2026 Leapmotor B10 review: Australian first drive

The first half of this decade has already held a lot for new-car buyers, with numerous brands entering the Australian market, many of which you may not have even heard of.

Leapmotor joined the local market in 2025, and is distributed outside of China under the Stellantis group – the parent company best known for brands such as Jeep, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo.

The brand's initial launch Down Under brought just one model, the C10, which is still offered as a medium SUV in full-electric or plug-in hybrid specifications.

However, the announcement of a smaller full-electric SUV, that would nearly match the Chery E5’s spot as the most affordable EV SUV on the market, generated a strong talking point for the brand. Unfortunately for Leapmotor, it was undercut by the BYD Atto 2 less than a month later.

Still, the new model from the Chinese brand offers attractive equipment for the price and could even rival its larger sibling, the C10.

I jumped behind the wheel at the Australian launch to learn more, even if it isn’t the cheapest in the segment.

Starting at $37,888 plus on-road costs for the base-variant Style, you do get a fair bit of equipment: a 14.6-inch touchscreen, an 8.8-inch full-colour instrument cluster, a cloth interior, a wireless charger, a panoramic sunroof with electric sunshade, a 360-degree camera, and various active safety items.

The only other trim level for the B10 is the Design Long Range, which sees an upgrade to a synthetic leather interior, power-adjustable seats in the front row, a heated steering wheel, heated/ventilated front seats, folding mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, a rear armrest, a 12-speaker sound system, a power tailgate, and ambient lighting.

There are a handful of driveline changes for the two trims as well. The base variant equips a 56.2kWh battery that has a maximum DC charge rate of 140kW and a WLTP range of 361km, while the Design LR gets a larger 67.1kWh battery that has a maximum charge DC rate of 168kW and a WLTP range of 434km. Because of differences in charging rates and battery sizes, the 30–80 per cent charge time averages 20 minutes at the maximum DC rate for both specs.

As I mentioned earlier, when the pricing for the Leapmotor B10 was initially announced, it was one of the most affordable full-electric SUVs on the market. It was later undercut by the Chery E5 Urban ($36,990) and the Jaecoo J5 Summit ($35,990), then beaten on price by the BYD Atto 2 Dynamic ($31,990). All prices before on-road costs.

However, the B10 could conceivably compete in the class above due to its size dimensions. Being only marginally smaller than the C10, it’s much longer than an Atto 2 and even trumps the Atto 3 in size.

The best comparison is a Toyota RAV4, which measures roughly 100mm longer than a B10, but has a similar width.

The Australian launch event only had the top-specification Design LR variant on show, so unfortunately I was not able to compare the pair at this stage. However, with just a $3000 difference between the two, I think the larger battery in the top specification will be a more appealing buy for most customers.

Opening the door to the top-specification variant has an overall nice feel to it. A lot nicer than I would have expected given its lowly price point.

That said, most of the interior is packaged the same as other Chinese electric SUVs, with a very familiar vibe to the Deepal S07, XPeng G6, and some mid-range BYDs.

It’s pretty close to a 50/50 split in materials, with hard plastics making up one half and synthetic leather making up the other.

The electric seats move quickly despite my fiddling with them, while the overall seating position provides good back support and lower-leg comfort. The Design LR has heated and ventilated seating for the front row, which, when the latter was put on the highest setting, seemed to turn my legs into an ice cube even in the Brisbane heat, which is a positive in my books.

Additionally, I was able to move the steering column with a manual adjuster to a position that felt comfortable to me.

I spent a small amount of time in the second row with the driver's seat set to where I would normally feel comfortable with my 184cm frame, and I still had about a fist's width and a half of leg room to the front of the seat.

A central wireless smartphone charger, where you also tap the NFC card to start the car, is sized right. However, the charger does not have a cooling port, and seemed to be hit with direct sunlight, which caused my phone to get a little hot.

Right underneath the pad, there is another storage spot with two cupholders that fold up and out of the way if you need to fit other miscellaneous items. In fact, there are 22 different storage spaces throughout the interior, according to the brand, which Leapmotor was very proud to announce.

You get a few hidey-holes in the back-seat door panels, a fold-down armrest (top-specification only), map pockets on the back of the front seats, and two USB ports (one Type-A, one Type-C). Width-wise, the B10's rear bench could handle two full-sized adults being carted around in the second row.

Back to the materials of the interior, I yanked and pulled on just about everything and was surprised to hear a lack of squeaks or cracks from the cabin hard plastics. With that being said, it was a bit noisy when you have your phone or keys tucked away in the door pocket.

The ambient lighting wraps the whole car very nicely, making the interior feel as if it should be in another price bracket. It also flashes warning colours when you get too close to another object while reversing.

Boot space at 490 litres with the seats up is comparable to slightly larger SUVs such as the Kia EV6, but offers a two-tiered system where you can store charging cables under the floor, or maybe some bank notes after a heist, out of view from prying eyes.

The 14.6-inch infotainment screen is okay. It worked well to pair with my iPhone via Apple CarPlay wirelessly, without dropping out over the two days I drove the car, but it lagged slightly on some navigational apps and when a route was active.

It features a similar operating system to other Chinese SUVs, near identical to MG, Geely, Deepal, and others, meaning that you have a heap of apps you’ll probably never use as an adult, like TikTok. However, it’s still nice to download whatever tickles your fancy.

I will mention that while driving, it was really hard to figure out functions such as the electric cover for the panoramic roof. Even while parked, it took a few taps to get back to the main menu where the 3D model of the car was, and press a few unlabelled buttons to slide it open.

Following the trend of controls that can be operated with a physical button, the climate controls are on the touchscreen, diverting attention from the road to adjust the interior temperature.

It feels like these brands are trying to make everything voice-activated, which works fairly well in the Leapmotor, but it’s still frustrating that everything is controlled through a single hub.

The 8.8-inch driver's display is tiny and looked a little off-centre in the car I drove. I can’t say I was the biggest fan, given the lack of a head-up display on the B10, but it shows a reasonable amount of information. It’s just that the most important thing, your speed, is blocked a little by the steering wheel.

There’s a lot of good to be said about the B10 when it comes to its driving capabilities. Stellantis put a lot of focus on ensuring it had a say in chassis design, and the car has a 50:50 weight distribution, but more on that later.

The car is simple and basic to drive. Its small dimensions make it easy to drive for most people. I also think the lack of overly harsh regenerative braking makes it easier for traditional internal-combustion buyers to switch to an electric vehicle.

Most of the drive I had the B10 in Comfort steering, Comfort acceleration, and strong regeneration. I'd liken the Leapmotor's strongest regenerative braking setting to Tesla's weakest setting – it's that weak. There's also no option for one-pedal drive. While single-pedal is a style I don’t particularly like, I do think the option would be nice.

Pedal response in Comfort and Normal modes feels natural and easy, loading the 160kW of power on nicely and not giving you a massive jolt.

However, the Sport throttle map is unusable to the point where it made me feel a little sick while driving. It has a weird initial jolt when you press the pedal, maybe 20 per cent pressure, but then nothing beyond that. This leads to bumps and undulations in the road causing your foot to press down slightly on the pedal and the sensitive throttle to kick in.

The changes in steering force are not hugely different across the three modes, but it does add that level of customisation for people who want a slightly firmer steering experience.

The lane intervention is just flat out frustrating. It works really well on freeways where lane markings are clear, the lanes are big and there aren’t that many turns. But the second you get out of the city and onto dual-lane roads, which Australia has a lot of, it seems to freak out and bounce you from one side to the other.

It’s around three taps to get to the menu where you turn these off, but it turns itself back on every time you start the car. It would drive me up the wall having to live with this, and I hope Leapmotor adjusts this with an over-the-air update, because it is a genuinely good car to drive with these switched off.

The suspension is quite plush. I sought out a few potholes to make things uncomfortable, but it did a good job of soaking up the majority of the rougher stuff.

Where the B10 showed its hand was on road undulations. It compressed the shocks and rebounded quickly, unsettling the car and creating a flighty sensation at the steering wheel.

I am aware that this is a small SUV, and how the car performs through twisty stretches of road genuinely does not sit high on the importance list for buyers in this segment. But, on the odd chance you do care, the car performs well when being thrown through corners.

The body roll is noticeable, but the B10 has a very balanced feel. This can be attributed to the aforementioned 50:50 weight distribution. It’s pointed, goes where you want it to and feels predictable. I dare say it’s almost fun to drive, in the right setting.

Admittedly, the steering is let down by the tyres, which are LingLong-branded, and I assure you that is not an unsavoury joke. They are genuinely called that. When you hit a corner too quickly, you can hear them squealing as the car understeers slightly. I recommend a trip to the tyre shop as one of your first stops after buying a B10.

Speaking of tyres, you can hear noise on coarse-chip roads and a little on the freeway. However, wind noise increases noticeably above 90km/h.

The brake pedal has a relatively nice and predictable feeling, which is needed considering a single-pedal setup is not available.

Leapmotor claims that the B10 Design LR uses 17.3kWh per 100 kilometres. But I received readings as low as 10.9kWh/100km in Brisbane traffic, while hitting extra-urban roads reduced efficiency to around 13.6kWh/100km, which is still very impressive.

With that second reading in the Design LR, you’d be looking at a range upwards of 490–500km from a full charge.

The majority of my time spent with the Leapmotor B10 was positive. It’s a pointed, planted, and interesting to drive. It looks good, has a decent driving range, and offers comfortable space.

The build quality is impressive, and there's a lack of rattles and shakes. The car has a feel that historic brands are still striving to achieve in 2026.

ANCAP has already tested the car, in which it scored five stars: 93 per cent for adult occupant protection, 95 per cent for child occupant protection, 84 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 86 per cent for safety assistance. All this in a sub-$40,000 electric SUV would have been unheard of not long ago.

Whether you could handle living with the driver-assist systems is another story, but I truly believe that if it were adjusted, it would be one of the most impressive cars in the 'affordable' category I have driven in recent times.

Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.

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