Is This Leapmotor the Model 2 Tesla Never Built?

OK. Yes, I know, I’ve been a bit clickbaity with the headline, I’ll admit. But the more time I spent with the Leapmotor B05, the more the comparison actually felt fair.

With its minimalist cabin, the big central screen running the show, almost no physical buttons, huge panoramic roof, rear-wheel drive, strong range and a price that undercuts most of the established players, these are exactly the ingredients a lot of us expected from the long-rumoured, cheaper, small Tesla.

Leapmotor B05 Interior

If this vehicle wore a Tesla badge and ran Tesla’s software, a lot of people might be saying the Model 2 had finally arrived with aplomb. It isn’t a Tesla of course-but in packaging, approach and value, it lands surprisingly close to what many hoped that car -the Model 2 or Q- would be.

Anyway, I’m EV Newt, and this is the Leapmotor B05

The B05 is a proper C-segment electric hatch. Think Golf, Astra or Megane sized ‘family’ car, but one that can beat most of the competition above it’s pay-grade, while feeling surprisingly accomplished.

Specs:

Rear wheel drive, single motor with 215 hp and 240 Nm, 67.1 kWh usable battery, 300 miles WLTP and 0-62 in 6.7 seconds. Drag coefficient is a sharp 0.26. It’ll take 174 kW peak on a rapid charger, so 30-80% is achieved in about 17 minutes. Not too shabby.

But let’s rewind a second-just who and what are Leapmotor?

Leapmotor (Europe) is the Chinese brand now tied up with Stellantis in a 50/50 European venture. We’ve already had the T03 city car (I own one-see our review here), the C10 SUV and the also impressive B10 crossover (our review on the latter is coming soon).

This however is their first proper traditional family hatchback. And a very accomplished debut it is too.

With all Leapmotor models, you only get to choose exterior and interior colour. For the B05 there’s two interior colour choices; Light Grey or this darker Shadow Grey interior we had in the test car. Both interior colours are free options.

Everything else is standard, and the included spec is extensive: big panoramic roof with electric shade, 19-inch alloys, frameless doors, phone-as-a-key, V2L and a full kit list-even a ‘Camp’ and ‘Pet’ mode. One high trim spec for all. Simple. A heat pump is also standard.

On to the 14.6-inch central screen, which is excellent. Big, sharp, responsive, and the software works well with a bit of room for improvement, which it will be getting soon via OTA updates. It runs Leapmotor’s own LEAP OS 4.0 Plus on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 processor, so it feels smooth and phone-like and again very Tesla. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included too, and the nav and route planning are solid. I’m a big fan of ‘just using CarPlay’, but rarely for me I would just use the car’s Ui and Nav. The only other car that I’m happy I’m not using CarPlay on? Yes, you guessed it -Tesla. I will be owing the CtrlAltRefuel Swear-jar a tenner by now!

The B05 also has a smaller driver display screen (around 8.8-10 inches and something Tesla is missing). It’s clear and useful too, and, as I say, almost no physical buttons, just a few including two scroll wheels, on the steering wheel.
Where have we seen that before?

Voice assistant too -was hit and miss, but I managed to get it to do mostly what I wanted.

Leapmotor B05 driver’s Display

A little sidebar: I did a “guess what vehicle I’m in” video short for the YouTube channel, hiding the badges and just filming the interior. Loads of people in the comments were saying it was a “Tesla, BMW or Polestar'“. Fair credit to Leapmotor then there and the cabin looks and feels better than the price would suggest.

Driving impressions.

On the road it punches well above its weight. Chassis and suspension are well sorted, the power delivery is punchy, and the whole car is comfortable yet engaging. It was refined with no discernible wind noise at speed out of the ordinary. CtrlAltRefuel colleague, Paul, thought the steering had a bit of play before transmission to the wheels, but the rest of us didn’t really feel it to the same extent, although there was a bit there. Interestingly, the B10 I had a few days later didn’t have this same issue.

Fit and finish and build quality is solid especially for the money. Seats and materials are very good, though the darker grey interior can feel a bit samey and some of the harder plastics are a bit overdone, but this car is cheap so we’ll forgive it. I say cheap but it definitely doesn’t feel cheap.

Efficiency

We managed 4.5 miles per kWh on mixed roads and motorway, including windy B-roads, mostly in Sport mode during our day with it. There are three regen levels. Myself and Graeme found even the strongest a bit weak (one-pedal driving “lite”) for our tastes, but Paul was fine with it. Something that could be addressed with an OTA update hopefully.

Practical points lost in the storage category.

There’s no Front Froot (frunk) which is a miss, as there’s clearly space up front if they’d packaged the hardware in there down lower.

The charge port is on the wrong side for a lot of us, but the boot is the main - and pretty much only - real complaint. At 345 litres it’s smaller than hoped for, and although Tesla-the-dog fitted fine, it’s tighter than most rivals, and on the Standard Spaniel Metric, it’s ‘One and a Half’ (Spaniels).

Leapmotor B05 Boot

Interior

The passenger compartment more than makes up for the slightly small boot though. Headroom and legroom front and rear are impressive. Even this long-legged oaf had no problem in the rear-with the driver’s seat fully back. Proper EV architecture gives you a lovely flat floor and proper foot space in the rear. That panoramic roof is fab and lets loads of light in - which you’ll need if you choose the darker grey interior.

Exterior

This five door hatchback looks great. A proper ‘clean euro look’.

The redundant (and removed for the UK) black ADAS sensors cases left in the wings like side repeaters, actually become a neat feature.

This is a good looking car from all angles and the 19 inch alloys (shod on Hankooks I’m pleased to say) are very attractive. The rears are wider than the fronts (235/45 R19 vs 225/45 R19), which probably helps explain why the steering feels so good.

Price

Price is the biggest win though. With the £1500 ‘Leap Grant’ you’re under £29k for a fully loaded 300-mile RWD hatch that’s great to drive.

Put that against a Cupra Born, Renault Megane E-Tech, VW ID.3 or MG4 etc and the B05 looks strong on cost while matching or beating them on kit and range. Free OTA updates and a decent app finish it off. A hotter twin-motor version would be brilliant if they ever build one.

This is a properly good car for the money. It drives well, the tech is very impressive and it feels more expensive than it is, and the value is hard to ignore. Leapmotor have produced a really decent vehicle here.

A big thank you to our friends at Eden Leapmotor Jeep for the loan of this. Highly recommended dealer. Do check them out if you’re interested in or looking for a new car.