Leapmotor C10 Review Australia 2026: Big, Cheap and Slow to Catch On

The Leapmotor C10 is one of the roomiest mid-size electric SUVs you can buy in Australia for under $50,000 before on-roads, and almost nobody is buying it. The new battery-electric Design Long Range costs $49,888 before on-roads, as of October 2026, and brings a 510 km WLTP range, 180 kW fast charging and 1,500 kg towing. The verdict of this Leapmotor C10 review for Australia: it’s strong value on paper. Clumsy software, no Apple CarPlay and a thin dealer network hold it back.

The sales numbers tell the story. Leapmotor sold 331 C10s in Australia to the end of August 2026, down 13.1 percent on the year before, while the Geely EX5 sold 10,737 in the same period (CarsGuide, September 2026). That gap creates an opportunity. Dealers have been discounting hard, and owners report buying ex-demo C10s for close to $28,000 drive-away.

This review covers the line-up, the June 2026 update, the hybrid version, running costs and how the C10 compares with other electric vehicles at the price.

Leapmotor C10 review Australia: prices and line-up

Leapmotor reshuffled the C10 range in June 2026. It dropped the entry battery-electric Style after about 18 months on sale and replaced the old 69.9 kWh Design with a long-range version (EV Central, June 2026). Three versions are now on sale.

Variant	Price (before on-roads)	Drivetrain	WLTP range
C10 Hybrid EV Style	$43,888	Range extender, RWD	145 km electric
C10 Design Long Range	$49,888	Electric, RWD	510 km
C10 AWD Sports+	$53,888	Electric, AWD	437 km

Sources: EV Central and Carsales, June 2026; zecar and Carsales, March 2026. Prices as of October 2026.

A Hybrid EV Design sits above the Style, but Australian outlets list two different prices for it, so confirm with a dealer. On-road costs add a lot. Before the current $0 on-roads offer, CarExpert’s drive-away pricing put the Design Long Range at about $54,500 in Sydney.

Timing matters. A national sale from 1 July to 30 September 2026 put the Hybrid EV from $42,990 drive-away and the electric C10 from $47,990 drive-away (CarExpert, July 2026). That deal has ended, but Leapmotor’s current offer covers new C10s bought and delivered between 1 October and 31 December 2026: $0 on-road costs, free premium paint and a free 7 kW wall charger worth up to $800 (installation extra). The AWD Sports+ gets the wall charger only. Slow sales also mean dealers still have room to move, especially on demo stock. One buyer recently reported paying $28,000 drive-away for an ex-demo Hybrid EV Style with about 4,000 km on it, including three years of servicing. That’s an outlier, but it shows how far prices can fall.

The new Design Long Range: what changed

The June 2026 update fixed the C10’s two biggest weaknesses: range and charging speed. The Design Long Range uses an 81.9 kWh battery on an 800-volt electrical system. An 800-volt system lets the car accept higher charging power with less heat, which is why fast-charge times dropped sharply.

Spec	Old C10 Design (to mid-2026)	C10 Design Long Range
Battery	69.9 kWh LFP	81.9 kWh, 800V
WLTP range	420 to 425 km	510 km
Motor	160 kW / 320 Nm, RWD	220 kW / 360 Nm, RWD
0 to 100 km/h	7.5 s	6.2 s
DC peak charging	84 kW	180 kW
30 to 80 percent DC	About 30 min	About 22 min

Sources: CarsGuide, December 2025; EV Central, Carsales and The Beep, June 2026.

The old car’s 84 kW charging peak was a real problem on road trips, and reviewers called it out. At 180 kW, the Design Long Range now matches or beats most rivals at this price. If you’re looking at a used or demo C10, check which battery it has, because the older 69.9 kWh car charges at less than half the speed.

Real-world range will land below the WLTP number. At 110 km/h with the air conditioning running, Australian highway range typically sits at 75 to 85 percent of WLTP. For the Design Long Range, that means roughly 380 to 430 km between charges. Nobody in Australia has published a real-world efficiency test of the new battery yet. The old car used 17.0 kWh per 100 km in CarExpert’s January 2025 test, which works out to about $5.10 per 100 km at a 30 cent home rate. Work out your own figures with our EV charging cost calculator.

The C10 Hybrid EV: a range extender, not a plug-in hybrid

The C10 Hybrid EV, sometimes badged REEV Ultra Hybrid, is a range-extender electric vehicle. A range extender is a car where electric motors always drive the wheels and a small petrol engine only charges the battery. It feels like an EV to drive.

It has a 28.4 kWh battery good for about 145 km of WLTP electric range. Once that runs down, a 1.5-litre petrol engine starts up and generates electricity from a 50-litre fuel tank. Leapmotor claims up to 1,150 km of total range, but that’s on the older and more generous NEDC test.

Chasing Cars averaged 6.5 L/100km across 7,000 km in its long-term test, and 7.0 L/100km with the battery flat. That’s ordinary for a petrol SUV, and it means long trips cost about what they would in a conventional car. Its testers also disliked the generator noise under load and the touchy brakes.

The Hybrid EV makes sense for one kind of buyer: someone who drives under about 100 km most days, charges at home, and does regular long country trips. For everyone else, the full EV costs only $6,000 more and avoids petrol, oil changes and the generator. The Hybrid EV also needs servicing more often, every 12 months or 10,000 km, against 20,000 km for the electric version.

What the C10 does well

Space is the standout. The C10 is a genuine mid-size SUV with generous rear legroom and a large boot. CarsGuide measured 581 litres with the rear seats up and 1,410 litres folded, both to the roof (December 2025). The Hybrid EV loses a little, at 546 litres.

Towing is a rare strength among Chinese EVs at this price. Every 2026 C10 is rated to 1,500 kg braked and 750 kg unbraked (CarsGuide). The BYD Sealion 7 manages 750 kg. If you tow, our EV towing guide explains why range drops by 40 to 60 percent at the limit.

The cabin feels expensive for the money. CarExpert praised the upmarket finish in its launch review, and CarsGuide rated it well for value. The C10 also has vehicle-to-load (V2L), which lets you run appliances from the car’s battery through an adapter. On the launch car, RACQ found the adapter wasn’t included in the box, so check what your car comes with.

Safety is solid. ANCAP awarded five stars in 2024, scoring 89 percent for adult occupant protection and 87 percent for child occupants.

What holds it back

Driver-assistance software is the most common complaint, and it’s a serious one. CarExpert called the alerts incessant and overbearing, and noted the driver monitor misfiring when you wear sunglasses. RACQ went further and reported unsafe interventions at highway speeds (March 2025). Owners of the smaller B10 report that over-the-air updates toned its alerts down, but test-drive the C10 on a highway before you commit.

The missing phone mirroring will put many buyers off. There’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and the built-in apps are the only option. CarsGuide reported that an updated C10 due in early 2027 may add both (September 2026). Waiting for it is a sensible choice if phone mirroring matters to you.

Other niggles from Australian reviews include numb steering, jerky throttle calibration, a keycard entry system some testers found clumsy, and no spare tyre. CarsGuide’s average review score across its C10 tests is 6.7 out of 10, which sums it up: a good car let down by its software.

Warranty, servicing and the dealer question

The C10 comes with a six-year, 150,000 km vehicle warranty and an eight-year, 160,000 km battery warranty, plus eight years of roadside assistance. That’s a step back from the seven-year, 160,000 km cover on early cars (CarExpert, June 2025). Servicing on the electric C10 is due every 12 months or 20,000 km, and CarsGuide put five years at about $2,000 (December 2025).

The dealer network is the bigger question. Leapmotor had 24 Australian dealers by September 2026, up from nine at launch in November 2024 (CarExpert, September 2026). Stellantis, the group behind Jeep and Fiat, owns 51 percent of Leapmotor International and handles distribution here. Many dealers share a showroom with Jeep.

Low sales also hit resale. Low-volume brands lose value fastest on the used market, as our EV depreciation guide shows. That’s the flip side of the big discounts. If you buy cheap and keep the car for eight years, depreciation hurts less. If you trade every three, it hurts more.

Before you buy, check how far you live from a Leapmotor service centre and how long crash-repair parts take to arrive.

Leapmotor C10 vs the competition

The C10 undercuts most mid-size electric SUVs on list price, and it tows more than most of them. Its closest rival in spirit is the Geely EX5, which is cheaper and outsells it by a huge margin.

Model	Price (before on-roads)
Geely EX5	From $41,990
BYD Atto 3 Evo	$41,990 to $46,990
Leapmotor C10 Design Long Range	$49,888
XPeng G6	From $51,800
BYD Sealion 7	From $54,990
Kia EV5	From $56,770
Tesla Model Y RWD	$58,900

Sources: CarsGuide, September 2026; RACV and CarExpert, 2026; The Beep, 2026. Prices as of October 2026.

Against the Sealion 7 and Model Y, the C10 saves you $5,000 to $9,000 and offers similar space with a stronger tow rating. The BYD and Tesla have bigger networks and better software. The smaller Leapmotor B10 drives better and costs less, as our Leapmotor B10 review explains, but it can’t tow at all. Compare the specs side by side in our EV compare tool.

Is the Leapmotor C10 worth it on a novated lease?

The electric C10 is a good novated lease candidate. Both the Design Long Range and AWD Sports+ sit far below the 2026 to 2027 luxury car tax threshold of $91,661 (ATO), so they qualify for the full fringe benefits tax exemption. They also sit under the $75,000 line in the government’s proposed changes, which keep cheaper EVs fully exempt for longer. Our EV FBT exemption guide explains the timeline.

The Hybrid EV doesn’t qualify. It has a petrol engine, so the tax office treats it like a plug-in hybrid, and those lost the exemption from 1 April 2025.

Watch the residual. A novated lease ends with a balloon payment, and on a slow-selling model the car’s market value at the end could fall short of it. Ask for a conservative residual. Our EV novated leasing hub explains how it works.

Who should buy the Leapmotor C10

Buy the Design Long Range if you want the most space and towing for under $50,000, live near a Leapmotor dealer and can get a good price. Haggle hard, because slow sales give you room to bargain.

Buy the Hybrid EV if you do long regional trips often and don’t have reliable fast charging on your routes. Accept that it won’t get the novated lease tax break.

Look elsewhere if you need Apple CarPlay, hate driver-assist beeping or want a big dealer network. The Geely EX5 and BYD Sealion 7 are safer choices, or you can wait for the early 2027 update.