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Chinese startup Leapmotor is launching its new, ultra-affordable electric car in France. The Leapmotor T03 is about to land with us, and it should eclipse the likes of the Dacia Spring and Volkswagen e-UP in particular.
If you haven’t heard of Leapmotor before, you may soon see many of the brand’s vehicles on our roads. Founded in 2015, the Chinese startup launched a cute electric city car called the T03 in 2020. Until then, it was only known in its home country, it was first shown in France at the Paris Motor Show last October. What is known about this new competitor of Dacia Spring, which is about to reach the French concessions.
Affordable price
As reported in a press release published by Leapmotor, the electric city car will indeed start marketing in the area. from February. France will be the first European country to be served, which is worth noting. Indeed, most Chinese brands choose Norway, such as BYD, Nio or Xpeng among others. However, the T03 will not be distributed directly by the brand, but by the EVE (Electric Vehicle Space) network. The latter already sells Seres and DFSK branded cars here.
In 2023 approximately fifty dealers will offer this newcomer at the beginning of the year, this number will increase to approximately one hundred by December. The city car will then stand alone in the French lineup for a while, while Leapmotor will produce an electric sedan called the C1, which is not yet planned for sale in Europe.
After that, it will be necessary to count 25,990 euros to offer you a copy of this T03, a price that does not take into account the environmental bonus of €5,000. Thus, it will be possible to get the city car from 20,990 euros, or even from 18,990 euros. A bonus of 7,000 euros is reserved for the most modest. For comparison, let’s note that Dacia Spring, the price of which increased slightly last year, starts from 20,800 euros (15,800 euros with a bonus of 5,000 euros).
But if the Leapmotor T03 is slightly more expensive than its Romanian rival, it also offers slightly more complete services and higher performance. Starting with his strength, it is shown 109 horses, 44 horses total for Spring. If the new Extreme powerful version of 65 horses has just been introduced, this is still very little compared to the Chinese city car.
That’s enough to offer a 0 to 100 km/h sprint in 12 seconds on the Leapmotor T03. Braking from 100 to 0 km/h takes 43.5 meters, which is pretty bad. The maximum speed is 130 km/h and the torque is 158 Nm.
Full equipment
An electric car is also a 41.3 kWh Lithium-ion (LFP) battery, then allows you to travel approximately 280 kilometers on a single charge according to the WLTP cycle. A figure down sharply from the more optimistic China CLTC period’s 403 kilometers, but still higher than Spring’s 230 kilometers. The theoretical consumption of about 15 kWh / 100 km against 10 kWh / 100 km for the French seems high.
Leapmotor has a 6.6kWh AC charger and case collect up to 45 kW in direct current. So, as mentioned on the brand’s website, it takes only 36 minutes to go from 30 to 80%. Admittedly, we’re a long way from the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5’s 18 minutes, but that’s still acceptable for such an affordable car.
Length 3.62 meters, width 1.65 meters and height 1.58 meters, the trunk of a city car is 210 liters. This is much less than Bahar, which has a volume of 290 liters. As of spring, there are only four spots available.
But where the Chinese city car stands out is its standard offering. From the entry level, it is equipped with10.1 inch touch screen Combined with an 8-inch digital phone. A voice recognition system is also offered, while the driver can also use a rear camera and automatic lights. There are three driving modes, as well as three steering assistance settings.
Note that we do not know whether the Leapmotor T03 sold in France will be equipped Leapmotor Pilot system Like in China. This takes the form of a semi-autonomous control system that is logically limited to level 2. If level 3 has been allowed in France since last year, for now only the Mercedes EQS and S-Class are available. In any case, the car is equipped with a cruise control system.
The Leapmotor T03 will have a 3-year or 100,000 km warranty and marketing will begin in February 2023 at Seres dealerships in France.
Chinese manufacturer Leapmotor begins marketing its T03 electric city car in France. Already on sale in China, it should compete with the likes of the Volkswagen e-UP and Dacia Spring on price…
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