Leapmotor B03X Review

Introduction and model history

Let’s have a quick rundown, shall we? Leapmotor just turned one in the UK, but it’s not long turned eight in China (because of the time difference), so it’s still a baby car company really. 

It was started by a nice fellow with a background in tech engineering who saw a Renault Twizy when he was on holiday in Spain and decided he could do better than that. 

While I’m desperate to see what a four-wheeled electric quadricycle with a Leapmotor badge would look like, we’ve actually got a rather SUV-heavy line-up in two sizes (medium – B05 hatch and B10 SUV – and large – C10 SUV). There is also the T03 city car, but I always forget that one. 

This new B03X is coming along later in 2026 (towards the end of the year) to add a third size – small – and will be joined next year not by the B1.5 hatch as the rest of the Leapmotor range would indicate, but by the B03. 

I got to drive a Chinese version of the car (that’s actually called the A10, which is much more logically consistent) after the Beijing motor show, but with the caveat that it’s not been tweaked yet for our dreadful roads and they don’t know what toys and things they’re going to stick inside the car when it does go on sale here. Definitely seats, possibly a steering wheel. 

It’s an intriguing little car though, and you’ll never get so excited about interior storage prospects as you do on this bad boy, let me tell you.

Range, battery and charging

There are two battery sizes in China, but we’ll only get the larger one in the UK. It’s a 53kWh LFP battery that’s rated for 313 miles on China’s CLTC test. That’s a notoriously generous procedure compare with our WLTP cycle, so let’s reckon on 200 miles of real world range now and not be disappointed later. Things can only get better, as they say.

Leapmotor designs and builds its own batteries and has also developed the management software in-house, so it’s all very nicely integrated. The computer will make sure everything’s the right temperature for the best performance and all that. It’ll rapid charge at up to 133kW and get from 30–80% charge in around 16 minutes. 

No word yet on what the AC charging will look like – the car has only just launched in China and you can get up to 11kW on that model. 

Practicality and boot space

Leapmotor says that you’ve got 602 litres of boot space as standard, but it’s either including the underfloor storage or it’s going all the way to the roof… or both. We like to measure to the height of the window because it gives you a more sensible idea of what you can actually fit in. It’s a decent sized boot though, there’s probably over 400 litres of space with the floor in place. 

Opening up the floor is like stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia though – there’s a cavernous 106-litre space down there with a little bung in the bottom for drainage purposes. You could do baby swim classes, store the entire family’s muddy boots in there and hose them down, fill it up with ice for a party – the possibilities are endless.

There’s also a neat Honda Jazz-style scenario with the rear seats, where the benches lift up and there are extra storage bins underneath (optional in China, will be standard fit in the UK). It’s genuinely quite the thrill to tip up the bases and see all that space there, but do be sure to move your passengers first. 

There’s a lovely amount of space in the car, with plenty of rear legroom that calls to mind my mum’s old Citroen C3 Picasso. There are seats for five, but four would be most comfortable. 

• Dimensions (LxWxH): 4,270mm/1,810mm/1,635mm
• Max towing capacity: tbc kg

Interior, design and technology 

If you’ve been inside a Leapmotor already then you’ll recognise the B03X and feel at home in it – as long as you’ve made your peace with the slightly deficient driving position. 

Like with the company’s other cars, the steering wheel doesn’t quite adjust out and low enough for my liking, which means I had to put the seat a little bit higher than I would otherwise have liked. But first world problems and all that… 

There are some great little storage touches around the car – the glovebox is quite small, but you’ve got decent door bins, two cupholders and space to charge your phone, a lidded bin at your elbow and a little shelf underneath the central part of the dashboard.

Overall it’s a very practical interior, with lots of good storage options about the place. The cavernous underfloor boot storage is a hoot, and you’ll get lots out of it if you’re feeling particularly imaginative. 

The other party piece is that the front passenger seat can flip down forwards if you need to fit in something like a Christmas tree, furniture flat pack or a maypole, and the driver’s seat flips almost flat if you want to have a little snooze at a charging station. 

These are all nice little touches that speak to cars designed by people who might actually use them. That little folding table from the pictures probably won't be on UK cars, I should add, so don't get excited. 

The infotainment screen at the front is a crisp looking 14.5in number that I didn’t really get to use because it was all in Chinese. It all seems familiar from other cars in the line-up that I’ve prodded at in English. 

Motors, performance and handling

Leapmotor UK likes to just put one highly specced model on sale so that we have fewer difficult decisions to make – and spend significantly less time slumming it in less models. 

This means we skip the sluggish entry model with its lack of power and sad little battery in favour of a snorting 122hp beast that manages to get from 0–62mph in 10.5 seconds. 

It’s all relative, I should add – but actually you won’t want to be screaming about in this car, it’s quite a nice relaxing little thing to drive from my very brief impression on a Chinese test track. 

The car is primarily aimed at urban use, and you could quite happily pop around town in the B03X. The track probably wasn’t its happy place, the car is definitely at its most comfortable with everything dialled back a little – you know, how normal people drive their cars.

There are no regen flappy paddles, and if the B03X is like the Leapmotors currently on sale then changing the settings will involve a bit of touchscreen menu surfing. There will probably be a one pedal mode if you like that sort of thing. 

The car’s 1,460kg kerbweight is reasonably low by modern standards, so that should help with efficiency. 

Pricing and on sale date 

Whoa, whoa, whoa, lets hold our horses. I’ve got no idea what this car is going to cost. You could get a top spec one in China right now for 86,800 yuan (£9,400), but then you’ve got the pain of driving it back through several war zones and having to pay a load of tax on your well used secondhand brand new car by the time you do get it home. 

Let’s just guess £20k and we’ll see how wrong I am in about six months. The B03X is slated to go on sale in Q4 of 2026, that miserable section after October, so we’ll look forward to full information and a proper drive in the autumn. Maybe even at the Paris motor show if the Leapmotor’s French cousins at Stellantis will be prepared to let it get a word in edgeways. 

Verdict

There’s lots to get excited about on the Leapmotor B03X before it goes on sale in the UK towards the end of 2026 – it has a bit of character, plenty of practicality and lots to offer buyers who are looking for a car that’s easy to live with.

You’ll want to show off the underfloor storage in the boot and the clever rear seats, and if nothing else those cute smiling rear lights will help calm down road ragers. Who could resist them?