Life and Design formats landing; no confirmation yet of range extender availed elsewhere.

AMBITIOUS Chinese electric car maker Leapmotor has confirmed intent to make a splash in the small sports utility space, with a new model in two specifications.

Confirmation that the B10 is coming as an alternate to the medium C10 it launched with early this year arrived today.

Also made clear now is that it will start out as a single motor full electric, with a lithium ion phosphate battery in two sizes.

The 56.2kWh type in the entry Life and a 67.1kWh choice for the higher-spec Design respectively offer WLTP-attested ranges of 361 and 434 kilometres.

Both variants feature a 14.6-inch central infotainment screen, an 8.8-inch driver display, wireless phone charging, vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality for powering devices directly from the car and phone app-based controls for keyless entry, remote air-con operation and to scheduled charging.

As with the C10, it configures for over-the-air updates - that’s a two-way street as Leapmotor’s system also uplifts user information.

The Design has more premium elements of ventilated eco-leather seats, a 12-speaker audio system, heated steering wheel, and an electric tailgate.

Still to be shared are the prices and also if the brand will proceed, as it indicated it might some months ago, with a range-extender petrol-electric choice, as is offered with the C10, which starts at $49,990 but is presently6 being offered with a $5000 cash back.

If the latter is ticked off, it will be a 2026 addition.

Unveiled at last year’s Paris Motor Show, B10 is proposed by its maker as a rival for the $49,000-and upward BYD Atto3, which was a big seller here prior to the cessation of electric car subsidies at the end of 2023, but now does little.

In either form, the rear-mounted electric motor makes 160kW of power and 240Nm of torque, for 6.8 seconds in the 0-100kmh sprint time and a top speed of 170kmh.

The EV can be charged from 30 percent to 80 percent in about 19 minutes on DC, with a maximum upload speed of 140kW in Life and 160kW in Design.

When replenished from a wallbox, the respective charge times are two hours and 30 minutes and three hours, and when from a three point home socket, they are nine hours and 20 minutes and 11 hours.

The range extender also leverages the EV’s 800-volt architecture, with the engine acting as a generator to feed a battery that will power a front-mounted electric motor to drive the rear wheels.

It appears to use the same drivetrain as the C10 REEV, which means a 158kW/320Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit, charging a 28.4kWh battery via a 50kW on-board generato.

The C10 petrol-electric is capable of an all-EV driving range of 145km, or 970km combined (both WLTP figures), while averaging just 0.9L/100km. It’s thought the smaller SUV’s figures will be even better.

Sitting on a 2735mm wheelbase, the B10 measures in at 4515mm long, 1885mm wide and 1655mm tall, so isn’t much more compact than the C10 at 2825mm/4739mm/1900mm/1680mm.

The B10 has a a 25-litre frunk, with 430 litres’ boot capacity, this expanding out to 1700 litres when the rear seats are down.

Leapmotor has the backing of Stellantis, so is represented in New Zealand by Armstrong Group, which has some but not all Stellantis brands here. The local brands’ operation - Auto Distributors - is now overseen by Simon Rutherford, a Briton who came to New Zealand to run Ford.

Leapmotor said earlier this year it would be expanding its retail network to support the arrival of the B10 and “future models”. In the latter category is the B05 hatch globally unveiled at the Munich IAA technology show in Germany last week.

Armstrong’s Leapmotor dealerships are already established in Auckland (Greenlane), Christchurch and Wellington, with a new location recently added in Auckland (Botany). More locations will follow as the brand continues to grow.

The B10 is the first model in Leapmotor’s new medium-size SUV lineup, which is focused on delivering globally competitive electric vehicles tailored for international markets.

Though it only came into being in 2015, Leapmotor has wasted no time in developing a range of cars. The B10 is the seventh model to be unveiled, coming out a year after C10.

Leapmotor’s first car, the S01 EV sporty coupe, came out in 2019 and is still in production. It also has the T03 EV city hatch, C11 EV/REEV coupe SUV, C01 EV/REEV sedan and has most recently launched the C16 EV/REEV large SUV.

Stellantis owns a 21 percent share in Leapmotor and a 51 percent slice of Leapmotor International, which conducts all activity for the brand outside of China.