Leapmotor T03 review (2025 - 2025)
Leapmotor T03 cars for sale
3.0
Expert review
Pros
Very cheap for an EV
Generously equipped, especially for the money
Half-decent real-world range
Cons
Looks a bit awkward
Rather lacklustre to drive
Small boot and limited interior space
The CarGurus verdict
The Leapmotor T03 is an inoffensive little electric car, that has a useful range and will be a very usable school-run or grocery-shop companion. Being so narrow, it’s great in town, yet it feels a bit more substantial and confident than the Dacia Spring. You know it’s cheap, and you’ll never forget that it’s cheap, which is one reason why we’d favour a really good used EV over the T03 or the Dacia Spring.
Yes, that’s often the case with most new vs used scenarios, but it’s especially true when you’re trying to keep costs down yet still want a safe, comfortable and liveable small car. But, if you want the peace of mind that a new car with a new warranty brings, and like the look of the T03’s generous equipment and low monthly costs, it’ll do the job without fuss.
What is the Leapmotor T03?
It wasn’t long ago that small electric cars were priced well over £30,000, but recently, a wave of more affordable EVs has entered the market, some even dipping below £20,000. The Leapmotor T03 is another contender in this budget-friendly EV segment, competing with the likes of the Dacia Spring. With prices starting at less than £16,000 and an official range of 165 miles from a 37.3kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery, does it offer enough to make its mark?
The T03’s a bit smaller than other budget electric alternatives, like the Citroen e-C3 and Renault 5; At 3.6-metres long, this is very much a city car and you’re not going to want to do any big motorway journeys. It’s a slightly awkward-looking car: the wide-eyed face is cheery but also makes it look like a child’s toy, and the canted-forwards stance is alarmingly reminiscent of the entirely unlovable G-Whizz…
What might put a lot of people off is how new and unknown the Leapmotor brand is. Leapmotor is a Chinese brand that’s existed since 2015, but has only just made it to Europe and the UK. However, it’s reassuring that Leapmotor is majority owned by Stellantis (the company that also owns Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat among many other brands), so it’s got the support of a well known company. It’s also sold hundreds of thousands of cars in China, already, so it’s not without experience itself.
With over 40 Leapmotor dealers in the UK now, and with that number expected to have risen to over 60 by the end of 2025, you’ll be seeing more of the Leapmotor T03 city car and Leapmotor C10 family SUV very soon.
How practical is it?
You don’t buy a T03 for practicality, but it will sit two shorter adults on the rear bench. It’s a four-seater only, though; there are only two seatbelts, so if you want to squeeze five passengers into your affordable, small electric car, you’ll be wanting a Citroen e-C3, Renault 5, Fiat Grande Panda or Vauxhall Frontera.
The boot space is tiny at 210 litres, and the aperture is also very narrow, so you’re not going to be squeezing any big items in there despite the hatchback boot opening. There’s no frunk or underfloor cable storage, either, so the cables will be cluttering up your boot if you want to keep them in the car at all times.
Still, you’ll get a couple of soft bags or a modest grocery shop in there if you need to, and the rear seat back folds down in one piece, which is useful, even though it leaves a big step up from the boot floor.
Up front, you sit quite high in a fairly flat driver’s seat, but you can adjust the seat height and steering wheel height. The steering wheel doesn’t adjust for reach, though, meaning that it doesn’t go in-and-out, so some drivers might find that it feels a bit awkward.
Basically, the T03 feels a bit crude in some areas, and you’re never going to forget that it’s a cheap car, but given the costs involved, we suspect you won’t mind.
What’s it like to drive?
The T03 is powered by a 94bhp electric motor. This results in a 0-62mph time of 12.7 seconds, which is… well, it’s quite slow. But while the performance won’t blow you away, the front-wheel-drive T03 feels peppy enough in urban settings, and doesn’t really feel slow until you get to speeds above 50mph or so.
Regenerative braking is fairly mild, and there’s no one-pedal drive mode, which is a shame for such an urban-focussed car. More variable regen’ and a one-pedal setting are definitely things Leapmotor should consider for a future update of the T03.
The MacPherson strut front suspension and 15-inch alloy wheels provide a reasonable ride quality for a car of this size, but rougher roads have it bobbing and thumping quite a bit, so don’t be surprised if you feel a bit rattled about over the UK’s torn-up town roads.
If you do venture onto faster roads, then you’ll be pleased to know that the T03’s standard Continental tyres offer more grip in corners than the LingLong tyres fitted to the Dacia Spring. There’s lots of body lean, though, and the light steering only feels vaguely connected to the front wheels. It’s hardly fun to drive, but it’ll be a fine and inoffensive runabout.
Technology, equipment & infotainment
The T03 is well equipped and, notably, has more kit than the equivalent Dacia Spring. There is only one Leapmotor T03 model, and it gets a panoramic sunroof, 15-inch alloy wheels, LED front and rear lights, reversing camera and sensors, air-conditioning, adaptive cruise control… It really is pretty impressive for the money. No heated seats, though, which seems incredibly odd given how well equipped it is, otherwise. You can’t add any options to the T03, but you can choose from a few optional paint colours.
Everything inside the car is controlled via the 10.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, including the climate control, which makes it doubly annoying that the temperature controls aren’t always visible. At least the graphics aren’t too bad, and you get over-the-air software updates, Bluetooth, digital radio and nav. You don’t get Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, though. Leapmotor has said that another of its models, due in 2026, will have these phone integration apps, so there’s a good chance that the T03 will get them soon.
The T03 hasn’t been Euro NCAP tested, yet, but it does get a full suite of driver assistance systems including lane-keep assist, blind-spot warning, autonomous emergency braking and forward collision warning.
Leapmotor T03 running costs
The Leapmotor T03 will be seriously cheap to run, and not just in terms of list price. At the time of writing you can lease it for a £199 deposit, and then £199 per month thereafter. That’s a great price for a new electric vehicle, and our test drive suggested that it’ll be pretty efficient as well. You’ll be paying as little as 3p per mile for electricity, if you charge at home on a cheap off-peak tariff. Using a normal daytime tariff will put the price up to more like 10p per mile (still around 30% cheaper than a very efficient petrol car), but it varies depending on what you’re paying for your electricity.
The T03 falls into insurance group 25, which is higher than a used Fiat 500e, but means that insurance costs will be similar to the Renault 5 and Dacia Spring, but cheaper than the Citroen e-C3 and Vauxhall Corsa Electric.
Leapmotor T03 reliability
With Leapmotor bring such a new company there's not a great deal to report here right now. There’s currently no data on owner satisfaction and vehicle reliability.
On the warranty front, Leapmotor provides a standard four-year, 60,000-mile warranty on the vehicle, while the battery is covered for eight years and 100,000 miles.
- The T03’s rapid charging speeds peak at 48kW, which is a bit underwhelming so, despite the T03’s small capacity battery, it’ll still take 40 minutes for a 10-80% rapid charge. Being a city car, most owners will charge at kerbside- or home chargers, and with AC charging speeds of 6.6kW, the T03 will be fully charged in around seven hours. The charging socket is on the nose of the car, which will be fine for charging at home but, in our experience, can be annoying for tightly packed car park charging bays, when reversing in is normally easier. At least the T03’s dinky size and tight turning circle means that it should rarely be an issue.
- Our winter test drive on fairly fast country roads saw the T03 manage 3.5 m/kWh, which is enough for a real-world range of around 130 miles. Not bad at all, and if you’re in town and on slower roads most of the time, then the T03 will probably get very close to the claimed range.
- Lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology isn’t new, and it’s very widely used around the world and in Europe. Tesla, Renault, Citroen, MG and BYD all use it. In fact, LFP batteries are proving to be more tolerant of being charged to 100%, and they also use fewer expensive and environmentally damaging rare earth metals. They’re heavier than the more common lithium-ion NMC batteries, but when the pack is this small, it’s not a problem.
- If you want the best value: There’s only one trim level of the Leapmotor T03, so probably that one…
- If you want the best company car: Company car tax is still incredibly low on electric cars, even taking into account the rises set to take place in 2025 and beyond. For the pennies of difference there’ll be in what you pay in Benefit-in-Kind tax to run the T03 and vastly better small EVs, like the Renault 5, Citroen e-C3, Peugeot e-208 and Fiat 500e, you’d have to be a bit mad to have a T03.
- If you want the best city runabout: As we’ve said; there’s only one T03, so probably that one.
- If you want the best family car: For this money? You’re much better off going used, and we can help you with that here at CarGurus.co.uk. A used Citroen e-C4, Mk1 Kia e-Niro, Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, Hyundai Ioniq or Renault Zoe… They’re all much better family cars than the T03, and will be brilliant school run- and grocery-shop cars.
