Leapmotor T03... am I the only one?

[SirGriffin]

Konan said:

SirGriffin said:

Now repeat after me, class: " nothing else has broken or fallen off."

As much as I get that your keen to head off the immediate 'Chinese tat' comments, maybe set the bar a little higher than one month before being pleased a brand new car is proving reliable.

Hey, some of the other new arrivals from the same part of the world have barely made it past the first week without "failing to proceed" - I'll take the win for as long as possible...

[ferret50]

Can we talk about charging the wee beastie?

Where on the car is the charging point?
Will it charge from a 13A socket?

Thanks in advance, OP.

[Gecko1978]

To my mind this is much like my Temu RR, it's white goods does the job exactly what an EV should do and no luxury car tax (40k seems to be stretching luxury to the extreme these days).

[SirGriffin]

ferret50 said:

Can we talk about charging the wee beastie?

Where on the car is the charging point?
Will it charge from a 13A socket?

Thanks in advance, OP.

The charging point is at the front.

Yes you can charge using a 3 pin socket, a cable is included. I've never done it.

Car also accepts type 2 AC charging at a max rate of 7 kWh, which is what I do most charging with, or faster DC charging at a max of 50 kWh. That's not as fast as other EV's, but the battery is smaller, so it's still fairly reasonable - a 30-80% fast charge will take about 35 min, slightly longer if it's very cold like now as it will warm the battery first.

[Dog Biscuit]

Why can't they make a small cheap ev that doesn't look all cutesy wky?

The best looking one is the Hyundai Inster but it's not 'cheap' cheap

[SirGriffin]

Dog Biscuit said:

Why can't they make a small cheap ev that doesn't look all cutesy wky?

The best looking one is the Hyundai Inster but it's not 'cheap' cheap

I'm not a huge fan of the looks myself, but I got the car more for it's abilities rather than looks. They grow on you after a while anyway.

There's an Inster lives near me, I don't rate the looks myself, but they do seem very practically designed. Much more expensive though. (:

[hidetheelephants]

The Spring looks ok and suitably non-cutesy, it felt spartan inside rather than cheap. I've not driven one though.

[ferret50]

SirGriffin said:

ferret50 said:

Can we talk about charging the wee beastie?

Where on the car is the charging point?
Will it charge from a 13A socket?

Thanks in advance, OP.

The charging point is at the front.

Yes you can charge using a 3 pin socket, a cable is included. I've never done it.

Car also accepts type 2 AC charging at a max rate of 7 kWh, which is what I do most charging with, or faster DC charging at a max of 50 kWh. That's not as fast as other EV's, but the battery is smaller, so it's still fairly reasonable - a 30-80% fast charge will take about 35 min, slightly longer if it's very cold like now as it will warm the battery first.

Thank you, my thinking is that I have solar panels on the garage roof so one could be charged for free for at least half the year via the 13a socket.

[SirGriffin]

ferret50 said:

SirGriffin said:

ferret50 said:

Can we talk about charging the wee beastie?

Where on the car is the charging point?
Will it charge from a 13A socket?

Thanks in advance, OP.

The charging point is at the front.

Yes you can charge using a 3 pin socket, a cable is included. I've never done it.

Car also accepts type 2 AC charging at a max rate of 7 kWh, which is what I do most charging with, or faster DC charging at a max of 50 kWh. That's not as fast as other EV's, but the battery is smaller, so it's still fairly reasonable - a 30-80% fast charge will take about 35 min, slightly longer if it's very cold like now as it will warm the battery first.

Thank you, my thinking is that I have solar panels on the garage roof so one could be charged for free for at least half the year via the 13a socket.

Yes, some owners on the various forums do exactly that, combined with EV rates from the energy supplier, it can mean charging is virtually free.

(All together now, "nothing has broken or fallen off yet...)

Edited by SirGriffin on Friday 2nd January 15:12

[Castrol for a knave]

Great thread - kudos to the OP for starting it.

It does however, look like it should be found in the middle aisle, in between dog beds and Estonian wafer biscuits.

[SirGriffin]

This video has recently appeared, showing some very impressive handling abilities for a shopping car, and highlighting that there's some real engineering prowess in the design.

Note that the first slalom is accomplished at 128 kph, or 79 mph, way beyond the use most drivers will ever put it to. It might look a bit cutesy, but it's a proper little car!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ks6Uli6ingY

[595Heaven]

595Heaven said:

I'm struggling to think of any other hatchback on the market today that doesn't have rear wash wipe though.

Was following a Tesla Model Y the other day and realised that has no rear wiper either!

[ferret50]

SirGriffin said:

This video has recently appeared, showing some very impressive handling abilities for a shopping car, and highlighting that there's some real engineering prowess in the design.

Note that the first slalom is accomplished at 128 kph, or 79 mph, way beyond the use most drivers will ever put it to. It might look a bit cutesy, but it's a proper little car!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ks6Uli6ingY

Thanks, that was very helpful.

[MC Bodge]

SirGriffin said:

This video has recently appeared, showing some very impressive handling abilities for a shopping car, and highlighting that there's some real engineering prowess in the design.

Note that the first slalom is accomplished at 128 kph, or 79 mph, way beyond the use most drivers will ever put it to. It might look a bit cutesy, but it's a proper little car!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ks6Uli6ingY

A rear anti roll bar and some better tyres (and wider wheels?) could make it much better too.

[Alickadoo]

SirGriffin said:

Forget the Porches, BMW'S etc on this site, this is the update you're all waiting for!

Er...I had to put air in a tyre. That's it.

Now repeat after me, class: " nothing else has broken or fallen off."

I went for a weekend away and it handled the long trip really well, except the adaptive cruise control, which is a bit rubbish, however that's a well documented issue and you can switch it to standard cruise control, so we'll forgive that.

Still motoring on...whoosh!

What's wrong with the adaptive cruise control?

[SirGriffin]

Alickadoo said:

SirGriffin said:

Forget the Porches, BMW'S etc on this site, this is the update you're all waiting for!

Er...I had to put air in a tyre. That's it.

Now repeat after me, class: " nothing else has broken or fallen off."

I went for a weekend away and it handled the long trip really well, except the adaptive cruise control, which is a bit rubbish, however that's a well documented issue and you can switch it to standard cruise control, so we'll forgive that.

Still motoring on...whoosh!

What's wrong with the adaptive cruise control?

It's a bit crude, really. It's the one feature that probably wasn't worth including until it was properly resolved, and it's a shame because the rest of the car is so well executed.

I tried the ACC on a recent trip away, and on fast A roads and motorway is was ok, but it doesn't work well enough to slow down for a roundabout for example. It can be a bit sudden in its application of brakes or acceleration, so it's not very refined. Some have said it can get confused passing lorries etc, but I didn't notice any such behaviour.

But, the car also gives you the option to use standard cruise control, so I used that.

It's amazing that the car has it all at the price point, along with the rest of the ADAS equipmemt, which by the way, is easily turned off with a button on the steering wheel if it annoys you - I just leave it on most of the time because it actually works quite well and doesn't really bother me.

Must say, with traction control and other gubbins, plus front wheel drive, it's handled the snow and ice this weekend no bother at all. Clever little car!

[SirGriffin]

Admit it, you've all been waiting with bated breath for the latest update on the strange looking Chinese cuddly milk float...

...aaaannnndddd....nothing really. No explosions, fires, bits falling off, failures to proceed.

Still haven't seen another one, so I seem to be leading the (ahem) charge with it in my area. But they must be somewhere about...give me a wave if you pass me! I have seen one or two of the much larger B10 and C10 models, which seem mighty impressive machines.

I'd say the only part I don't like so much is the tendancy for condensation on the windows in bad weather, something I believe is common to many EVs. Some use damp absorbing pouches which I may try, and I've also seen that wiping the glass with shaving foam helps - I'm rather suspicious about that one, I may try it on a side window first and see what it does!

I won't complain about the admittedly loud pedestrian sounder either, as it proved very useful during recent periods of icy carparks, when people were gingerly tiptoeing across sheets of ice - hearing a pronounced "Woooooooo" behind them helped them to realise a car was behind them, and lead to them stepping aside, thus the sound did exactly what it's designed to do!

2000+ miles in and we're still rollin!

[Chris_i8]

SirGriffin said:

I'd say the only part I don't like so much is the tendancy for condensation on the windows in bad weather, something I believe is common to many EVs.

Odd, I've not come across this negative on my ev research so far.

Is the A/C not working?

[ScoobyChris]

Chris_i8 said:

Odd, I've not come across this negative on my ev research so far.

Is the A/C not working?

This is also a trait of the Leaf which either Heats (no a/c) or Cools (a/c) the cabin to adjust the temperature and there is no way to leave it on auto with a/c on all year round. My assumption was this was an EV battery saving trait - I even posted on here about it - but thankfully it seems to be in the minority.

I bought a damp absorbing bag of beads which seems to work well but a tad annoying in a modern car!!

[TaurusMexico]

We are 6 weeks in now with the T03 and, much like yourself, finding that it just does what it needs to do. No dramas, no fuss and generally fits the use case that we bought it for.
Only minor gripe that we have had is that it has a tendency to keep flicking the DAB+ to BBC Asian for some reason. Can only assume it's something to do with signal strength issues when driving around so it decides to latch on to the strongest signal with the lowest alphabetical name ! Hardly a major issue though,
Compared to the Dacia Spring I have to say that the T03 feels like a much better thought out and engineered car. I get that the "looks" don't appeal to everyone but there are definitely a LOT worse looking cars out there.