New Leapmotor B03X 2026 review: spacious but infuriating

Verdict

The new Leapmotor B03X is another decent, somewhat appealing but imperfect offering from the Chinese brand. It delivers an impressive amount of space in the back and luggage capacity for a small SUV, plus proved astonishingly efficient during our initial testing. However, the infotainment system is frustratingly slow and laggy, the generic design is forgettable, while the driving dynamics leave a lot to be desired. This car could easily earn a higher rating if Leapmotor addresses some of our gripes with the ADAS and handling. 

Of all the phrases that we could possibly use to describe the new Leapmotor B03X – a small, family-friendly SUV whose key selling point is its practicality – ‘passion magnet’ would never ever come to mind. Not in a million years. Yet that’s the slogan the Chinese brand’s marketing department has bizarrely slapped on it, the idea being that there’s room for all your passions in here. Although we’re not sure that would apply if your hobby of choice is horse riding or lion taming…

What’s that got to do with anything? Nothing really, but the tagline of the B03X is certainly a more intriguing place to begin than the design. The car is as smart yet anonymous-looking as all of Leapmotor’s offerings to date, while also having some resemblance to the old Citroen C3 Aircross in areas. 

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It’s the same story inside, with the B03X featuring yet another copy and paste version of the clean, minimalist, but rather bland interior that you can find in so many Chinese cars. If it wasn’t for the badge on the steering wheel, you probably wouldn’t know if you were sitting in a Leapmotor, a Geely, an XPeng, an Aion, an Omoda or a Changan. The only differentiators are the Morse Code-esque pattern across the dashboard and the Casper-like cartoon mascot ‘Leapy’ that features in various places, in an effort to inject some playfulness into the otherwise plain cabin.

Overall quality is solid, though, as we’ve come to expect from Leapmotor, with faux leather and squidgy materials used across the doors, centre console and dashboard. There is a fair amount of plastic around the place, including the unconvincing metal-effect trim, but this is a relatively affordable electric SUV so that’s not surprising and the interior doesn’t feel cheap. 

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With nothing else to play with in the B03X, all the focus is on the 14.6-inch touchscreen, which looks sharp but is painfully slow to respond to commands. It took several frustrated prods of the display before menus would slowly start to load, and with everything controlled by the touchscreen, even simple tasks like trying to adjust the strength of the regenerative braking are rather infuriating (not to mention distracting). Leapmotor’s infotainment system still isn’t the most intuitive around either, but wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come as standard.

Thankfully, there are no such issues in the back, with the B03X offering an impressive amount of headroom and legroom for a small SUV. It is longer and taller than a Skoda Epiq or Renault 4, which perhaps helps explain the Leapmotor’s more plentiful space, but whatever the reason, six-foot adults have room to stretch out. 

The B03X’s party trick is the ability to lift up the rear seat bases to create a sizeable 39-litre space for large and long items such as bicycles or Swedish flat pack furniture. It’s very much Leapmotor’s version of the ‘Magic Seats’ found in the Honda Jazz. 

The 405-litre boot is not the biggest in this class, with rivals such as the R4 and Epiq boasting more luggage capacity. However, to make up for that, there’s an additional 105-litre storage space underneath the boot floor, which is nearly as big as the electric Ford Puma’s ‘Gigabox’. There’s also a height-adjustable boot floor, and 1,605 litres of space available with the rear seats folded down. 

Utterly lifeless and disturbingly vague steering is by far the B03X’s biggest flaw. We’re not expecting Lotus levels of feedback through the wheel, but there’s hardly any weight to the steering even in ‘Sport’ mode, leaving you to guess what the wheels are doing through corners. In the even lighter ‘Comfort’ mode there’s almost no weight or sensation to it at all, as if you’re driving through custard.

The company’s engineers are supposedly already working on improving the steering via a software update that should have been rolled out by the time this car lands in the UK. However, we’ll have to wait to see whether or not this makes things any better. 

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There’s also very little grip in this car or from its low rolling-resistance Yokohama BluEarth-GT tyres, with the rear end feeling extremely, almost worryingly, loose on twisty roads. It's possible some different rubber could solve this problem. 

Leapmotor’s ADAS systems are still in need of serious improvement. The lane-keep assist, in particular, is still easily panicked and constantly tugging at the steering wheel. More annoying is that if you turn it off, the system will reactivate the second the car thinks you’re getting too close to a white line, even if you’re really not. 

Finally, there’s the overly soft ride that results in the B03X leaning considerably in bends and bobbing about as you drive on the motorway, never able to settle down. At least the 194bhp on tap is enough to get up to motorway speed easily. 

The B03X’s 237-mile range isn’t bad, but less than the best in its class. However, during our testing we managed to average an incredible 5.5mi/kWh, and at that rate we’d be able to cover nearly 300 miles on a single charge. We must caveat that by noting we tested this car in up to 35 degree heat in southern Spain, and hardly ever went above 60mph. So while this is an encouraging indication of what the Leapmotor can do, we’re curious to see how efficient it is during a typical British commute. 

The B03X will go on sale in the UK in October, with prices set to start from just under £27,000 after the brand’s own £1,500 ‘E-Grant’ has been deducted. That would put it in the same ballpark as a mid-range Skoda Epiq, Renault 4 or Citroen C3 Aircross.  

There’s only going to be the one powertrain and one specification available, loaded with plenty of kit including heated seats, a 360-degree surround-view camera system and an energy-saving heat pump. 

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