Leapmotor C10 REEV (2025) Review

Introduction

If Leapmotor is unfamiliar to you, it may well join a host of other car brands that seem equally obscure.

A swathe of Chinese car manufacturers have invaded the UK, hoping to crack the European market - and some have made a good first impression.

There is BYD, which names most of its vehicles after marine life. Add Jaecoo, Omoda, Ora, and Skywell to that list, and that's just a handful of the new kids on the block. Several others are already here or in the process of setting up shop.

While some have rather bizarre origins, such as spawning out of a company that made parts for refrigerators, others are all-new ventures.

Some have already attracted the attention - and, indeed, the financial investment - of bigger brands and well-established conglomerates.

Leapmotor is no exception: Stellantis, the fourth-largest automotive manufacturer in the world in terms of vehicles shifted, owns Abarth, Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot, Vauxhall, and ten other marques.

It now has a 51% share in Leapmotor's international operations, and thanks to that investment, the all-electric Leapmotor C10 was launched outside China late last year.

But it's been swiftly followed by a new variant called the C10 REEV. The unfamiliar acronym stands for “Range Extender Electric Vehicle”.

Yet curiously, despite the name, the REEV isn’t classed as an electric car.

Confused? Let us enlighten you.

At A Glance

The Leapmotor C10 has won various accolades related to its design.

It is undoubtedly stylish, but despite this, it isn't the prettiest car ever made. However, it blends in nicely with other vehicles on the UK's roads.

The front is square, thanks to the air intakes, which are very tall and thin and positioned vertically, as far out to the sides as possible. This gives the C10 REEV quite an athletic frown. A large lower grille sits between them beneath a blank area of bodywork. On each side, a horizontal bar runs between thin triangular headlights.

When viewed side-on, the sloping roofline is visible. A roof spoiler that covers the top of the windscreen, supported by cladded struts on either side, enhances the car's athletic credentials.

A crease towards the bottom of the doors also continues forward and backwards to define the wheel arches.

At the rear, the manufacturer's name is spelt out in large, spaced-out, uppercase lettering, sitting beneath a horizontal light bar that links the two sets of taillights.

There are also roof rails, which you get as standard, plus a shark fin antenna.

Otherwise, there’s plenty of blank space.

Key Features

The Leapmotor C10 REEV only comes in one trim level, but thankfully it’s generously equipped.

It has 20-inch alloy wheels, a 14.6-inch infotainment touchscreen with DAB radio and satellite navigation, voice control, a heat pump (for cabin pre-heating), plus heated seats and a heated steering wheel. The front seats also have power adjustment and ventilation.

You also get a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, dual-zone climate control, music-synchronised ambient lighting, a powered tailgate, and a host of safety equipment - including a 360-degree camera - which we'll cover later.

This model is identical, in terms of specification, to the standard C10. However, whereas the standard C10 has an electric motor producing 218PS, the C10 REEV has a party trick.

Yes, it's propelled by an electric motor connected to the wheels (it's rear-wheel drive, by the way) and produces 215PS. However, the power comes from a battery pack, which is topped up by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

It is like driving around in an electric car but with a petrol generator plugged into it most of the time. This is quite a rare setup - only Nissan's e-Power, Mazda's R-EV, and some Honda e:HEV models use this method.

You can also charge the C10 REEV’s battery by plugging it in, so it’s effectively an overlap between a self-charging hybrid (HEV) and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV).

Range & Batteries

The C10 REEV is fitted with a 28.4kWh battery – the one in the standard C10 is almost two-and-a-half times bigger.

That should be enough to give you around 90 miles of all-electric driving.

Leapmotor claims that, once the engine and a full tank of fuel are taken into account, the car's total range will increase to an impressive 603 miles.

Performance & Drive

The Leapmotor C10 REEV gets from 0-62mph in 8.5 seconds. That is impressive - it beats several competitors and is more than adequate for most people's needs - although it's a second slower than the all-electric standard C10.

It feels quick, too, helped by the fact that the engine isn't needed to drive the wheels. Thus, you don't feel like you're constantly shifting from electric to hybrid mode, as you might in many plug-in hybrid cars.

The engine note does take a bit of getting used to - it doesn't always seem to naturally correspond with what the car is doing. It can be disconcerting initially, given that we're so used to the engine becoming higher pitched as speed increases.

Nevertheless, this is typical of these sorts of 'petrol generator’ configured cars, and the engine sounds more hushed than most petrol cars unless you're working it hard.

There are four driving modes which govern how the battery is charged.

EV+ keeps the engine off until the battery level dips below 9%, while EV mode works the same way, except for the engine kicking in when the battery gets to 25%. Power+ mode is the opposite, keeping the engine on at all times.

Really, there’s limited point in these – if you want to be in EV mode all the time, it’s likely worth just having an electric car – and if you want to drive with the engine nearly on all the time, lease a self-charging hybrid.

The fourth mode – fuel - is likely the best one to use, as this keeps the car driving in all-electric mode until the battery is below 80% and then switches to automatic mode, turning the engine on and off when required, like a plug-in hybrid. It will then keep the engine on when the battery level drops below 20%.

Fuel mode makes the most of the car’s true purpose, but at least you have the flexibility to use it like an electric vehicle or a petrol-engined car as you please.

In terms of driving the C10 REEV, there are positives and negatives. Cruising on motorways is a doddle and rather pleasant. It handles longer journeys easily and with a surprising amount of refinement.

But around corners, it's not so impressive. The light steering doesn't offer much feedback, and the C10 REEV finds the limits of its own grip fairly easily.

It is not bad for a heavy SUV, but we'd hardly call it fun to drive.

Of course, we're testing limits here, so as long as you drive it sensibly on twisty B-roads, you'll be fine.

Likewise, ride comfort is so-so. The ride is firm but not unforgiving, and it could be more absorbing, given the handling.

That said, it copes with rough road surfaces better than we had expected and isn't likely to put you off unless you prioritise a softly sprung vehicle.

Charging

The C10 REEV can recharge its battery at a maximum rate of 65kW, taking 18 minutes for a 30-80% top-up.

While this sounds great, most manufacturers quote times based on 10-80% at maximum speed. As a result, the charging time isn’t as notable as it seems.

Charging from 0-100% from a 7kW home wall box will take around five hours, although the charging speed is then limited to 6.6kW.

Running Costs & Emissions

Leapmotor claims the C10 REEV will manage a staggering 706.2mpg.

This figure can easily be misleading, though, as the true number you’ll achieve depends entirely on how much you’ll be using the engine. And the less you use it, the closer you’ll get to the claimed figure.

Testing the various driving modes resulted in us achieving anywhere from about 44mpg to around 500mpg – the former achieved in Power+ mode and the latter in EV+ mode.

At least emissions figures of 10g/km of CO2 mean the C10 REEV will be an attractive option as a company car, given its low Benefit in Kind tax bracket. The all-electric standard C10 will be in the cheapest band.

Road tax has changed, meaning the C10 REEV will cost £110 for the first year and £195 after that (thankfully, the car costs less than £40,000 new – if it didn’t, it would attract an additional £425 tax for years two to six inclusive).

Reliability is an unknown – Leapmotor is a new brand, after all.

There are a handful of Leapmotor dealerships in the UK. Still, you'll be able to get it serviced at any Stellantis main dealer, so any Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot and Vauxhall service centres, as well as those of other Stellantis brands, should be able to do this.

Interior & Technology

Stepping inside the C10 REEV creates a good first impression.

Granted, it’s not bathed in luxuries like you’d expect on a Land Rover, Audi or BMW, but it looks nicely laid out, substantially decluttered and very pleasant.

It has a Tesla vibe, particularly the infotainment screen, which sits like a large tablet on the dashboard.

The 14.6-inch display offers a very high resolution, so the graphics are crisp, and the software is more like a tablet's operating system. That might be overwhelming for those not part of the PlayStation Generation – it's pretty cluttered with an endless supply of options, not helped by just about everything being operated through it.

The menu layout is reasonably intuitive, and a range of shortcut icons are at the bottom of the screen. That includes the air conditioning controls, which aren’t particularly easy to use on the move. At least the screen is responsive to the touch, though.

The 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster sits behind the steering wheel and features equally sharp and attractive graphics. However, you can't customise it, and at times, it can look cluttered.

Sadly, one significant absentee is the lack of smartphone mirroring. There is no Apple CarPlay/Android Auto - and given that both are becoming features that people are increasingly expecting as standard, this could be a deal-breaker soon.

Nevertheless, the cabin is smart and sophisticated, and everything seems solidly built.

Practicality & Boot Space

Electrically adjustable front seats in the C10 REEV make finding a decent driving position easy.

The seats offer lots of support and can even be reclined until they lie flat. So, if you fancy a power nap while you've pulled over to charge the battery, Leapmotor has you covered.

Forward visibility is good thanks to the acute angle of the pillars, which aren't especially thick. This helps to maximise your view at road junctions.

The back pillars are wider but still not overly intrusive. At least rear parking sensors and a 360-degree camera are included to offer some assistance.

The cabin's front seats are roomy, offering plenty of space for your head and legs, while the centre console is wide enough to prevent shoulder-banging with a front-seat passenger.

Thanks to the sloping roofline, headroom isn't quite as generous in the rear, but there's still enough space for taller adults, and legroom isn’t an issue.

It is a reasonably big SUV, so three grown-ups can fit in the back seats, although it might not be the most comfortable on longer journeys.

The boot's capacity is 400 litres, expanding to 1,375 litres with the rear seats folded in a 60:40 split, which isn't as versatile as the 40:20:40 split you'll get in some SUVs.

Both boot capacity figures are 35 litres less than those on the standard C10, but that still isn’t bad compared with the competition.

That said, you can almost double the 35-litre loss in practice, as the ‘frunk’ in the standard C10 (which offers 32 litres of additional space underneath the bonnet) isn’t offered on the C10 REEV.

Thankfully, the boot has a flat floor, so there’s no loading lip, which makes it easier to slide larger items in and out.

Back in the cabin, the door bins aren’t the biggest, but there are many other places to store things, including a couple of larger cubbies and a wireless charging tray to place your phone on.

Safety

Although Euro NCAP has yet to crash-test the REEV itself, it can use the results of the standard C10, which earned a five-star rating. It scored 89% for adults, 85% for children and 76% for safety assists.

You get a dozen sensors, including a front camera, six radars, four surround-view cameras and even a camera to monitor driver fatigue.

In addition, automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning, and intelligent speed assist are all standard.

The car also has forward and rear collision warnings and a driver drowsiness alert, which uses facial recognition technology to detect signs of fatigue.

Options

There isn't really an options list on the C10 REEV. The absence of multiple trim levels suggests Leapmotor is happy to include everything as standard, which is refreshingly generous and helps keep things simple.

Metallic dark green is the default body colour, but four other shades are available for an extra fee: dark grey, light grey, pearl white, and metallic black.

If you want to make the ride more comfortable, Leapmotor offers the option to downgrade the standard C10's alloys to 18 inches, although it hasn't been confirmed if it'll offer the same option on the REEV.

Rival Cars

There are plenty of rivals to the C10 REEV.

Of course, Tesla has the very capacious Model Y, while the Skoda Enyaq, Renault Scenic E-Tech, and BMW's iX3 will also hope to be in contention.

Kia offers the sporty EV6 – the platform Hyundai uses for its excellent Ioniq 5 competitor.

Fellow newcomer from China, BYD, has the Atto 3 SUV, too.

Other cars to use the REEV’s rare ‘petrol generator’ configuration include the Mazda MX-30 R-EV, Nissan’s Qashqai and X-Trail e-Power models, and Honda’s CR-V and HR-V e:HEV variants. However, only the Mazda can be plugged in like the C10 REEV.

Verdict & Next Steps

All things considered, the Leapmotor C10 REEV makes a strong case for itself.

For a decent-sized SUV, it's good value for money, especially considering its gargantuan miles-per-gallon figure.

You won’t get anywhere near that figure in practice if you utilise the Leapmotor’s full power most of the time, though, and its charging speeds aren’t as quick as they seem if you choose to plug it in.

It is not amazing to drive, either, so it won't be tempting to those who want an engaging driving experience. The absence of smartphone mirroring is a baffling omission.

However, aside from that, it’s very well equipped as standard, offers lots of space for drivers and passengers alike and boasts inoffensive, modern looks, both inside and out.

The C10 REEV is great if you do a lot of very long journeys. If you don’t, there’s little reason to overlook the standard C10 - but then you’ll also realise that more established manufacturers have a lot to offer for a similar leasing price.

Where to next?

View latest Leapmotor C10 lease deals - from just £291.59 per month exc VAT**.

Call us on 0118 3048 688 or hit the green 'Enquire' button for more details.

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Leapmotor C10 SUV.

**Correct as of 28/04/2025. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 24 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £2,624.31 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.