LEAPMOTOR B10

Stellantis's Chinese brand introduces Kia Sportage-sized electric SUV

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Before we get into the question of what the new Leapmotor B10 is like, shall we remind ourselves of what Leapmotor is? This is a Chinese EV maker that has been around in its domestic market for a decade and had sold more than 400,000 vehicles globally before Stellantis bought a controlling stake in its export operation.

Stellantis wanted a budget EV brand to rival the likes of BYD, Dacia and MG; Leapmotor had the tech and affordability it needed and would benefit from its sprawling European dealership network. A tie-up made perfect sense.

The B10 is the third Leapmotor EV to go on sale in the UK, after the T03 city car and the Tesla Model Y-rivalling C10 SUV. At 4.5m long, it splits the difference between Skoda's Elroq and Enyaq in size but pricing of £31,495 (or less than £30k with the current 'Leap Grant' discount) means the MG S5 EV and Omoda E5 are its closest rivals in terms of price, size and range.

The B10 draws power from a CATL-sourced 67.1kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery, which powers a rear-mounted, 215bhp electric motor for a WLTP range of 270 miles.

There's no four-wheel-drive variant in the UK; here the B10 is offered only with this rear-wheel-drive powertrain, and in one very well-equipped trim level complete with 168kW DC rapid charging, a heat pump (which improves efficiency) and vehicle-to-load functionality.