The Leapmotor B10 has only been on sale in China for over a year, but it’s already been given a massive update to keep pace with competition from BYD and Geely. A largely unchanged exterior belies a significant mechanical overhaul that includes an upgrade to an 800-volt electrical architecture.
Given that it’s so new, you can forgive Leapmotor for leaving the styling alone, with the only change being larger 19-inch ten-spoke alloy wheels on the range-topping model. There are also a few new colour options, including a warm silver, a muted green and a light pink.
More major revisions can be found on the inside. The outgoing model’s quirky open centre console, with its drop-down cupholders and twin smartphone holders and Qi wireless charger just ahead of the armrest, has been entirely ditched. In its place is a bridge-style piece much more in keeping with Chinese car norms, equipped with fixed cupholders that push the phone trays further forwards.
The passenger side of the dashboard has also been tweaked slightly. The six distinctive holes on the top and bottom rails – used to attach accessories such as a tablet holder – have been closed up for a cleaner, more conventional look, with the said accessories now being mounted magnetically. The Chinese B10 is still available with an 8.8-inch instrument display, a 17.3-inch infotainment display, a 14-speaker sound system, a panoramic glass roof and one-touch “zero gravity” reclining front seats with built-in ottomans.
Under the skin is where the real revolution lies. While the B10 remains rear-wheel drive, outputs have been boosted to 245 PS (180 kW) and 255 Nm of torque, increases of 27 PS and 15 Nm over the old car. This enables the car to get from zero to 100 km/h nearly a second and a half quicker at 6.6 seconds.
The base LFP battery has also grown commensurately from 56.2 to 60.8 kWh, resulting in a range figure some 30 km further at 540 km. That’s on the lenient CLTC cycle; expect the WLTP number to be just shy of 400 km (current car 361 km). Interestingly, Leapmotor claims the same range for the base model, despite it being capped to just 179 PS (132 kW) and 175 Nm, taking a yawning 9.6 seconds to reach 100 km/h.
Higher-end models produce just a little bit more power at 252 PS (185 kW) and 260 Nm, completing the century sprint in 6.4 seconds. They also get an even bigger 69.7 kWh battery (up from 67.1 kWh previously) for a CLTC range of 610 km (circa 450 km WLTP, up from 434 km). That’s still a ways away from the BYD Atto 3 Evo, which musters 510 km on the WLTP cycle.
Cars with the larger battery follow the C10 in being upgraded to the aformentioned 800-volt electrical architecture, allowing DC fast charging from 30 to 80% to take four minutes shorter at 16 minutes, despite the increased battery capacity. The other models retain a 400-volt architecture; as such, charging to the same level takes 21 minutes (previously 19 minutes), as a result of the bigger battery. Meanwhile, AC charging takes five hours for the 60.8 kWh models and 5.7 hours for the 69.7 kWh ones, also from 30 to 80%.
Prices for the refreshed B10 start from 99,800 yuan (RM60,300) for the base model, rising up to 125,800 yuan (RM76,000) for the most expensive lidar-equipped version with highly-autonomous highway and city driving. As per the C10 Plus, this new version should make it to global markets, although we wouldn’t hold out hope for it coming to Malaysia – the new CKD locally-assembled C10 still uses a 400-volt architecture.
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