OptionsCar reviews – Leapmotor – B05Leapmotor modelsOverviewWe like The B05 electric hatchback has been named a “brand halo” for Leapmotor in Australia. Can it step up to the plate?
LEAPMOTOR has big plans for its B05 electric hatchback, with its local head Andy Hoang calling it a “brand halo” for the Chinese electrified vehicle marque. The B05 marks some firsts for Leapmotor, being its first non-SUV model launched down under along with being its “first foray into a sporty electric car”, according to senior product marketing manager at Stellantis Rick Crichton. Priced at $35,888 plus on-road costs for the entry-level Style model grade and $39,888 + ORCs for the range-topping Design Long Range, it also lands in a highly competitive point in the market. The B05 is poised to do battle locally with the likes of the MG4 (from $39,990 d/a) and MG4 EV Urban (from $29,990 d/a), GAC Aion UT (from $31,990 + ORCs), and the BYD Dolphin (from $29,990 + ORCs). But its pricing also puts it in competition with similarly priced hatchbacks, sedans, and small and medium-sized SUVs that are available for around the same money. So, what does the B05 bring to the table? The standard style variant is equipped with a 56.2kWh battery – allowing for a WLTP driving range of 401km, while supporting 156kW DC charging, allowing for 30 to 80 per cent charges to be completed in around 16 minutes – supplying electricity to a rear-mounted electric motor producing 160kW and 240Nm, good for a 0-100km/h time of 7.5 seconds. Claimed efficiency is rated at 15.80kWh/100km. Meanwhile, the Design LR gets a larger 67.1kWh battery – with 174kW charging allowing for approximately 18-minute 30 to 80 per cent charges – upping the driving range to 482km on the WLTP cycle. Its 0-100km/h time improves to 6.7 seconds. Energy efficiency is rated at 15.9kWh/100km. Standard features on the Style variant include 19-inch alloy wheels, frameless doors, heated exterior mirrors, LED headlights and rear light bar, a 14.6-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, an 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster, a six-speaker sound system, a wireless phone charger, launch control, a four-way adjustable steering wheel, manually adjustable front seats (six-way driver, four-way passenger), fabric seats, and 3.3kW vehicle-to-load functionality. Its standard safety suite includes (but is not limited to) seven airbags, a 360-degree camera, rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, lane centring control, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, emergency lane keep, automatic lane change assist, traffic jam assist, front vehicle departure warning, front collision warning, front cross traffic alert, front cross traffic brake, blind spot detection, autonomous emergency braking, hands-off detection, driver drowsiness and attention warning, and advanced distracted driver warning. The Leapmotor B05 has been awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating. Over the entry-level model, the Technoleather (synthetic leather in Stellantis parlance) upholstery, heated and power adjustable front seats (six-way driver, four-way passenger), a heated steering wheel, rain-sensing wipers, a rear centre folding armrest with cupholders, a 12-speaker sound system, a fixed panoramic glass roof with an electric sunshade, rear privacy glass, interior ambient lighting, and auto power-folding exterior mirrors. No variant of the Leapmotor B05 is offered with a spare wheel, instead receiving a tyre inflator kit. As for boot space, Leapmotor claims 357 litres of space with the rear seats up and 1205 litres with the second row folded. The Leapmotor B05 is backed by a six-year/150,000km vehicle warranty, an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty, and eight years of roadside assist. It is also offered with an eight-year capped price servicing program, with service intervals coming every one year or 20,000km. Services are priced between $215 and $470, coming to a total cost of $2980 over eight years. GoAuto attended the B05’s Australian media launch in Queensland to find out how Leapmotor’s new electric hatchback stacks up. Specifically, GoAuto had the opportunity to test the Design LR variant on the Leapmotor B05’s Australian media launch. Leapmotor were going for a sporty, “coupe-inspired” design for the B05. While we think its aesthetics do have sporty appeal, we believe it’s truly effective because it’s not overcomplicated. It’s sleek and modern without being over-styled, and it nails the proportions. In our eyes, the B05 is a handsome vehicle. Inside, the B05 adopts a largely minimalist interior design much like its stablemates and indeed many of its peers hailing from its home market. Some touchpoints are better than others in the front row of the B05. The synthetic leather and faux metal look and feel great – similar to its B10 stablemate that we tested earlier in the year – but the dashboard inlay plastic is a bit scratchy. Front row storage options are handled by two cupholders, a generous centre console armrest storage, and the EV hallmark lower storage area created by the “bridge style” centre console. Save for the steering wheel controls and the column-mounted stalks the cabin lacks physical buttons and implements, meaning much of the in-car experience relies heavily on the touchscreen, which may be a sticking point for some customers. Like the touchscreen – which Leapmotor compares to using a smartphone – found in many of its peers, it’s sub-menu heavy while handling everything from drive modes, to opening and closing the panoramic glass sunshade, and the HVAC controls. It’s not too bad once you figure out where everything is, have your settings just right (there are customisable presets that allow you to do this), and get Apple CarPlay or Android Auto going, but at least a handful of buttons (especially for HVAC) probably wouldn’t have hurt. Should you choose to do so, certain functions can be handled with voice control, but we suspect, like us, this won’t be to everyone’s liking. Another quirk of the experience is having to place an NFC key card on the wireless phone charger to start the B05 or use your mobile phone as the key. It was the same deal in the B10 and while it’s functional, it still has us wondering what exactly was wrong with an actual key? On a side note, something we did really like was the sound system, specifically its different “sound effect” modes. Want to make it sound like you’re listening to your favourite artist live? Select “theatre” mode and it sounds like you’re at a concert. As for the view from the driver’s seat, forward visibility is fine although we did find rear visibility a little lacking due to the positioning of the windscreen and the rear seat headrests. When it comes to backseat space, kneeroom is excellent and seems to punch well above its weight for a five-door hatch. However, headroom is slightly limited, so too is under thigh support, but it’s ultimately pretty comfy. Rear set amenities include a centre folding armrest with cupholders (in the case of the Design LR), a USB-C and USB-A port, rear air vents and a tissue dispenser beneath the rear vents. Around at the boot, the opening does have a small lip but again, the total space is very generous for a vehicle of this size. We got to experience the B05 in urban driving, on motorways, and on twisting backroads during its media launch. Starting with its powertrain, don’t expect Tesla Model Y Performance levels of speed, but it’s still fairly punchy and responsive. Much like the B10 we tested earlier in the year, while cruising the lack of wind, road and tyre noise is really solid (only really picking up at speeds of 80km/h or higher). The ride presents itself as the immediate point of difference between the B05 and the B10’s driving experience. Instead of the cushy ride experienced in the B10, you can actually feel a bit more of the road surface through the seat of your pants in the B05 without it being uncomfortable. The benefits of this are experience when you get to a twisty road, as the B05 has pleasantly surprising handling prowess. We understand that we’ve compared the B05 extensively to the B10 throughout this review, and while the cars are naturally similar given they’re both made by Leapmotor, in the corners it’s actually difficult to believe they’re made by the same company. The B05’s steering is well-weighted (unlike the B10’s, which is dead enough to make doornails feel lively) and actually feels connected to the front wheels (also unlike the B10), making it easy to place. There’s also no undue body roll and little in the way of understeer. Beyond its steering and suspension tuning, we suspect that this car’s competence is also down to its Hankook iON Evo tyres, which seemed to offer some decent grip. All these factors make the B05 a genuinely enjoyable car on a backroad. However, there is one slight caveat here. In order to really enjoy the B05, you have to turn the lane departure warning and lane keep assist off. The system is too intrusive when left on, turning the steering experience into a bit of an arm wrestle at times. However, simply turning the system off isn’t enough, as it will reactivate itself if it thinks the B05 is about to exit its lane. To make sure the system stays off, you must turn the distracted driver monitor off as well. While the B05’s safety systems can be customised to the driver’s liking, there is an argument to say that a safety system (which is designed to save your life) that can (or should) be turned off isn’t a very good one. Outside of lane keeping, we found that the rest of the B05’s safety systems don’t irritatingly beep and bong at you. Its 360-degree camera (which is included as standard) is also very good). Something we did find slightly irritating was the steering wheel and stalk-mounted controls, meaning activating adaptive cruise control takes a little getting used to as not only does it share its stalk with the gear selector, but we found ourselves going to activate it only to end up indicating instead. The steering wheel scroll wheels are also a little confusing too. One adjusts the media volume while the other changes the adaptive cruise control speed. However, because they aren’t labelled (serving other purposes in other modes), we found ourselves accidentally changing the media volume instead of the cruise speed or vice versa. When it comes to efficiency, the figures returned during our drives of the B05 Design LR were better than Leapmotor’s claims, returning 14.9kWh/100km, 13.6kWh/100km, and 11.3kWh/100km from three separate journeys. Ultimately, the Leapmotor B05 offers an aesthetically pleasing, spacious, refined when it comes to keeping wind and tyre noise in check, and fun-to-drive electric hatchback package. However, in the pursuit of minimalism it’s affected by overcomplexity where there doesn’t need to be, especially when it comes to its touchscreen, the lack of an actual key, its steering wheel and stalk-mounted controls, and the need to turn the distracted driver monitor off to turn the lane keeping off. While these aren’t necessarily unworkable things and you’d probably get used to many of them, this car presents a learning curve where there doesn’t need to be one. And that’s not just for less-technologically adept drivers, this is coming from a Gen-Z reviewer. On the subject of lane keeping, the system is certainly in need of refinement. The B05’s safety systems are customisable, yes, but they arguably shouldn’t need to be. But the things that Leapmotor does get right with the B05 shows this company has true potential, and we still think it’s at least worth consideration when shopping for an electric hatchback.
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