At the Beijing Motor Show, Leapmotor unveiled a new electric car, the C16 SUV. It will be produced and marketed in Europe by Stellantis (Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, etc.) in the coming months. On the program: a clearly attractive technical sheet.
Chinese electric car manufacturers are arriving en masse in Europe. But the case of Leapmotor is special: this manufacturer is arriving in our region this year thanks to a major partnership with the Stellantis group (Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Jeep, etc.). Stellantis will produce and market Leapmotor electric cars in Europe.
We already knew the Leapmotor T03 and C10, here is the new Leapmotor C16, unveiled at the Beijing show. If the first is a city car and the second a rather classic SUV, the latest is a long family SUV (4,915 meters long, 1,905 meters wide and 1,770 meters high), with 6 seats (2 + 2 + 2 ) with a wheelbase of 2,825 meters. A great competitor for the electric Peugeot e-5008 revealed a few weeks earlier.
Less than 25,000 euros? Yes but not so fast
On the account Weibo of the brand, we can discover some of the technical characteristics, but also its estimated price. The manufacturer announces less than 200,000 yuan, or around 25,000 euros.
But be careful, when this beautiful beast arrives in Europe, on an unknown date, you should expect a sharp increase in prices, initially due to various taxes, then the cost of labor. Initially, Leapmotor cars sold in Europe will be produced in China. Before being produced in Europe, on behalf of Stellantis.
For the price, it is therefore better to compare it with that of the Tesla Model Y, sold from 249,000 yuan in China (around 32,000 euros) compared to 42,990 euros in France. But we see that the price of the Leapmotor C16 seems extremely interesting, especially when we dig a little deeper into its technical sheet.
A very technological car
The Chinese manufacturer is announcing a 15.6-inch screen integrated into the ceiling for rear passengers or a 7.1.4 sound system with 21 speakers. In the front seats, there is a 14.6-inch screen with 2.5K definition. Autonomous driving is not neglected, with the presence of LiDAR and an Nvidia OrinX chip.
Be careful, however, because certain gray areas remain. Leapmotor has not revealed the entire technical sheet, and no word, for example, on the battery, autonomy or even the engine. We simply know that the car has an 800 volt electrical architecture, allowing rapid charging. The 30 to 80% exercise is announced in 15 minutes. We imagine around 20 minutes for the 10 to 80% that European manufacturers are used to communicating.
We will now have to wait to have more information, on the technical sheet, the price of the different versions, and the arrival of the Leapmotor C16 in Europe. But if we take a closer look at the Leapmotor T03 and C10, we realize that the Chinese manufacturer’s proposals are not revolutionary, with autonomy that is not that high, due to fairly high consumption.