2025 Leapmotor C10 Mini Review – The EV That Hates You Back

If misery had wheels, it would be the 2025 Leapmotor C10. A full review is coming, assuming I survive the week without flinging myself into the path of a quieter EV. For now, let’s explore why this deeply confused contraption feels like it was designed by a committee of people who’ve never met, never driven a car, and only communicate through passive-aggressive post-it notes.

At first glance, you might be seduced. The Leapmotor C10 has four variants, including two EVs and two PHEVs, so it sounds like a value play. The cabin, with its sleek minimalist design and vents hidden behind a caramel-coloured silicon leather fascia, gives off Scandi-hotel-lobby vibes. There’s a glass roof with a motorised shade (a rare treat in this price range), and the front seats are heated and cooled — perfect for regulating your temperature while your blood pressure soars.

And yet… here we are.

The seats are wrapped in what Leapmotor calls silicon leather, but what I call “caramelised regret.” A bright orange-brown hue that turns the cabin into a giant Werther’s Original. It’s all a bit early-season Bake Off, but less delicious and more nauseating.

Underneath, there’s a 69.9kWh Lithium Ferro-Phosphate battery — the good, stable, low-drama kind — with a maximum DC charge speed of just 84kW. So yes, charging takes long enough for you to develop deep personal bonds with your local servo. The RWD single-motor setup gives you 160kW and 320Nm, and a 0–100 km/h time of 7.5 seconds. Not slow, but it sure feels it when you’re being serenaded by random bongs and distracted by steering that floats like a lounge on a lazy river.

Above: This Week’s VIDEO Review – 2025 Haval H6 GT PHEV Review – The Plug-In Hybrid That’s Better Than an EV

– Alan Zurvas

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NOTE: Havel Review to drop at midnight

ABOVE: 2025 Leapmotor C10

As for ride quality — sure, they claim Maserati had a go at the suspension, but unless that was over a very poor Zoom connection, I’m calling nonsense. It bounces and floats with all the coherence of a mattress in a wave pool. One moment it’s crashy, the next it’s wallowy, and never — never — is it composed. You’d get more confidence cornering in Crocs.

And now, the truly cursed stuff.

Start-up logic: Every single time you start the Leapmotor C10, it defaults to Eco mode. Why? Who knows. But that’s the only mode that enables 1-pedal driving. It’s like they’ve gone out of their way to make sure you can never just get in and drive the way you want. Every drive starts with a deep breath, a sigh, and a scroll through endless menus to wrestle back control.

Smart locking: In name only. It only works if your phone is compatible — and I mean properly compatible, like best-friends-on-Facebook compatible. If it’s not, you’re left tapping an NFC card on the driver’s side mirror like you’re trying to log into your online banking via fax. Even with the app, you still have to place the card on the phone charger to start the car. What even is this system? Why pretend to be keyless if you still need to tap and place like it’s a bloody hotel elevator?

ADAS Hell: Where do I even begin? Overspeed warnings start with a friendly chirp, then quickly descend into relentless nagging. Lane-keeping is so aggressive it won’t let you breathe near the line without sounding like you’ve committed a felony. And even when you switch it to ‘Normal’, it resets itself to ‘Maximum Insanity’ on the next start. Smart cruise and lane follow work a la Tesla, but the activation and adjustment controls are fiddly, inconsistent, and lack a resume function (which I imagine is hiding in a submenu marked ‘abandon all hope’).

Infotainment Insult: The screen looks modern but works like Windows 95 having a breakdown. The radio is trash, the navigation is worse, and the voice assistant is so useless it could qualify as a dependent on your tax return. There’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto — none. Not even wired. In 2025. This isn’t just a red flag — it’s a deal-breaking, rage-inducing, turn-back-and-run moment. For a brand new EV, this is equivalent to handing someone a cassette tape and a shrug.

The Bongs: If you’re into abstract electronic soundscapes and the constant fear that something, somewhere, is wrong — this car’s for you. Low tyre pressure warning? Beep. (Yes, we checked the pressure 5 times) Lane departure? Bong. Glance at the screen sideways? Triple bong. The worst part? Some alerts don’t even have messages. You’re just left guessing which minor infraction you’ve committed this time. It’s like being stuck in a toxic relationship with HAL 9000.

Other Crimes Against Sanity:

No clear mute button universal or not.
Menus buried within menus that reset themselves.
Rest alerts pop up before you’ve even left the driveway.
Directional prompts that seem to be based on fantasy maps from Dungeons & Dragons.
A voice assistant who is either on strike or has suffered a complete neural collapse.

All of this could be fixed via an OTA update — and it better be, because right now the 2025 Leapmotor C10 is a cautionary tale. An EV that somehow manages to take the worst of both analogue and digital worlds and mash them together into a four-wheeled anxiety simulator.

It doesn’t matter how good the price or spec sheet looks. If it makes you want to scream every time you hear a bong, it’s not worth it.

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