I sat in the £16,000 Chinese EV that will soon be in Fiat and Vauxhall dealers
Ahead of its launch in the UK, the Leapmotor T03 made an appearance at the Paris Motor Show, offering plenty of equipment and range for just £15,995.
The Paris Motor Show has always been a hub for the big French car companies to showcase their latest models. However, as they become a more prominant part of the motoring landscape, a number of Chinese newcomers showcased their latest models.
Of these, perhaps the most European was Leapmotor, now owned by Stellantis. Now in the same family as Vauxhall, Peugeot and Fiat, Leapmotor's purpose is to offer affordable fully electric models, with the T03 being one of their first, and certainly the cheapest at £15,995.
The Leapmotor T03 is not the most attractive electric city car on the market, thanks in part to a piggy nose around the charging port, but it certainly has some elements that bring out a lovable personality.
The rounded bug eye-like front headlights are quite cute, whilst creases down the front and rear doors help to prevent the Leapmotor from looking particularly bland.
Compared to the rest of the brand's range, also present at the Paris Motor Show, the T03 does not conform to a family look, and badging is fairly minimal, with the exception of Leapmotor lettering on the tailgate.
Whilst hardly a premium model, the Leapmotor T03's interior is surprisingly well-built. Whilst the dashboard and door cards use more than their fair share of hard plastics, the general standard of fit and finish was good.
As with the exterior, the T03's dashboard is not groundbreaking but modern enough for an affordable car. However, the thing that impressed me the most about the interior, and perhaps the whole car itself, was the amount of room passengers get. Set up to seat four, rather than five, passengers, adults under 6ft will easily feel comfortable in the back, with a very fair amount of legroom and headroom for a vehicle of this size.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Leapmotor's boot. Featuring 210 litres of luggage space, it is nearly 100 short of the Dacia Spring and the Citroen e-C3. What's more, the curved shape of the tailgate runs the risk of making bulky items difficult to load.
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Leapmotor will only offer one version of the T03 in Europe, which is pretty lavishly-equipped for the price. Standard features include keyless entry, automatic air conditioning, a rear parking camera with sensors, and an eight-inch touchscreen with voice control and Bluetooth.
Playing around with the touchscreen, I found that it was not quite as advanced as some of the systems used on more expensive models in China, but reasonably well laid out. I have, however, heard complaints that air conditioning and even driver assistance functions like ADAS can be hard to adjust whilst on the move.
Much like standard equipment, all T03s will feature the same powertrain, which consists of a 94bhp electric motor and a 37.3kWh battery pack. This allows for a fairly brisk 0-62mph acceleration time of 12.7 seconds and the ability to cover up to 165 miles per charge.
In all, I would argue that the Leapmotor T03 is for the driver who likes to think with their head more than their heart.
No new car comes close to offering the same amount of standard equipment for the price, however owners will lack some of the style and refinement of budget alternatives or even a slightly larger used EV.
One thing that the T03 does prove, however, is that even the lowest end of the Chinese car market does not live up to the cheap and nasty image that Europeans once pictured.
