Image: Leapmotor
Newly emerging Chinese car company Leapmotor has officially announced the entry into Australia of its first EV, the C10 electric SUV, which promises to be one of the lowest cost electric offerings in the country.
The Driven reported last week that the company had launched its Australian website and the company, which has entered into an international joint venture with global car giant Stellantis, has now released key specifications and a launch date.
The price of the C10 has not yet been revealed, but in China it sells for the equivalent of around $A27,000 – so it promises to be at the lower end of the market and add to the much needed range of EVs offered at prices below $40,000.
Leapmotor, which was founded in 2015 by engineer Zhu Jiangming, says the first C10s will be at “select dealerships” by November this year.
The mid-sized SUV – it is 4.74 metres in length – will be available to Australian drivers in two variants called Style and Design.
Both variants will be powered by a 160 kW motor that delivers up to 320 Nm of torque. They will also come equipped with a 69.9 kWh battery which can deliver up to 420 km of WLTP range, and will feature one pedal driving.
The battery pack will be able to be charged from 30-80% in 30 minutes and can be fast-charged at a rate of up to 84 kW. This is slightly below the BYD Atto 3, but is reasonable for an affordable offering in the market. The car also has vehicle-to-load (V2L) capabilities.
Both variants will also include a large 14.6-inch infotainment screen along with a 10.25-inch driver instrument cluster behind the steering wheel.
There is also 4G connectivity and Wifi on offer along with over-the-air (OTA) updates. On top of that, the car has built-in Bluetooth and NFC key capabilities for keyless entry across both variants.
The C10 is packed with standard safety features thanks to 12 high-precision advanced drive assistance system (ADAS) sensors and 17 ADAS functions which include:
A 360-degree camera with guidelines is also on offer on both variants. All these features will help this SUV be one of the safest in its class but an official ANCAP rating is yet to be announced.
When it comes to colours, the C10 will be available in Australia with:
The Jade Green appears to be one of the more unique colours in the market and similar paints has previously been offered on more high-end vehicles from other brands. This will be a good offering quite unique to the C10 when it lands later this year.
Leapmotor will also offer a 7-year 160,000km warranty on C10 as well as a 8-year 160,000km warranty on the battery pack.
Leapmotor will adopt a dealership distribution model with locations of dealerships to be announced next month ahead of its official arrival at dealerships by November this year.
The new C10 will surely get a lot of interest in the coming months when the pricing and dealerships are announced for Australia later this year.
Leapmotor C10 Variant Specifications
Style:
Design (in addition to or replacing Style):
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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