isn't to reduce carbon from shipping. It's to "manufacture" (read: assemble) them in the EU to avoid the EU tarriffs on Chinese electric cars.
@@eddthirty4065 huh, here in continental croatia is hell in the summer last decade due to climate change. This summer we had more than 30 days in row daily temperatures over 35 degrees (in the shadow) and more than 25 degrees in night.
Can't help thinking if they'd lost the sunroof and replaced the screen with Apple Carplay/Android Auto they could have shaved another grand off the price.
@@PhilAinsworth-qy4ns Maybe so, but you know what I mean, it seems oddly overspec’d in some regards, when you consider what it is and what it’s competing with.
Soon the only reason for a wheel placed in front of the driver, will be so that the vehicle can accurately take a glucose reading by stabbing a finger every so often, to determine if the occupant behind the wheel needs to pull into a drive through to reup on supplies, to stave off the activation of Adaptive Hearse Mode.
Without Apple Carplay a USB A is great for an old memory stick for music. We have separate ones for different artists... so choose a stick, push it in, drive off. No fuss.
If it's Stellantis backed, they should have shoved one of their brands on it. Would sell 10x as many cars just by changing the badge and offering servicing & warranties.
Yeah, it seems really weird that you wouldn't market this as Vauxhall Hop, or Citroen Saute (french of Leap) for a bit of brand recognition and trust, coming from a brand no one has heard off and being called the really forgettable TO3 surely has to hurt sales.
Maybe not though, I mean Citroen and vauxhall small cars conjure up images of naff plastic tat for some people, even if it's not really deserved. But this has a clean slate maybe a fresh start and leapmotor will become a well known brand?
i had a Ford Fiesta 94 too!! this car is exactly that wich Jack said, more than enough cheap solution and with nowadays tecnology a great great car to get around from point a to b to c... wich is what we need! safely
all of them are super expensive xd Nothing like this type of car with 500km of range, fast charge and for about 20k. You can mofdify old nissan gen1 with 8kusd new battery with 450-550 km range.
have to say jack, this is the first video i’ve watched of yours where you’ve really come into your skin and your confidence about the car was great. Cool to watch you evolve as car reviewer.
I suspect that the real reason Jack does not talk about the C10 in this video is that it is still under embargo. There are no other European reviews of this yet.
I clicked Like when Jack moved on to the little car. [edit:] Wait, why aren't Dacia building a little box like this? Why is it an imitation soft-roader thingy with styling bits? Lose the sunroof, Leap, knock a few hundred quid off.
Thanks Jack, good honest review. Funky little EV, and should be a very strong competition to the Spring. We love the small cars that used to have 2-doors. The 4-door versions were an expansive option. In the 60th and 70th people also seemed to be more agile. . . . . . at least we had no problem to get in the back of a 2-door hothatch. (or we complained less) 😂. And i think, it is more easy to give those 2-door car a more "sporty" design. Many of these modern 4-door sedans and SUV's all have the same silhouette, can tell one from an other. We hope there will come more 2-door EV's. EVERYTHING is already 4-door, and like so many, we are a 2 person household. We even have no need for 4 seats, so why 4 doors. Less weight is good.
We have a eUP! It is excellent. It was becoming a concern that narrow cars were disappearing because of the width of common battery platforms. Narrow cars are a great luxury when navigating country lanes (this is Devon), parking, and not crashing into things. So this, the Hyundai and Nissan Microbecome a possible replacement. The Mini is far too big. But the Renault 5 and the Twingo look gorgeous.
I learned to drive in a beaten up Nissan Sunny and my first car was an almost but not quite new VW Polo that I drove all over Europe including a brilliant drive with my girlfriend all the way down the Rhine to Austria. We graduated to a Golf once we had kids, and coped really well in that. We definitely need smaller cars to make a come back.
Awesome. Wish it was a bit shorter and a two seater, but with the same range. We need two seater cars in our cities (and affordable convenient charging infrastructure). There should be lamp-post mount chargers that allow you to log-in to your electricity supplier. A small extra tariff should be added but this should be strictly regulated and strictly small. Charging shouldn't be ridiculous for those without driveways. In addition, tariffs should be waved for people buying two seater city cars (with motorway speed capability) who live within city areas. Our cities are unnecessarily over-run with big cars and pollution. Subsidies and tax reductions should apply to small EVs. Also, nobody wants a car they can't take on the motorway. These cars should travel at least 75mph and be safe. The Chinese can produce them for cheap. We should exploit that for the health of the nation.
Okay Jack you had me dissapointed at the start as I was sure it was not an SUV video xD Seriously that intro was brilliant "Here is another silly SUV... anyway here is a car worth talking about" I was a bit dissapointed by the battery and range until you mentioned the price... crazy for Spring money you could get that much more range. You're so right we need to get back to making properly small cars which are big enough for many and not only start cheap but then become very cheap.
Brilliant review Jack. That’s exactly what I’m looking for to replace my 13-year-old Nissan Micra. Just want to get from A to B as efficiently as possible. Shame about the infotainment system. Didn’t Ora have difficulty with Apple CarPlay also? Maybe it’s something to do with the licensing for Chinese cars? I wonder how fast the charging is on that battery also.
I have been waiting for this car to arrive in India since I first saw it on this channel. Stellantis India have announced that they are bringing it here early 2025. That said, India is a very different market. We already have wonderful e cars starting at about 7000 pounds (MG Comet). If the T03 comes here at 15k pounds, it just won't find any buyers. That segment of the market is already dominated by Tata Motors, and their offerings at 15-16k are way bigger than the T03 I expect the T03 to arrive here at 8000 pounds. Anything above that, it simply won't attract any buyers
What a refreshing idea: a vehicle with four wheels (plus a steering wheel and brakes) that can get from A-B at comparitively low cost. Taking a leaf (no pun intended) out of the book of the Henry Ford T-type. And you won't find J Clarkson in one anytime soon. What's not to like?
This is what the new version of the Fiat 500e should have been. I love it even with the clunky screen. My concern with Stellantis using the skateboard platform to make different models is that they might make only expensive models.
There was a time when cars like the Ford Fiesta were considerably cheaper to buy in Holland than the UK. People from the UK went across the North Sea and bought them in Holland and then drove them home. I wonder if you could buy this cheaper in China and then send it over here on a container. Presumably DVLA would then charge you over £9000 to register it!
Makes you want to question questionable forms of authority if you want in a timely manner to stop messing with the ecosystem with all that monetization of the suffering of others. We should elect scientists for a change, rather than the junk version of those. 185mph gulf of mexico texaco winds recorded in yesterdays news slamming into that state of confusion known for the talking mouse with jazz hands and the grabbyhands gramps yelly mr hushmoney clockwork orange creeper. A fish bumper sticker is stickman caveman drawing code for stockholm syndrome.
How about safety!? Reviewing a car without talking about safety is STUPID. If you dont now, tell us you dont now. Next important thing is rust protection.
2:47 - it doesn't triple in value. It triples in *cost* to the customer. Its value - its intrinsic worth - doesn't change at all between China and the UK. But, then, I am - or was - an accountant, so...but my wife, who isn't - or wasn't - an accountant, said *exactly the same* even before I did...
Isn’t value a synonym for the price someone will pay at the time of transaction? What is the intrinsic value of anything? Does anything have objective value?
Outside of China we only talk about a handful of Chinese EV brands but the competition there is brutal with hundreds of companies. The fact that this get sold outside of China means it has already proven itself in the local market and it shows.
The Dacia Spring while being an undoubtedly worse car does a much better job at looking nice (particularly the restyled version) than this one. It's regrettable because this T03 looks like one of those cars that go out of their way to say they were cheap. Hope they improve on that.
I live in Japan and am considering buying a Nissan Sakura. I believe that there are two choices for tyre sizes. 15 inch and 14 inch which would you recommend?
In German, there is a distinction between "billig" and "preiswert". Billig (cheap) implies low quality or inferior. Preiswert means that something is worth its price. The Leapmotor T03 is the first compact electric car that is preiswert (offers good value for money).
I disagree on the looks - small cars are definitely harder to make truly beautiful, but I like the aesthetic choices made for the little Leap. It reminds me of an Austin Metro crossed with a Polski Fiat.
It strikes me that it could be a lot cheaper with little functional compromise. A 3-door version without the pano-roof and infotainment, maybe even with a reduced battery size, making it somewhere between a car and a microcar, would be very welcome.
But that would increase design, production, parts sourcing and operating costs due to multiple variants needing to be supported - raising the overall cost at this price point/margin level - meaning both the current car and a stripped down two door car variant would end up costing more than having the single model.
@GruffSillyGoat 😂😂😂😂 Oh dear, oh dear, oh deary, deary me, where do you get these ideas? Simply "downgrade" the spec and cut out fancy options. Something like an ancient Issigonis Mini, two door ... with hydrogen fuel cell tech. That'll do it and no mistake. Call it the renaissance of the EV. Batteries are so yesterday I wonder anyone bothers with developing a charging infrastructure. Too much of a faff and no mistake. There again if Elon does get around to a Tesla H (or so the rumours suggest???) then his supporters would suddenly become hydrogenistas in a heartbeat.
@@t1n4444 Hydrogen doesn't work in a small vehicle, as there's nowhere to put the massive tanks. Hydrogen isn't even green, as 98% of Hydrogen is simply made my steam reformation of natural gas, which is so not green, you might as well burn petrol. Hydrogen filling stations are closing all the time, yet EV charging points are getting more abundant by thousands per month. Please, unless you can work out how to store Hydrogen as a liquid at room temperature, just stop with this Hydrogen boondoggle.
@@t1n4444 - and what proportion of the public would go for two door, non-sports, cars over four door models ... the answer very few, which is why they went out of favour. Hydrogen, well that must be older than 'so yesterday' as indeed no one is bothering with the refilling infrastructure. Let's see hydrogen fueling sites in the UK deployed over the last eight years about 17, roughly six of which are open to the public. Against over 35,000 UK EV charging sites growing at over 2,000 a month; it seems battery charging is holding its own by some margin. Perhaps we should check in again in another 1,000 years by then hydrogen's annual deployment might have caught up with batteries current monthly level.
Not sure when talking about the chinese cars MG4 is missed out ?? Yes I am biased having it but the base one can now be brought for 20K new and my top spec one is 26K
The tariffs really bother me. Instead of creating a competing product, we tax whatever is coming in so they're just as expensive as anything else already on the market. So we still end up with little to no real options for a great, cheap car. This one does appear to have a good price, but ship that thing to Sweden and they'll probably tack on another 50% and then its no longer a realistic option. And our current government announced the end of EV incentives WITH ONE DAYS NOTICE. I was baffled when it happened. My next car will be an EV, but I probably won't buy another car for at least 5-7 years or so at this rate.
i think its face is super cute, and if you are going to have a car this small it needs to be fun looking or cute. Personally i think we are a 2 car family and the second car must be something like this. the insta is probably preferred.
As you said in the video VW could make cheap small EV cars but discontinued. Perhaps they couldn't make a profit on it. Perhaps they wanted to push the more expensive EV's. Is it a surprise people don't want to buy cars which are £35k and more? Then they complain about cheap Chinese cars taking over. VW could make those cars 10 years ago, why didn't they.
Thanks Jack! Your point about the T03 becoming potentially the start of Stellantis giving us a nice variety of A segment EVs to choose from! All I would say is: they shouldn’t bother with a better infotainment screen, just give us an app that integrates smoothly with the car and a phone holder like in the Ami!
Agree 100% - small, affordable EVs. 160 real miles is pretty good. More than you need for a city car. They could make one with half the range and may sell even better. We've had a Leaf since 2015 with a real range go 70 miles and it's still going strong.
I still don't understand why Stellantis didn't bring this in with a badged version as say the new Citroen c1 or something. It looks like a fiat from the side anyway.
Nice to see something that is actually cheap to buy. Compare this with the newly released Microlino which costs £17,990 and only has a 55 mile range! Plus this actually seats 4 not 2!
GMW Ora 03 in Latvia starts from 26 995 euros, if we apply incentives of 4,5k euro we get 22,5k euro price, you can now see them driving around. But this Leapmotor T03 has great price
Great review and such a positive final chapter! Hopefully they can update the drive modes because that does sound a bit annoying and add CarPlay (or the mount as you say...). When you are comparing to Chinese prices, there must be tax and incentive differences between the markets making up most of that difference?
Wow. This is awesome. This could very much become the fiat 500 of electric cars (yes I know the 500e exists) and I’m here for it. I only wish they could get a bit of a battery bump, some physical buttons and CarPlay.
Yes I imagine as it's easier to get going and accelerate at lower speeds, like driving around town, so you will see higher efficiency. I suppose it makes less of a difference at high speeds but I don't know I'm just guessing.
I'd guess that the eco/normal/sport effect on "regen" really means its effect on lift-off deceleration, right? Ie -- You presumably still get full electric REGENERATION when you use the brake pedal, regardless of driving mode.
If you use the brake pedal you are going to be using actual brakes ... even if there's some regen going on as well. Any energy consumed by actual brakes is "lost forever" of course. It is the minority of EVs that have the brake pedal first bringing on regen and then on stronger pressure using actual brakes ... my Tesla doesn't do it (though future software may make this available).
@@MrAdopado My Ioniq 5 increases regen by brake pedal application, giving greater energy recovery than simply relying on regen, more even than with the full regen paddle held on. It's all about clever mapping of brake pedal, nothing more than that.
The Chinese version of this car has a battery thermal management system, which is critical for long term value. Dunno if the European model has it also. Edit - nope, no battery thermal management. Just don't charge or drive it on hot days and you wont have a problem.
@@gluttonousmaximus9048 - heat pumps are not always needed for BMS thermal management, they are more important in areas that get really cold. For example, due to the mild climate Kia offers many of their models without a heat pump, making it an option on higher spec models as a 'luxury' option mainly for cabin heating. The batteries run fine, with battery pre-conditioning etc., without the heat-pump.
C10 is about to go on sale in Oz,.. sat in one the other week, then took a good look at shut lines, welds, seat stitching,.. car nerd stuff,.. And then listened to it pull away in total silence. The engineer who runs Leapmotor has a damn good team onboard, going by the fit and finish that is better then Tesla, and the tuning of the waveforms to get the motor to be silent. Not sure about the Storm Trooper styling of the front, but everything else was pretty damn nice.
So close, but needs to be actually cheap. (Preferably under 12K). Start by ditching the sunroof and all the useless tech. Analog dials and mechanical heater controls are just fine in this segment. No need for reversing aids in a car that small either. Very good effort though.
The days of sub circa £15k new cars are long gone, it would need a world wide period of deflation to get prices back down to that level again, but no one would be able to afford them if that was the case. Even bargin basement Dacia models are drifting up to this level - with only the base model Sandero without many options being below this price on the road. Analog instrumentation and generally mechanical control components costs more these days then digital, due to scale of production economics, higher degree of manual labour to fit and lack of commonality across models. This has been the case for ages, which is why most cars have moved to button/touch controls away from mechanical controls of yore. Many of the driver aids in modern cars are the results of NCAP safety requirements, a car would score too low without them to be marketable; at about a grand difference people will price safety above cheapness.
Even a base Kia Picanto costs £15,595, not sure why this should cost many thousands less 🤷♂️. Apart from not having Apple CarPlay, the T03 is better equipped too.
Mechanical dials actually cost more to manufacture than an LCD screen, so fitted old fashioned dials would increase the cost of the vehicle. This is cheap for a car, let alone a pretty well equipped city EV.
It makes an awful lot more sense than all these electric SUVs the manufacturers keep trying to sell us at silly prices. Could do with a bit better real life range though, to make it more versatile.
@@johnnodge4327 But most people don't want just a city car. Every now and again, you want to travel further afield for leisure, family visits etc . And you don't really want to have to own TWO vehicles if you don't have to. The more range you have, the more flexible and useful the car.
Nice! I was thinking recently maybe Citroën could take an existing small platform from Stellantis (e.g. Fiat 500e) and make it the new C1 or C2... But Leapmotor is coming! Big pixels are good, you never know, the user might be into retro-computing, retro-gaming... ;)
Exactly whats required to imprive EV adoption, reduce air polution in our cities and tackle climate change. Now if they can only market it with attractive lease/pcp/ HP deals.
19K Euros is not cheap compared to prices in China and still way more than I can afford! If we all need to replace our fossil fuel cars with EV's these brilliant little cars need to be available at the lowest possible price, import duty and tax free as well! I would love a Leapmotor small car for local short trips which is mostly all I do. Also being short at 5'6" I would fit right in and still have decent leg room for the passenger behind! But all of the "cheap" EV's you rave about are still overpriced for most people in my opinion. Thanks for posting.
Stellantis could make a success of this with the few mods reviewers are suggesting.Rear wiper etc. It has a water cooled battery and 8.6 kWh/100km if you drive carefully.(7miles/kWh). I think the price has dropped in China another grand so there is margin there to work with.
Its better than the Dacia but that means nothing, its fugly and I wouldn't consider it if it was even 5 grand cheaper. Get a 1 year old MG 4 or a pre reg Nissan leaf, Vauxhall Corsa for similar money. Can't see these selling in any numbers.
The almost new corsa EV's sellin for under £15K make all these "cheap EV's" basically pointless unfortunately. I was loving the incoming Hyundai Inster until I looked at what you can get for much less money barely even used at all like the mg4 or Kona.
I suppose on the flip side, if £30K EV cars are selling barely used for half that, you'd have to hope that these cheap EV cars will be realllyyyy cheap when they're on the used market.
You can't get a year old MG4 for this money. A year old MG4 is best part of £20k, and the prices on second hand EVs is now increasing, so get in fast, or pay more.
37kWh battery in a tiny car giving a range of 165 miles. In 2020 Hyundai brought a much bigger and heavier car to the market with the same size battery and a 200 mile range... is this progress?
@@truetech4158 - Assuming it's the Ioniq EV 38.3kWh model it would be about twice the price (£33k less the grant available at the time). However, the ioniq achieved this range by stripping out all the excess weight and a highly streamlined aerodynamic shape. Personally, I found the car too constrained and went for it's Kia Niro EV stablemate even though it was less efficient (not by much) the Niro had a better range due to the bigger battery and was more practical for my needs (plus half the turning circle and could fit in to tight parking bays). However, the caims of 200 miles is misleading as this was determined under the older, less stringent, NEDC standard rather than today's more real-world WLTP standard. The older Ioniq was reassessed before being discontinued and the mild weather WLTP range was 140 miles highway / 225 miles city / 180 miles combined. Whilst the Leapmotor T03 offers 165 miles combined and 245 miles city (highway not published yet, but estimate about the 100 miles mark) meaning in city driving, for which it's designed, then it's more efficient than the old Ioniq.
Please keep track of how well they sell. If it sells well, please feel free to publicly crow triumphantly. If it doesn't, well, please do an episode explaining positing why.
