If you can’t beat ’em, buy into ’em. That’s the new joint venture between Stellantis and Chinese EV startup Leapmotor in a nutshell.

Stellantis is a global giant encompassing loads of “legacy” brands such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot, Citroen and Opel. Like most mainstream carmakers, it’s under increasing threat from lower-cost, high-tech Chinese cars.
The Stellantis solution is to team up with Leapmotor, a company that’s less than a decade old but is already making some impressive machines. There’s a new joint venture, Leapmotor International, which is separate from Leapmotor’s domestic operations in China; it’s charged with distributing the brand globally through Stellantis channels. Joint but not quite even-stevens: Stellantis has 51% (aka control) of the new venture.
You can see why Leapmotor International chose to launch the new C10 in Europe, not China. So welcome to Milan. The reason we’re here is because the C10 is heading our way via Auto Distributors New Zealand, an independent company that already handles a few Stellantis brands: Peugeot, Citroen and Opel.

It’s becoming increasingly tricky to segment EVs, but essentially C10 is a medium-large SUV. Quite a bit bigger than a BYD Atto 3 for example, about the same size as the BYD Sealion 6 PHEV or Tesla Model Y. Still a bit longer than a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.
If you can’t beat ’em, buy into ’em: that’s the joint venture between Stellantis and Leapmotor in a nutshell.
That’s an odd mix of benchmarks, but relevant because while C10 is being launched as a pure-electric model first (still a rarity in this segment), it will also be joined ASAP by a plug-in hybrid with range extender technology, meaning a petrol engine is used as a generator. Leapmotor calls it a REEV (you can work that out, right?). So it’s ultimately going to cover several different bases.

But we’re here to drive the battery-electric version. There’s a 69.9kWh LFP battery system integrated into the C10 platform using cell-to-chassis (CTC) technology: one step on from cell-to-body, so it’s genuinely part of the car’s structure, similar to the Model Y – although Leapmotor says it’s been a bit more clever in using a “tray” mounting system that allows the cells to be more easily removed for repair or replacement.
Leapmotor’s whole thing is in-house technology; it claims 60% of this car is entirely its own work.
A single electric motor at the rear makes 160kW/320Nm and the whole lot is good for 0-100km/h in 7.5sec and 420km WLTP range. Both pretty impressive given the battery/motor specs, thanks partly to the CTC construction keeping a lid on weight: the C10 is 1980kg, which is not exactly lean, but not bad at all for a large EV-SUV.

Some might raise an eyebrow at the modest maximum DC charge rate of 84kW. That’s down to the 400v architecture, although the C10 is already available with 800v in China and it’s likely to be updated for export in the next year or so.
For all the tech, Leapmotor says this is a family SUV first and foremost: designed to be comfortable and easy-to-use.
Leapmotor’s whole thing is in-house technology and it claims 60% of this car is entirely its own work. The battery cells are bought in from CATL, but the e-motor is bespoke, for example.

There’s a single electronic architecture controlling four domains: power, cockpit, pilot functions and the body. Leapmotor claims this is a world-first and calls the system “Four-Leaf Clover”. With apologies to Alfa Romeo; or perhaps no apology necessary.
For all the tech, Leapmotor says this is a family SUV first and foremost: designed to be comfortable and easy-to-use. Tesla-lovers will be right at home up front: the dashboard is devastatingly simple, with pretty much every cabin control contained within the 14.6in infotainment display.

There are a couple of rotary controllers on the steering wheel for changing the displays, audio volume and even the rearvision mirrors when you’re in the right menu (Tesla again), but the C10 is very much a digital world.
The infotainment is Leap-developed. As is the surround-sound audio system. As is… yeah, you get it.

The company claims the infotainment OS is modelled after a smartphone. It’s not immediately intuitive, however, and it takes a little time to learn your way around the menus. But you can swipe down from the top for some handy shortcuts, which really is like a smartphone, and it has a laptop-like (or perhaps Polestar-like) “dock” of shortcuts along the bottom for the home screen, climate control and navigation.
One thing that is missing is phone projection. Company people admit this was deliberate, because Chinese don’t really use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but also acknowledge they got it wrong for the export-focused C10; it’s since been told it’s a must-have for Stellantis cars.

So it’s coming next year; but it requires a new chipset from an outside supplier that’s certified by Apple/Android, so although C10 has over-the-air (OTA) update capability for most things, the phone projection can’t be retrofitted. It remains to be seen whether NZ’s first customer deliveries in 2025 will have it or not.
But full marks for the clarity of the displays and the sheer speed and responsiveness of the touch operation and menus; it’s all running on a Snapdragon chipset and is at least as good as the BYD stuff, which is our current benchmark.

The interior is of impressive quality for a mainstream family car, even if some materials are modest. Don’t be frightened by the hero wild Criollo Brown colour scheme option (although we rather like it); you can also have a more neutral Midnight Aurora. Both have customisable 256-colour ambient lighting to complement them, which should keep you busy.
The seats are incredibly squishy (seven layers of foam, apparently) and indulgent feeling, but still offer good support on a longer trip – which we took, driving from Malpensa Airport around Lake Maggiore and through the hills. The synthetic leather upholstery is certified by Okeo Tex and Leapmotor claims it sets the standard in automotive for being kind to sensitive skin.

Despite the surreal surfacing of the cabin, Leapmotor claims it was still designed to be super-practical; there are 26 different storage areas inside, including a hollow bin under the centre console. For a family car of this size, the boot isn’t huge at 435 litres (plus another 32l minor cargo storage), but the cabin really is. Vast rear legroom adds a luxury feel, even if the squishy seats aren’t as supportive as those in the front.
One of the advantages of being in the Stellantis Group is that you can boast Alfa Romeo and Maserati engineers helped tune your chassis. And that’s the case here.

But mainly for a more planted handling character for export models, rather than outright sportiness. The C10 does sit on the road with confidence; the steering is typically EV-light (you can adjust it) and there’s still plenty of body roll, but there’s a decent sense of balance to the car on the windy stuff and directional stability was good in the cut-and-thrust of 110km/h (and the rest) Italian autostrada traffic.
The ride is a little firmer than you might expect on some road surfaces, although it doesn’t cross over into the uncomfortable zone. In fact, the suspension is really well controlled over unexpected bumps, settling very quickly; it doesn’t wallow or lurch.

Porsche-alike 20-inch wheels (they go nicely with the rear light cluster) are standard on NZ’s C10 Design model, with low-profile 45-series tyres.
Leapmotor says the everyperson aspect of the C10 means the powertrain has been calibrated for smooth power delivery, rather than silly-fast low-speed acceleration antics.

Fair call, although you can adjust that too and one notable thing is the massive difference between the four drive-modes. Eco retards the power by a massive amount, while the most aggressive Sport setting makes the C10 quite nervous-feeling in town.
We approve of the broad drive-mode range, but there are a couple of issues. One is that you’ll probably want to change between them quite often, which means delving into the screen; you can get to the menu with a quick swipe from the top of the infotainment screen, but a physical button would be so much better.

Another (related) annoyance is that our Italian test cars all defaulted to Eco mode on startup; that might make sense for an EV in theory, but not when Eco is so lethargic. One for an OTA, please Leapmotor: keep the car in the last-selected drive setting.
There’s no dual-motor C10 and no stated interest from the company in such a machine for now, although it will surely come. At the moment, Leapmotor says it’s focused on making its mark in the mainstream.

And how will that work for NZ? We don’t know pricing yet and while there are cars about to arrive for preview/promo purposes, the C10 won’t officially go on sale in NZ until the start of next year, starting with dealerships in the main centres.
But one of Leapmotor’s three pillars is “accessibility to all” and European pricing has aggressively undercut rivals. Don’t expect a large (or perhaps any) premium for pure-electric power. The BYD Sealion 6 FWD and top-spec Toyota RAV4 both hover at the upper end of the $50k bracket; based on where it’s positioned in Europe, we’d guess the fully loaded C10 Design won’t be anywhere near that.