A new €20,000 electric city car is officially coming to France
This €20,000 is the ceiling at which the Leapmotor T03 electric city car should be sold in France, minus the bonus, according to the importer. The decrease of the latter from 6,000 to 5,000 euros will not prevent the market from expanding with the most affordable city cars from next February. Meanwhile, this car can be revealed in a preview this weekend.
It is wide in size
In his test, Maxime Fontanier highlighted the price as the main attraction of this 4-seater electric car, which has similar dimensions (L x W x H = 3.62 x 1.65 x 1.58 m) to the Fiat 500 (3.63 x 1.75). x 1.53 m), Dacia Spring (3.73 x 1.58 x 1.51 m), Renault Twingo (3.61 x 1.65 x 1.54 m) or Volkswagen e-Up! (3.60 x 1.65 x 1.49 m). So the Leapmotor T03 covers them all in height.
At first, this car looks like a practical and welcoming car that allows you to sneak into the city and perform daily routes. Behind the not-so-funny presentation is a 210-litre boot and offers more by folding the seat in one piece. There’s also relatively generous space on board for passengers, and we’re not necessarily looking forward to it.
The fixed panoramic roof with an electric sunshade emphasizes this impression and the brightness of the interior without covering the entire surface. This allows the originality of the biton, the only option in the catalog for this car for 490 euros. So the roof is black with white, steel gray, powder pink, green and silver. By default, the Leapmotor T03 is completely blue metallic.
Relatively light
Weight is well kept down with this city car: 1203kg empty, including 74kg for the Heracles permanent magnet synchronous powertrain that integrates the control electronics and transmission. At peak power will not exceed 80 kW (109 hp) for a maximum torque of 158 Nm.
Which is enough to find relative dynamism in this electric city car, if you know how to stop in 12 seconds to reach 100 km/h without stopping, in the city and on the road. The manufacturer declares a minimum distance of 43.50 m to immobilize the car when started in the other direction, i.e. at this speed.
A 350.4 V – 104 Ah lithium battery with LFP (lithium iron phosphate) chemistry offers a total energy capacity of 41.3 kWh. This allows for a WLTP range of 280 km in the combined cycle and 417 km in the urban environment.
get out of town
A city dweller does not mean a monastery in the city. Although not the only one in its category to offer it, the Leapmotor T03 Combo accepts direct current charging up to 45kW via the CCS connector. It finds 80% of the energy in the pack in about forty minutes. This allows you to envision mid-range home runs and more if needed.
On the other hand, to run the 22 kW AC terminals, you have to make do with 6.6 kW of the on-board charger. It’s not isolated: There are still models in the upper segments and with premium finishes that don’t fare much better.
Always ready to tackle the city, the Leapmotor T03 can rev up to 135 km/h and offers simple, albeit simple, cruise control. We should not expect much in terms of driving aids to make the journey more comfortable.
However, this electric car has interesting safety devices as standard: 15-inch tire pressure monitoring, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera, emergency braking and traction assistance, side start, ABS, ESP, automatic headlights, etc.
Unique Luxury finish
The Leapmotor T03, which will soon be available in France, has only one finish called “. Luxurious “. On the dashboard, behind the leather-wrapped steering wheel, there is an 8-inch digital instrument display and a 10.1-inch Bluetooth touchscreen tablet compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (via the QD Link app) with GPS navigation.
Although they can only be folded manually, the exterior mirrors are heated with an electrically adjustable mirror. The remote control is used to unlock the car, and it also affects the opening of the windows. Multiple storage spaces, cups, power sockets (12 V, USB) are part of the equipment.
Discover
Single finish, hence single price, €25,990, or €20,990 minus a €5,000 government bonus. The car is guaranteed for 3 years, i.e. 100,000 km.
Toulouse-based importer EVE France has set up presentations ” shining » preview, Saturday, January 14 and Sunday, January 15, 2023, for drivers who want to explore the Leapmotor T03. However, there is no website for this manufacturer yet. So we got on the phone with the Toulouse company, which gave us a clue: these electric city cars will be in the Seres France network, another Chinese brand it distributes.
The T03 will be officially launched next February. Later, more than 50 sales and after-sales service points will be opened for the Leapmotor brand, with the aim of reaching more than a hundred by the end of 2023.
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Leapmotor T03: the new electric city car for 20,000 euros has officially arrived in France
