New Leap of faith

Here's a car that wants to bump the dinky Dacia Spring out of the limelight to become the best-value electric motor around. And the only things that's bland about the T03 is its name.

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It's a five-door city car that costs the same as a petrol-powered Kia Picanto yet is fully electric and has a level of standard equipment that could make a larger supermini blush.

WHAT'S NEW?

Leapmotor is the perfect example of the speed Chinese electric car makers have shot to prominence, as it only began life in 2015. It's now backed by Stellantis, which has the likes of Peugeot and Vauxhall under its wing. And that's the USP.

While other Chinese electric carmakers are scurrying to build UK dealerships to woo Brits, Leapmotors will be sold in select Stellantis dealerships. So your local Vauxhall dealer could be selling them.

WHAT'S UNDER THE BONNET?

Lift up the tiny bonnet and you'll find a similarly small electric motor, which pushes out a punchy 94bhp. It gets its power from a 37.3kWh battery - and before you laugh at its size, it's actually bigger than the Dacia Spring's pack, and the larger, costlier Mazda MX-30's. Leapmotor claims 165 miles on a full charge.

Charging is a little on the slow side as it can only take a 6.6kW charge from a home wallbox.