1 day ago
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Australian buyers will favour the Range Extender Electric Vehicle powertrain over all-electric in the Leapmotor C10, according to the local boss.
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Leapmotor Australia believes local buyers will gravitate more towards hybrid power than full battery electric as it rolls out the new C10 Range Extender Electric Vehicle (REEV) that can be refuelled at a petrol bowser.
Complimenting the all-electric version of the C10 that started arriving in showrooms late last year, the C10 REEV features a 1.5-litre petrol engine under the bonnet that can be used to recharge the battery, which in turn powers the electric motors for drive.
In addition to needing fuel, the C10 REEV can also be plugged in to recharge its 28.4kWh battery, which affords a driving range rating of 170km on the more lenient NEDC lab test.
When the battery runs low, then the petrol engine comes into play, and in tandem the system is rated to deliver a total driving range of 1150km (again, on NEDC testing).
As such, Leapmotor Australia claims it has no direct rivals in market, but other notable range extender models that were available locally include the Holden Volt and BMW i3.
The Nissan e-Power hybrid systems – available to Qashqai and X-Trail models – also come close, offering electric-only propulsion, but those systems can not be plugged in to recoup battery charge.
Of note, XPeng will also soon coming to market with its own range-extender models, with Australia in line to receive the powertrain likely from next year as it believes the technology maximises the effectiveness of an electric motor by boosting driving range.
The C10 REEV’s maximum range compares to the battery electric vehicle (BEV) version’s 420km rated cruising distance when tested under European WLTP conditions, thanks to its larger 69.9kWh battery.
And due to Australia’s vast distances and often long journeys, the boosted range but all-electric driving feel is what Leapmotor Australia boss Andy Hoang believes is going to appeal more to local buyers.
“Definitely we think the REEV [will be more popular than BEV] at the moment, it is probably meeting more of what our customers in Australia are expecting,” Hoang said.
“Our sales forecast is probably 60:40 REEV over BEV.
“But it’s early days and over the next couple of months, we’ll probably have a better understanding of where those numbers fall.”
While the C10 has not had a full 12 months on-sale in Australia, having launched toward the end of last year, for the first five months of 2025 the brand has registered 249 examples of its mid-size SUV.
At the current run rate, Leapmotor will sell around 600 units of the C10 by the end of the year, which would be split 360 REEV and 240 BEV if Hoang’s prediction holds true.
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Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
