Stellantis Malaysia has officially launched the Leapmotor B10, the all-electric SUV making becoming the second model from the Chinese automaker to go on sale in the country following the C10’s arrival here last year. Two variants of the five-seater C-segment offering are available here, and they are the Life and Design.
First up, their pricing. The pricing of the B10 Life is RM107,800, while the B10 Design is priced at RM118,800, both on-the-road without insurance. However, the B10 is being offered at a special introductory price for the first 200 units, which brings the price down to:
- B10 Life – RM99,800
- B10 Design – RM109,800
The rebate reduces the pricing of the Life by RM8k and the Design, by RM9k. This effectively makes the B10 cheaper than the Proton eMas 7, which goes for RM105,800 for the Prime and RM119,800 for the Premium, as well as the BYD Atto 3 Ultra, which is currently priced at RM118,800, all with rebates in place.
Measuring in at 4,515 mm long, 1,885 mm wide and 1,655 mm tall, with a 2,735 mm-long wheelbase and a ground clearance of 170 mm, the B10 sits a segment below the larger, D-sized C10. Comparatively, it is just a fraction smaller across all measurement points than its primary competitor, the eMas 7 (4,615 mm long, 1,901 mm wide, 1,670 mm tall, with a 2,750 mm wheelbase and 173 mm ground clearance).
Design-wise, the B10 offers a clean, if generic shape, and from certain side and rear angles drops quite a few Teutonic hints in its lines, which will give it plenty of appeal to those into certain Continental shapes. In terms of form, the package looks tauter and better proportioned than the bulkier C10.
Notable elements include slim full-LED headlight assemblies with distinct chequered flag-styled DRLs, with the rear lighting mirroring the front with a full-length LED tail light bar at the rear. Both variants ride on the same 18-inch Star Sports alloy wheels, which are shod with 225/50 front and 235/50 rear tyres. The suspension setup consists of a McPherson front and multi-link rear system.
Only available in rear-wheel drive configuration, both the B10 Life and Design are equipped with the same single electric motor powertrain, differing only in battery capacities. These are:
- B10 Life – 218 PS (215 hp, or 160 kW) and 240 Nm, 56.2 kWh battery, 140 kW max DC charging
- B10 Design – 218 PS (215 hp, or 160 kW) and 240 Nm, 67.1 kWh battery, 168 kW max DC charging
Highlights of the seven-in-one oil-cooled motor include a quiet performance (with a noise level of under 76 db A in operation), lightness (60 kg) and a 94% peak efficiency in transferring power to the wheels. For comparison of its output versus its rivals, the eMas 7 has 218 PS and 320 Nm, while the Atto 3’s unit puts out 204 PS and 310 Nm.
As for the two CATL lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, the 56.2 kWh unit offers 361 km of WLTP-rated range, while the 67.1 kWh LFP unit provides 434 km of WLTP travel. Performance figures include a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 8.0 seconds, while top whack is 170 km/h, these applying to both variants.
Charging-wise, the automaker says it takes about 4.2 hours to juice up the lower capacity battery, or 5.6 hours for the larger battery via the AC route, at a max rate of 11 kW. The OBC rate is identical to the eMas 7, but ahead of the 7 kW on the Atto 3.
As for DC, the B10 supports fast charging at up to 140 kW for the 56.2 kWh battery and 168 kW for the 67.1 kWh unit, with the units getting from a 30 to 80% state-of-charge in about 19 to 20 minutes, respectively. This outpaces that on the eMas 7 (80 kW for Prime, 100 kW for Premium) and the Atto 3 (88 kW). The B10 is also equipped with a vehicle-to-load (V2L) function as standard, and this provides 3.3 kW of discharge power.
Move inside and you’ll find a cabin presentation similar to the C10, with the same structure and lines. However some elements have been redefined. The centre console features a floating multi-purpose island that integrates an armrest, a dual mobile phone holder with a 15 watt wireless charging pad (on the right side), with the lower stack housing two foldable cup holders and a large storage panel. Unlike China, there’s no slot-in table accessory for the front passenger dashboard area.
Additionally, the AC vents are housed in conventional side and central apertures and feature mechanical adjustment for the louvres. While the steering wheel – which is heated on the Design – retains the dual-spoke presentation as seen on the C10, it’s styled differently, with the accents and cut-outs now positioned on the lower part of the steering boss.
Like the C10, the front seats on the B10 can be fully reclined with the headrests removed to offer a full flat space, and the size of the cabin is touted through dimension numbers – there’s 1,400 mm of interior width and 2,390 mm of usable length from rear seatback to the dashboard as well as best-in-class front (1,027 mm) and rear (1,005 mm) headroom.
As for the rear cargo space, there’s 430 litres of volume, but this is expandable to 1,700 litres with the rear seats folded. There’s also a frunk, which provides 25 litres of space. The volume offered by the B10 isn’t far from the C10’s 435 litre boot and 32 litre frunk.
Standard equipment includes a fixed panoramic sunroof (with a powered sunshade), auto air-conditioning (with rear AC vents), an 8.8-inch instrument display panel and a 2.5K high-resolution 14.6-inch centre touchscreen running the latest Leap OS 4.0 Plus.
Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon SA8155 chipset and equipped with up to 16GB of memory and an integrated Adreno 640 GPU, the system offers a new graphic user interface, which the brand says offers a more intuitive and smoother experience.
Highlights of the new OS include a new integrated navigation system and wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, although initial buyers will have to wait for the latter to be introduced next month, in January, via an over-the-air (OTA) update.
Other standard fit items for the B10 include four USB ports (one 12 watt Type-A, one 60 watt Type-C at the front, and one 12 watt Type-A and one 15 watt Type-C for the rear), with the Life being equipped with a dark grey fabric interior, manual adjustment front seats and a six-speaker audio system.
The Design adds on this by upping the front seats to electrically-adjustable, heated and ventilated front seats (six-way driver and four-way front passenger) and the upholstery to liquid-resistant Oeko-Tex Standard 100 ‘silicone leather’ as seen on the C10, in two colour options (dark grey or shadow grey).
Additionally, the Design gets automatic folding side mirrors, rain sensing wipers, 64-way ambient lighting, rear privacy windows, an electric tailgate and a 12-speaker sound system.
The B10 continues to feature the automaker’s NFC card key system, which provides access to the car via a tap of the driver’s side mirror cover and vehicle operation via placement on the centre console, but there’s now a Leapmotor app that provides a digital key function via a paired mobile phone.
However, you’ll need to key in a numerical password, and type this in on the centre screen each time you want to drive the car. Aside from providing a digital key, the app also offers a large number of features, such as remote activation of the AC, windows and automatic locking/unlocking of the doors.
Leapmotor B10 specification sheet (left) and mobile app feature list. Click to enlarge.
As for safety and driving assistance systems, the five-star NCAP-rated B10 comes with seven airbags (front, front side, side curtains and centre), a 360-degree panoramic camera (which doubles up as a surround dashcam) and rear parking sensors, along with a Level 2 ADAS suite equipped with 12 ultrasonic sensors offering 17 related driving assistance functions.
The comprehensive list for this includes adaptive cruise control, intelligent speed assist, traffic jam assist, forward collision warning, AEB, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist and emergency lane keeping.
Five exterior colours are available for the SUV in Malaysia, and these are Starry Night Blue, Dawn Purple, Pearly White, Tundra Grey, and Metallic Black. The Leapmotor B10 comes with a six-year/150,000 km vehicle warranty (consisting of a four-year/100,000 km manufacturer warranty plus an additional two-year/50,000 km full extended warranty) and an eight-year/160,000 km battery warranty.
We’ve driven the B10 – read our first-drive report of the EV here.
GALLERY: Leapmotor B10 Design
GALLERY: Leapmotor B10 Life
