Leapmotor B03X review: China's Ford Puma misses the mark

Another 4.3m-long, circa-£30k Chinese electric crossover – but one with a hint of character

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I can imagine the scene as the development committee sat down to create the Leapmotor B03X.

Gathered in a room are a Ford Puma, a Honda HR-V and a Jeep Avenger. The mission, quite evidently, was to collate a greatest hits album of what makes those cars sell so well.

Take the boot: at 405 litres, it's not huge in its own right, but lift the floor and you'll find a deep well that gives an extra 105 litres and has drainage holes in its base - just like the Puma's Megabox.

Pop yourself in the back and you'll notice the seat cushions are capable of flipping up against the headrests, precisely mirroring Honda's clever functionality.

And the exterior design is a bit of a mishmash of everything - squared off like the Avenger or even the previous-gen Mercedes-Benz GLB, with extra hints of Puma.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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Although it borrows good ideas from its rivals, the B03X feels like a significant car as Leapmotor tries to establish its own identity in Europe. It has thus far churned out generic crossovers and hatchbacks with the obligatory LED light bars at either end and smooth aerodynamic shapes. That's not so much the case here.

You'll find natty Space Invader-like 'Leapmotor' text along the car's flanks and bumpers. The rear lights are supposedly inspired by the smiley face emoji, which is a cute touch, even if I think they actually look a bit like they're yawning. And, as has become custom, there are a few 'Easter eggs' dotted around in the form of Leapy, the Chinese brand's new ghost-like mascot.

Leapmotor’s European slogan for the B03X is, amusingly, ‘Passion Magnet’. If you can get your mind out of the gutter, it’s meant to represent all the lifestyle gear you can fit into its surprisingly practical package. They’re coming up with something else for us Brits…
Charlie Martin
Senior Staff Writer

Individually these are small additions. Combined they project an air of confidence, or at least aspiration, that Leapmotor has yet to capture in Europe. Don't get me wrong, it's nowhere near as distinct as the Renault 4 or Fiat Grande Panda, but we are seeing the green shoots of an actual brand identity start to pop up through the weeds.

INTERIOR

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Step inside and you'll find a fairly conventional combination of a big infotainment touchscreen, digital gauge binnacle and barely any buttons; those only appear on the steering wheel.

Those two screens are a point of particular frustration: the font used is much too small to quickly read on the move and almost every control is buried within several menus of the infotainment, which is therefore overloaded with information.

I asked the voice assistant to lower the temperature of the air-conditioning. Or tried to, because it cut me off as soon as I'd started speaking to ask for a clearer instruction. Once I finally got it to listen, it instead raised the cabin temperature from 23deg C to 26. Then it apologised because it didn't have that functionality. It's not good enough, particularly considering the absence of physical controls.
Charlie Martin
Senior Staff Writer

The voice assistant feels unfinished, too, with limited functionality and repeated errors.

Still, there is a lot to like about this interior. Room in the back seats is great, particularly compared with the cramped Renault 4, and our test car's combination of navy-blue and beige leather both looked and felt pleasant. It's certainly the biggest draw of the B03X.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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In the UK, the B03X will be available with just one powertrain. It combines a front-mounted motor making 194bhp and 148lb ft of torque with a 53kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack.

This yields a 0-62mph time of 8.6sec, an official range of 237 miles, and it can be charged at up to 133kW – quicker than most rivals. 

It's more than quick enough to keep up with traffic, but it doesn't feel as eager as the 4 or Puma Gen-E. The calibrations of the accelerator and brake pedals are fine if you're pootling around, but the B03X does occasionally struggle to put its 194bhp to pavement cleanly, such as merging onto an A-road from a standstill. There's only a mild scrabble from the front end, but it's disconcerting, given this is no performance machine.

The range isn't bad, though. You'll easily crack more than 200 miles in the summer, and you even get a neat breakdown of your consumption highlighting what proportion of electrons has gone into driving, powering the air-con and auxiliary systems.

RIDE & HANDLING

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The steering is downright unpleasant - completely devoid of weight or feel, slow around the straight-ahead and then hyper-alert the moment you begin to turn. And that's with it in Sport mode; in Normal or Comfort it behaves similarly but those feel even worse.

Leapmotor says a software fix is on the way, but I'd be impressed if they can completely cure these ills without mechanical tweaks.

Pitch into a long, sweeping bend at motorway speed and you'll experience rather a lot of body roll, which discourages fast progress. This isn't paid off by a cushy ride, either. Craggy road surfaces, potholes and speed bumps are particularly noticeable - especially if you're a passenger in the back, positioned almost directly over its beam axle. 

If you're looking for something satisfying to drive, I'd point you instead to the R4 or Puma Gen-E; for isolation, the Citroën ë-C3 is much more accomplished.

VERDICT

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Leapmotor has evidently made compromises in order to hit an aggressive price point.

The brand's UK managing director, Damien Dally, says he wants buyers to "spend less on their car and more on life", and bargain finance rates are promised to be on the way. 

He suggested it could be around £50 per month less than the larger B10, which would give £279 per month with a £999 deposite. I'm not sure that would be cheap enough, though – many rivals are around the same money if you look at a lease instead of PCP.

It will have to be very competitive to convince people to "make the Leap" instead of buying the Renault 4, the Puma Gen-E or the market's current value champion, the MG 4 EV Urban.

So, should it prove cheap enough and provided you have zero interest in enjoying the way a car drives, the B03X could be worth considering. But you're reading Autocar, and therefore I can only recommend you look elsewhere.

Charlie Martin

Charlie Martin Autocar
Title: Senior Staff Writer

Charlie plays a leading role in Autocar's coverage of new car launches and industry events. He’s also a regular contributor to its reviews and social media channels, creating content for Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and Twitter.

Charlie joined Autocar in July 2022 after a nine-month stint as an apprentice with sister publication What Car?, during which he acquired his gold-standard NCTJ diploma with the Press Association.

He is the proud owner of a Mk4 Mazda MX-5 but still feels pangs of guilt over selling his first car, a Fiat Panda 100HP.