Leapmotor T03 review – a cheap but well-equipped electric city car

Verdict – is the Leapmotor T03 a good car?

The Leapmotor T03 is an impressive electric city car because despite that cheap price tag, it comes with all the kit you’d expect on a car from the class above, plus it’s good to drive and has a very usable electric range. That said, it’s still an unknown brand and reliability is a grey area, while the interior plastics are of low quality.

Leapmotor T03 models, specs and alternatives

Leapmotor may be an unfamiliar name to most people, but the Chinese brand is hitting UK shores with this: a new all-electric city car called the T03. Leapmotor cars will be sold with the backing of Stellantis (the parent company of brands like Citroen, Peugeot, Fiat and Vauxhall) which owns a majority stake in the company, and the T03 is set to be produced in the same factory as the Jeep Avenger, Fiat 600 and Alfa Romeo Junior in Poland. The T03 sits below the C10, a family-sized electric SUV in Leapmotor’s lineup.

While the city car market has been on the decline in recent years, a car like the Leapmotor T03 could be just what the segment needs to reignite it by bringing affordable electric motoring to the masses. At around £16,000 it’s very cheap, costing just around £1,000 more than a Dacia Spring EV but coming with slightly more standard equipment.

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There’s just one powertrain option available: a front-mounted 95bhp electric motor with a 37.3kWh battery. That amount of power is comparable to figures from other city cars with a combustion engine, such as the Kia Picanto or Hyundai i10, so it should, in theory, be enough for a car like the T03.

There’s also just one trim level from launch, though additional versions could arrive later. The T03 gets some fancy features such as a panoramic sunroof with an electronically retractable sun shade, eight-inch digital gauge cluster, 10.1-inch infotainment screen with sat nav, voice control, 4G connectivity and air con.

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The Leapmotor T03 is fully electric and the lineup is very simple – there’s just one battery and electric motor option. The T03’s battery is very small and yet it boasts a reasonable range figure, all things considered – that’s thanks to its small tyres, low levels of drag and regenerative braking tech. 165 miles will be plenty for those that want a city car for pootling to and from the shops or commuting within the city. Rival electric city car, the Dacia Spring, has a smaller battery and has an on-paper figure of 140 miles.

What will the Leapmotor T03 cost to insure?

Insurance groupings are yet to be released for the Leapmotor T03. With its low purchase price and power figure we wouldn’t expect it to be particularly pricey to insure, but electric cars can tend to be more expensive than combustion-engined rivals, so nothing can be confirmed as yet.

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Your first impressions of the Leapmotor T03 might have you expecting it to be terrible to drive given its thin tyres and tall appearance, but it might just surprise you. Once we set off, we were surprised at how normal it feels to drive.

The T03 feels secure and grounded on the move, and more refined than you might expect. There are three regenerative braking settings: ‘Sport’, ‘Eco’, and ‘Standard’. Sport has the strongest stopping force, which is almost strong enough for one-pedal driving, while Eco switches it completely off – that’s confusing given the fact that regenerative braking is usually touted as a more eco-friendly setting given that it puts power back into the battery from otherwise-wasted braking energy.

It’s not perfect of course – as a result of the T03’s small dimensions you may find you have to correct the steering on some sloped roads, and the small wheels can easily end up following the ruts and imperfections – a phenomenon known as tramlining. Aside from that, the T03 copes with potholes and bumps well in terms of comfort. The front seats let it down somewhat, though, because they didn’t provide a whole lot of support, while the rear seats feel well padded for passengers.

Is the Leapmotor T03 good to drive in town?

As you should reasonably expect from a ‘city’ car, the Leapmotor T03 is good to drive in town and in urban environments. It’s got a very tight turning circle which makes manoeuvring in small spaces easy. The steering is very light in whichever drive mode you’re in, but it’s relatively slow so you have to turn the wheel more than expected. Visibility is great in the T03 and because of its boxy shape, it’s easy to tell where all corners of the car are, making it easy to park.

Is the Leapmotor T03 good to drive on long journeys?

City cars aren’t usually the most confidence-inspiring to drive on a motorway, but while there are definitely better cars to cruise along in, the T03 definitely holds its own. There’s enough power for it to be driven confidently on a motorway and overtake other vehicles, even if it does run out of oomph at higher speeds. It’s refined with very little road noise because of the small tyres, while wind noise is satisfactory, although there was a little vibration from the door seal around 65mph. 

Is the Leapmotor T03 good to drive on B-roads?

Though people have come to expect high power figures and punchy performance from EVs in recent times, the T03 isn’t the most responsive when you put your foot down. The throttle is mapped with a delay from a standstill so it won’t pull your face off, but it does feel more responsive once on the move. The Leapmotor T03 isn’t anything to write home about in terms of driving fun, but we were surprised how well it performed for a city car.

Carbuyer notes

“Once you set off in the Leapmotor T03, it feels secure, stable and ready to showcase its 165-mile range.” Alastair Crooks, senior news reporter.

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The Leapmotor T03 is cheap to buy, so expectations are low in terms of interior quality. While there are some cheap-feeling materials about the cabin and it’s pretty basic all-round, it does at least feel well put together. In places where you’re more likely to look or touch, material quality is improved, such as the faux-leather steering wheel and chrome door handles.

Is the Leapmotor T03’s infotainment and navigation system easy to use?

The Leapmotor T03 gets an eight-inch digital gauge cluster and a 10.1-inch central touchscreen. The driver’s instrument display shows all the key information you’d need, though it isn’t configurable.

We don’t like the positioning of the infotainment touchscreen because it’s too close to the steering wheel which obscures some of the view. That said, it’s quick to respond to your touches and the screen resolution is good, though the shortcut bar at the bottom is strangely blurry.

Sat nav comes as standard and the map is easy to follow, although we’d advise against using the gimmicky 3D view – it looks distorted to the point that it’s distracting and seems pointless.

Is the Leapmotor T03 well equipped?

Though the Leapmotor is only available in one trim, we think it’s well equipped for an EV of this price. The aforementioned infotainment with sat nav and driver’s display are included, while all models get 15-inch wheels and a panoramic roof with an electrically operated sun shade, plus features like air conditioning, rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera, 4G connectivity, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, autonomous emergency braking. While it costs around £1,000 more than a Dacia Spring, it certainly makes up for that with the amount of equipment thrown in.

What options should you choose on the Leapmotor T03?

The only choice you need to make when it comes to buying a T03 is which colour you want. There are just three options to choose from: Light White, Starry Silver and Glacier Blue. It’s safe to say that’s not the most inspiring array of options, but at least it keeps costs down and makes choosing one easy.

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There’s no getting past the fact that the Leapmotor T03 is a small car, so it’s not the most practical. That said, clever packaging makes the most of the space on offer – it may be shorter and narrower than the Dacia Spring, but it beats that rival in terms of height, so headroom is good.

The Leapmotor T03 falls behind in terms of legroom, though, because while front occupants have plenty of space, taller adults in the back don’t have much to work with and will find themselves pushed right up to the seat in front of them.

Does the Leapmotor T03 have a big boot?

The Leapmotor T03’s boot isn’t the most spacious on offer and the Dacia Spring boasts a much larger capacity. There’s just about enough room for your weekly shop or a short weekend away for two, but it’s not the most usable space because of its awkward shape. The opening curves around the rear lights, which makes the boot harder to access, while the load lip is disappointingly high. There’s no underfloor storage available either.

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The T03 is one of the first Leapmotor models to hit the UK and as such neither the model nor the brand have featured in our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey. It’s also yet to be tested by Euro NCAP, but it does come with a wide array of safety assistance systems which might put your mind at ease.

It’s really hard to comment on reliability with how new the brand and model are to the UK, but Leapmotor is backed by Stellantis which owns a majority stake in it and will offer the same warranty as its own brands.

How safe is the Leapmotor T03?

Leapmotor says the T03 should prove very safe once it’s tested by Euro NCAP thanks to its body-cage structure which consists of a one-piece aluminium beam and high strength steel over 60% of the car’s body. It’s too early to say for sure, though, so we’ll wait until the T03 is tested to say for sure whether it’s safe or not.

The Leapmotor T03 comes with a wide array of safety tech making use of three cameras and five radar sensors. These include lane departure warning, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, automatic speed assist with traffic sign recognition, a driver fatigue monitor, blind spot detection and an automatic emergency braking system.

What is the warranty on the Leapmotor T03?

The Leapmotor T03 is backed by Stellantis’ warranty, meaning it’s covered for up to three years and the battery is covered for up to eight years or 100,000 miles –  by industry standards these days that’s not particularly impressive, and rival Dacia now covers its cars, including the Spring, for up to seven years or 75,000 miles if you service it every year or every 18,000 miles via an official dealer.

Should you buy a Leapmotor T03?

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The Leapmotor is an impressive affordable electric city car that’s definitely worth your consideration if you want to take the leap into EV motoring – pun intended. The city car market has been in decline for some time and an electrified reinvention of this sector could be just what’s needed to reignite it.

Not only is the Leapmotor T03 cheap, though, it’s also well equipped with gadgetry you’d reasonably expect on a modern supermini thrown in to sweeten the deal. The T03 does lack some personality and flair, admittedly, but it’s good enough to drive and comfortable, too. 

The Leapmotor is not just a contender for other electric rivals like the Dacia Spring, but we think it’s good enough to give better-established petrol-powered city cars like the Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10 a run for their money.
 

Leapmotor T03 alternatives

The Leapmotor T03’s main rival is Dacia’s latest bargain electric car, but it’s also likely to be considered alongside conventional petrol-powered city cars, too.

• Dacia Spring
• Kia Picanto
• Hyundai i10