Leapmotor T03 Review 2025

Most car journeys are in cities blighted by the stop-start trudge of rush-hour traffic. Yet as we relieve the tedium by making up words from letters on number plates affixed to enormous SUVs dawdling around us, there’s a penny-dropping moment — these are perfect conditions for a small electric car with a dinky battery. Ladies and gentlemen, you mean a car such as the Leapmotor T03.

That what, now? Indeed, Leapmotor isn’t a car brand many UK dwellers will have heard of before although that could change dramatically in the coming years. It’s a Chinese manufacturer that’s paired-up with Stellantis, the group which owns Fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall and various others, to sell its models in Europe.

Gateway to the range is the city car-sized Leapmotor T03 which is joined for the UK launch by a family-focused SUV badged C10, with an additional model joining the line-up for each of the next three years.

Okay the alphanumeric model names don’t exactly instill any sense of character but that can be overlooked given the tiny five-door, four-seater T03 delivers exceptional value for money at £15,995. Leapmotor? Cheap motor, more like.

So what exactly does that buy you? Leapmotor’s website proudly proclaims that the T03 has ‘everything as standard’ yet we couldn’t find a dashboard-mounted air fryer on the kit roster so that’s not exactly true.

While it won’t cook your tea for you on your drive home, the reality is there’s a lot of gear for your money. How do climate control, electrically operated windows, door mirrors and front seats, an 8.0-inch driver’s display, a 10.0-inch multimedia touchscreen, a glazed panoramic roof, a reversing camera, adaptive cruise control and 15-inch alloy wheels all sound? Thought so.

In order to benefit from all those goodies and loads more you’ll need to go for the top-of-the-range Leapmotor T03 but fear not because the most expensive model in the line-up is the only model in the line-up. That’s right, your sole T03 choice costs £15,995.

Similarly there’s only a single electric motor and battery combination to go for in the Leapmotor T03. Up front is a 95PS electric motor sending drive to the front wheels, dispatching the 0-62mph acceleration benchmark in 12.7 seconds.

Its 37.3kWh battery’s sufficient for a WLTP Combined cycle driving range of 165 miles while a 30-80% recharge using a DC public charging point takes 36 minutes although at what power level that is hasn’t yet been publicised.

How does the T03 stack-up against other tiny electric tearaways? Well, firstly it’s worth pointing out that if it’s crossed your mind that this Leapmotor has a passing resemblance to the now-retired Smart EQ Forfour, then this is nothing more than a coincidence as the two are unrelated. Sincerest form of flattery and all that…

Back to what is on sale today, you could be driving a Dacia Spring £14,995 but that’s with just 44PS of power and a 140-mile driving range. There’s a more powerful very although that only cranks output up to 64PS with no improvement in range. It costs the same as the Leapmotor but isn’t as well equipped, so points dropped there.

Alternatively you could be captivated by the cutesiness of the Hyundai Inster. A little more power and a 203-mile range from its slightly larger battery are plus points, but it misses out on various of the Leapmotor’s fixtures and fittings as well as costing £7500 more. Yes you read that right — an extra seven-and-a-half thousand pounds.

That’s almost enough of a saving to buy you the Citroen Ami at £7695. That’s less than half the cost of the Leapmotor T03. It also has half the number of seats, its left-hand drive only, there’s no boot, its driving range is just 46.6 miles and because it’s legally registered as a light quadricycle and not a car, its top speed is capped to 28mph.

New name it might be but Leapmotor could be really onto something with the T03 until its rivals properly get their acts together.

Orders for the Leapmotor T03 opened in autumn 2024 with the first examples already in customers’ hands.

Keep this page bookmarked to read our comprehensive full Leapmotor T03 review in the weeks ahead.