2026 Leapmotor C10 REEV Review

Range anxiety is the reason a lot of Australians still will not buy an electric car. Leapmotor's answer is the C10 REEV: a mid-size SUV that drives like an EV every day, but carries a small petrol engine on board purely to top the battery up when it runs low. The result is a claimed 1,150 km of combined range and a price that starts under $46,000 drive-away.

Jenny spent a week in the Design grade to work out whether the clever idea holds up in the real world, or whether the technology gets in the way.

How the range extender actually works

This is not a plug-in hybrid, and the difference matters. In a normal PHEV the petrol engine can drive the wheels. In the C10 REEV it never does. The 1.5 litre four cylinder is a generator and nothing else. It sits there making electricity for the 28.4 kWh battery, and a single 158 kW rear motor does all the actual driving.

So the car always feels electric: quiet, smooth, instant off the line. On a full charge you get around 170 km of pure electric running, which covers most of a week's commuting with the petrol engine never waking up. When the battery does run down, the generator kicks in and the total range stretches out past 1,150 km. You refuel at a normal servo in four minutes, or you plug in at home. No charging map, no queueing at a highway fast charger on a long weekend.

Driving the C10 REEV

As a thing to drive around town, the C10 is genuinely pleasant. The electric motor gives it easy, quiet urban pace, the ride is soft and settled, and the cabin is roomy and better finished than the price suggests. For a family doing school runs and the odd country trip, the concept is close to ideal.

The catch is the generator. When the battery is low and the petrol engine fires up to keep pace on a long climb or a hard overtake, it can get vocal and its note does not always match what your right foot is doing, because it is charging rather than driving. It is not a dealbreaker, but it is the moment the illusion of a pure EV slips.

The catch is the tech

Where the C10 frustrates is the software. Almost every control lives in the central touchscreen, including things you want as a physical button, and the menus can be slow to respond and fiddly to learn. The driver assistance chimes are eager, and switching some of them off means going back into that same screen every time you start the car. None of it stops the C10 doing its job, but it is the difference between a car you tolerate and one you enjoy, and it is the main reason to test drive before you sign.

Cartell Assessment

The C10 REEV is one of the most sensible cars in its price bracket if you want electric running without electric compromise. You get the quiet, the low running costs and the daily EV experience, and you keep the ability to drive Sydney to the Gold Coast on a whim without a single charging stop. For a lot of buyers that combination is worth more than a badge.

It is held back by its screen and its software, not by its engineering. If Leapmotor tidies the interface with an update, this becomes very easy to recommend. As it stands it is a strong value pick with a genuine niggle you should feel for yourself first.

AU Outlook

The C10 REEV opens at $45,900 drive-away for the Style and $49,900 drive-away for the Design that Jenny tested, which undercuts most petrol mid-size SUVs before you count the fuel savings. It lands right as range-extender models start arriving in Australia in numbers, and on price and range it is the one to beat. Watch for an over-the-air software update, because that is the one thing standing between this car and a much higher score.