Battery size: 53kWh
Max charge rate: 133kW
CLTC Range: 313 miles
Real-world range (est): 220 miles
Introduction and model history
There are so many compact electric cars out there that it can feel a bit overwhelming. So let’s start with a bit of context as to where this Leapmotor BO3X sits in the kaleidoscope of small-ish electric hatchback/SUVs available at this price, shall we?
At 4.27m long and 1.81m wide, the B03X is a bit bigger than the Renault 4, Kia EV2, Skoda Epiq and Ford Puma Gen-E, but is smaller than the MGS5 and BYD Atto 2. It’s actually a very similar size to the VW ID.3, but prices of around £28,000 for the sole, high-spec variant available in the UK put the B03X more in line with the VW ID.Polo or T-Cross, instead.
Got all that? Lovely. What do you think of the way it looks? I really don’t mind it, and I rather like the metallic Acorn Brown paint that is the standard colour (you’ll pay extra for any of the other colours, though). It’s got a smooth-faced, friendly appeal and looks a bit like a shrunk Smart #5. It’s nothing that striking, of course, so I don’t think you’ll be turning heads in the B03X but it’s not a bad looking car. The rear lights look like a grinning emoji, which is… cool. I think? Or is it a bit cringey? Not sure! Let us know what you think, in the comments.
Range, battery and charging
Most European markets will have the option of an entry-level 40kWh B03X, which will offer a WLTP range of 181 miles (292km). In the UK, there’s only one battery on offer - a 53kWh LFP pack with WLTP range of up to 237 miles (381km). That’s… okay… ish. It’s on point for the Ford Puma Gen-E, but most of those other compact family EVs that we’ve already mentioned go further, with a lot of them managing around 250- to 280 miles. That’s only a small disparity, I guess, but it still makes a difference.
Mind you, the B03X is one of the fastest charging cars in this class with its 133kW DC rapid charging promising a 10-80% charge in 25 minutes, which goes a long way to making up for a slightly whelming official range. Real-world efficiency is good, too. I drove it all around a scorching hot Spain for a few hours, mostly on quite fast mountain roads with a bit of town stuff, and still managed 4.5 miles/kWh. Not bad, especially given that the air-con was working so hard that it sounded like there was a leaf blower under the bonnet.
You get a heat pump, for more efficient cabin heating and better range in winter, and vehicle-to-load (V2L) for charging your devices from the car’s high voltage battery as standard.
Practicality and boot space
Practicality is where the B03X really excels. In fact, I reckon this is the main reason you’d buy it! This is a clever little car that’s got echoes of Honda Jazz to the way it squeezes a lot of space into a fairly small body.
The boot has 405 litres of space, which is not bad at all, but lift the variable-height floor up and you reveal a further 105 litres of space in a deep, plastic-lined well – rather like the ‘Gigabox’ that Ford has in the Puma Gen-E, which is about the only car in this class that can better the Leapmotor’s 510-litre boot capacity. There’s even a plug in the floor so that you can hose out the underfloor space, if you want to, making it ideal for muddy wellies or garden centre plants.
There’s loads of space in the back seats, too. I can sit behind myself with plenty of leg- and headroom to spare. And, although I’d like the doors to open a bit wider for better access, the raised height of the B03X makes access really easy if you’re not as flexible as you once were or if you have to bend in to deal with car seats. Speaking of which, there are two sets of Isofix on that three-person rear bench.
There’s no centre armrest, though, which is a shame, but I’ll forgive it as the real trick is that the rear seat bases lift up to leave a through-loading space. So that you can get a kids bike, or a load of tall plants from the garden centre, or… well, tall stuff on the wide, flat floor that the raised rear seats reveal. Clever, eh? Like I said – it’s got definite Honda Jazz vibes, as that was the original car to offer rear seats that lift to reveal through-loading space.
But the B03X doesn’t stop there. You can also fold the front passenger seat flat with one pull of the lever, bringing even more space to squeeze in the Ikea shop (that you hadn’t intended to buy when you went there for the meatballs…).
There’s no frunk, but the space and versatility otherwise is impressive that I don’t think anyone’s likely to mind. You’ll struggle to find a compact car with a roomier or more versatile cabin, even with spacious new compact electric crossovers like the Skoda Epiq and VW ID.Cross available at the same price.
Interior, Design and Technology
The BO3X has all the equipment and technology that you could want. Heated seats and steering wheel, keyless entry, adaptive cruise control with semi-autonomous mode and lane-change function, LED lights, leatherette upholstery, 18-inch alloy wheels, metallic paint… It’s all included as standard on the single, high-spec model that’s offered in the UK. You’ll pay extra for any colour other than that Acorn Brown, but there are no other options. You can choose between a grey and black interior, although I’d say the light grey finish that I spent time in is the best as the lighter colour makes it feel nice and airy.
The leatherette upholstery feels nice, and the general design and feel of the interior is pretty good. There are some weird bits that feel a bit cheap. I found the blue plastic surround to the boot very odd, given that it doesn’t match any of the grey and black plastics around the rest of the cabin and clashed noticeably with the brown paint of my test car… It’s just a bit weird, really.
Otherwise, the perceived quality in the B03X is pretty good, and of course you get the inevitable touchscreen! The 14.6-inch landscape screen has all the features you’d expect including wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, nav and AI-based voice command. There’s also a host of safety features, which have contributed to a five star Euro NCAP rating under the new, more stringent Euro NCAP tests.
The screen itself has clear graphics, the home page offers configurable shortcuts and I like the swipe-down setting that makes it easy to dim the screen. But a lot of the icons are quite small and their functions aren’t obvious, so when you’re driving it’s more of a faff than it should be to access key functions – including the brake regen settings. And it’s annoying that opening the climate control menu means you can’t see the nav, and you have to find the icon to return to the nav or home page… It’s just all more hassle than it should be.
With a bit of time and familiarity, the system will be easy enough to live with, but there are definitely more user-friendly infotainment setups out there.
Over-the-air software updates are also included, of course, and Leapmotor has already proven that it moves quickly with updates so I wouldn’t be surprised if this system improves in time.
Motors, Performance and Handling
I’ll get the bad news out of the way first, shall I? The BO3X isn’t very good to drive. It gets 197hp and 200Nm of torque going to the front wheels, with a 0-62mph time of 8.7sec, so performance is just fine. But even moderate acceleration has the front wheels spinning and the steering wheel squirming in your hands as the car fights to find traction. And this is on hot, dry tarmac in Spain, where it’s not scary but is almost a bit funny! I suspect it won’t be so much fun on a cold, wet, bumpy road in the UK. It was Yokohama tyres on the test cars, too, which is a decent brand of tyre and is set to be the tyres that you get on a car in the UK, but the wheels are quite skinny so that may be a factor. Regardless, you’ll notice a lot of tyre squeal and surprisingly dramatic junction-exits when you’re driving the B03. It’s a problem, and Leapmotor really needs to sort it.
The steering isn’t brilliant, either. It’s so remote that it feels as if it’s barely attached to the car and doesn’t give much sense of what the front wheels are doing, especially if you’re in Comfort, which has an unnervingly light steering response. Sport weights it up, and makes the little Leapmotor okay-ish to drive. But ‘okay’ isn’t a resounding compliment when you can get a Kia EV2, Renault 4 and Skoda Epiq for the same money – all of which are so much more satisfying and confidence-inspiring to drive.
Soft suspension makes for a cushy ride over big bumps, but you’ll notice a lot of body lean and wallowing. You’ll also notice a remarkable amount of bonging and beeping if you keep all the driver assistance settings on. It even flashes the indicators automatically when you’re parked up and open a door, which gives you some idea of just how paranoid the little Leapmotor is. Still, you can save your preferred ADAS (driver assistance) setting to a profile, and then it’s a double-tap on the steering wheel to activate them when you get into the car.
Running Costs and Pricing
Prices start at £28,495 for the Leapmotor B03X, and there’s already a ‘Leap Grant’ discount being offered of £1,500 before the company has even got cars into the showrooms. But… the UK plug-in car grant means that you can get a Renault 4 for quite a bit less than the Leapmotor, and with cars like the Skoda Epiq and Kia EV2 also costing around £25,000 and up, the BO3X isn’t the really cheap car that you might assume it is – even factoring in the discounts.
More important than list price, though, is the monthly finance deals. Expect PCP deals to come in at roughly £250 per month with a £1,000 deposit, which is very good – although you can get alternatives like the Vauxhall Frontera and Citroen e-C3 Aircross for the same sort of money or less.
Factor in the level of equipment of the Leapmotor, though, and it certainly seems like reasonable value.
A four-year, 60,000 mile warranty is better than the cover you get from Skoda or VW, but with Kia, MG, Geely, Toyota, Peugeot, Aion, Hyundai, BYD and plenty of others offering much longer warranties, I can’t help but feel that Leapmotor needs to do better on that front. The battery is, of course, covered for eight years and 100,000 miles.
Verdict
I’m quite frustrated by this car. Because there are aspects of it that make it clear that it could be a great little car. The practicality is just about second to none in this class, it looks cute, and I even think that the Tesla-style interior is pretty nice. But it’s just so blobby and vague to drive, and the wheel spin could be a really disconcerting issue in winter. If Leapmotor can sort that out, and maybe tweak the infotainment interface and eek a few more miles of range out of it… Well then, this could be a really great little EV. As it is, it’s… okay. But given the array of competition on offer, you should really only consider it if the finance deal is just too good to ignore.
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