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By Jonathan Crouch

The Leapmotor C10 looks a better proposition in this partly fossil-fuelled REEV range extender form, thinks Jonathan Crouch.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 23

Leapmotor's C10 EV mid-sized electric crossover was an interesting proposition. But in REEV range extender form, we think it's an even better one.

Backgroundword count: 121

Range extender models are nothing new. The concept is based around use of an engine paired with a battery big enough to drive the car for extended periods - which sounds like the same thing as a PHEV. But with a range extender, the engine is there not to drive the car but to generate energy for the battery when charge gets low. Perhaps the best-known exponent of range extender technology was the old Vauxhall Ampera, but more recently we've also seen it in a slightly different form with the E-POWER engines used by Nissan in the Qashqai and the X-Trail. Now Chinese maker Leapmotor wants to take range extender tech to a new level with this car, the C10 REEV.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 289

The REEV model's powertrain uses exactly the same 215bhp electric motor as that in the C10 EV, but in other respects is quite different. To make space for the REEV powertrain's 1.5-litre petrol generator, the car's battery pack has shrunk from 69.9kWh with the EV to just 28.4kWh - and that of course means that electric range shrinks dramatically too, down from 263 miles to just 90 miles. Which means that the car will be able to handle suburban trips on the battery (and more of them than with any PHEV) but will need the help of its fossil-fuelled generator on longer trips. But on those longer trips, you can say goodbye to the range anxiety you'd get with a fully electric car. Unlike with a PHEV where a thirsty engine cuts in when the battery is drained, here when the battery charge gets low, the 1.5-litre petrol generator under the bonnet simply produces more energy to boost it. And will do so until the petrol you've put in is fully used up. As a result, if you add generator and battery range together, you'll be able to travel over 600 miles without stopping, either to refuel or recharge. The C10 REEV offers a number of different drive modes which allow you to select when you want the engine generator to engage. It can cut in automatically when the battery's at 9%, 25% or 80%. Or you can force the engine generator to run continually in order to extract the maximum performance from the powertrain. That performance is slightly blunted by the fact that this REEV C10 weighs 10kgs more than the EV model; 0-62mph takes 8.5s, a second slower. We can't imagine that would be a deal breaker.

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