2025 Leapmotor C10 REEV review: International first drive

The concept of the range-extender isn't new. And, in theory, for those of you who don't want or need a pure electric vehicle, they offer an interesting take on a different way of getting to the same end point.

In theory, the smooth driving experience you get from an EV without any of the range anxiety or charging complexity makes for a solid concept. Especially if you're a one-car family or need to travel longer distances as painlessly as possible. Enter the 2025 Leapmotor C10 REEV – or range-extender electric vehicle.

This new Leapmotor C10 REEV – based on the same platform as the electric C10 we drove last year – in effect, brings the concepts of an EV and a range-extender together to deliver the best of both worlds. Keep the battery pack charged via a regular power socket at home overnight, and you're able to get to and from work (up to 143km) without the petrol generator needing to do any work.

If you're not inclined to plug it in for whatever reason – we'd recommend that you do, of course – the petrol generator will do what it needs to do to ensure you can drive the C10 REEV as you would any other internal combustion vehicle. The way to absolutely maximise efficiency would be to start every drive with a full charge, of course.

Leapmotor reckons the C10 REEV is the perfect answer for full electric vehicle sceptics, thanks to regular (and fast) refuelling, lower servicing costs because the petrol engine never has to work outside its optimal parameters, and the fact that this system offers a more efficient overall package than a regular PHEV.

Aussie buyers will answer that question, but there's little doubt that EVs still represent a hurdle plenty of us are unwilling to negotiate, and as such, this technology might well be the easier step to take.

Our pricing and specification guide breaks down all the key specs, and the pricing is certainly sharp – starting from $45,900 drive-away when the C10 REEV hits our roads. Two model grades are available from launch – Style and Design.

The range-topping Design will cost $49,900 drive-away, and like the sharp pricing for the Style, that applies to buyers who take delivery before June 30.

The cabin refinement is excellent – even more so for the price point – and another indication that Leapmotor's foray into vehicle manufacturing is no flash in the pan. We were impressed with the EV version when we tested that, and the REEV continues the theme of design quality and impressive fit and finish.

My one gripe would be that the minimalist aesthetic has gone so far down that road that there's not a single physical button anywhere. Rather, you have to access controls through the 14.6-inch touchscreen.

It's clear, and responsive to inputs, but the fact you have to delve into the menu system within to adjust everything means it's not as intuitive as it could be. You can customise the steering wheel controls to suit your preference, but we'd love HVAC button/dial controls as well as a volume control, for example.

Wireless phone charging is standard, along with a 10.25-inch driver display, native satellite navigation, Wi-Fi, over-the-air update capability, and 4G connectivity but no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Owners will download the app and control the car via that, ensuring you won't need the NFC card that you can also use. It worked well at launch, but we'd use the smartphone app as we've done with other EVs on longer tests.

Step up to the Design and you get heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, 20-inch wheels instead of the standard 18s, a panoramic glass roof, and customisable ambient interior lighting. Either grade looks to be strong value for buyers, but you certainly don't feel like you're missing out with the sharper-priced entry-grade model.

The 546-boot is a little smaller than what you'll find in an XPeng G6 (571L) or Tesla Model Y (938L, but using a different measuring technique), but bigger than an Outlander PHEV with the third row folded (461L).

If you have tall occupants in the front seats, they barely eat into the comfortable second-row space. The second-row seating is well designed and comfortable over longer distances, with plenty of leg room and head room for tall passengers.

Cabin insulation and comfort are excellent, and the electronics and controls all worked well for us on test. Some of the advanced driver-assistance systems' (ADAS) features we noted as needing tweaking from the electric C10 remain, and you have to turn them off if you're easily annoyed. I am, so I did, but many of you tell us that you're not. Leapmotor is working on refining them and making updates available as they are finalised.

There's plenty to enjoy when it comes to driving the C10 REEV. In essence, it behaves with all the composure and smoothness of a pure electric vehicle in regard to what you experience from behind the wheel.

Unlike a pure EV, of course, there's a petrol engine acting as a generator, which ensures you can fill up in minutes and be on your way again when you need to. We'll get to the driving in a minute, but first let's look at some of the facts and figures.

Leapmotor quotes a range around the 970km mark, which did seem possible if you were being efficient within the parameters of our launch drive. We'll assess this claim more closely when we drive the C10 REEV in Australia.

In terms of what lies beneath the skin, there's a 28.4kWh battery pack, a 50-litre fuel tank, a 50kW onboard charger activated by the petrol engine, and external charging capability of 6.6kW AC and 65kW DC. That means with a requisite fast charger, you can get from 30 to 80 per cent in 18 minutes. Of that 970km range, Leapmotor tells us that 145km is available as pure electric driving if you start out fully charged, before you deplete the battery pack and the generator gets to work.

There's a single electric motor that delivers a decent 158kW, and the 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine never drives the wheels directly. As such, it never has to rev as hard as it would if it were driving the C10 REEV directly, and is, according to Leapmotor, much less stressed as a result over the life of the vehicle.

The engine is genuinely refined, and the C10 REEV drive experience is impressively quiet, insulated and vibration free. So surprising is the quality of the insulation of the petrol engine, you have to properly listen out for it to hear it come to life when you're on the move.

Four driving modes are available, with EV+ always prioritising the electric motor, and the C10 behaves just like an EV. That continues down to the threshold of 9 per cent for the battery. EV mode also prioritises the electric motor, but this time to the threshold of 25 per cent charge for the battery.

Fuel mode delivers full EV driving when the battery charge is above 80 per cent, and when the battery drops below 80 perc ent, the range extender will start to work. Power+ mode gets the petrol generator working immediately to improve power output, and this forces the maximum possible charge back into the battery pack.

In Europe, drivers tend to pick and choose the modes they use to ensure that they can store enough energy to roll into a limited-emissions zone, in a city centre for example, on full EV mode.

It's worth reminding you – as we often do – that Europe's road networks are often significantly better than ours, and that proves to be the case on the run between Barcelona and Valencia for the international launch drive. We'll get a better idea of whether the C10 REEV can maintain its impressive composure once it has our rubbish road surfaces to deal with, but ride quality and cabin comfort are impressive at launch.

One tremendous benefit that Leapmotor can now tap into thanks to the Stellantis partnership is the testing facility at Balocco in Italy, and engineering teams from the likes of Alfa Romeo and Maserati who work there.

Some of them had critical input into the ride and handling package, and may help to explain why the C10 feels as well tied down as it does, especially at speed. SUVs of this size are rarely fun to drive, but there's a sense of surety behind the wheel of the C10 REEV that indicates people who know what they are doing have had plenty to do with it.

This is more a cruiser than a straight-line banshee, though, with the electric drive smooth and linear but never violent. There's a subtlety to the drive experience that will work for family buyers in this segment without the C10 REEV ever feeling rapid.

In effect, though, that's not a bad thing, and we've said for some time we think it's time to focus on all the other things an electric vehicle needs to do, well beyond being fast in a straight line. The C10 REEV will run up to the 120km/h speed limit on the test roads easily enough, without feeling super fast.

Leapmotor is already tracking well in Australia, such that it looks like quickly overtaking established brands within the Stellantis stable in our market. Aussie buyers – and whether they are willing to put their hard-earned money down – will be the ultimate judges of the quality of the product.

We look forward to testing the C10 REEV on local roads, but the practicality of the drive system, the quality of the drive experience, and the sharp launch pricing look likely to appeal to Aussie buyers. It's a good-looking SUV, with a comfortable cabin and plenty of standard equipment, and that definitely catches the attention of the budget-minded family buyer.

Trent Nikolic has been road testing and writing about cars for almost 20 years. He’s been at CarAdvice/Drive since 2014 and has been a motoring editor at the NRMA, Overlander 4WD Magazine, Hot4s and Auto Salon Magazine.

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