Can a Tiny City EV Handle a Real Road Trip? Putting the Leapmotor T03 to the Test
I set off with my family and a half-empty battery in the Leapmotor T03, the 11.9-foot electric city car, on a two-lane highway trip to Vaslui and back. I tracked efficiency on the dashboard, tested DC fast charging without preconditioning and checked how much energy it recovers down a long hill.
The Leapmotor T03 is built for the city: it's 3.62 meters (11.9 feet) long, seats four and has a small battery. But I kept wondering what happens when you take it out of town, onto two-lane national roads, with two adults, a child and some luggage on board. So on a free Saturday before Easter, I spontaneously headed out to Vaslui, in eastern Romania, and back. I didn't charge the car specially for the test: I left with just 64% battery and an estimated 157 km (98 miles) of range, for a drive of about 65 km (40 miles) to the first charger. It was a car I'd never driven before, so I also wanted to see whether I could trust what the dashboard was telling me.
The car: small, but tall and well equipped
According to the official specifications published by "Stellantis Media UK", the Leapmotor T03 has a 70 kW (95 hp) electric motor with 158 Nm of torque, front-wheel drive and a 37.3 kWh LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery. Its official WLTP range is 265 km (165 miles) combined and 395 km in the urban cycle, with a rated consumption of 16.3 kWh/100 km. It does 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 12.7 seconds, tops out at 130 km/h (81 mph) and weighs just 1,175 kg (about 2,590 lb). The onboard AC charger is rated at 6.6 kW, and the same document lists a DC fast-charging peak of 48 kW, while newer guides from "Leapmotor International" quote 45 kW. Leapmotor says a 30–80% DC fast charge takes 36 minutes.
The space inside surprised me. It's a small car, but a tall one, and there's plenty of rear legroom. The 10.1-inch center screen runs Android Auto across the full display, so Google Maps or Waze look big and sharp.
On the road: adaptive cruise and a camera that catches you yawning
On the way out I used the adaptive cruise control, which kept a proper distance from the car ahead. There are no separate plus and minus buttons, but the logic is simple: a short press locks in your current speed, a long press resumes the last set speed, and if you want to go faster you just accelerate and press again. I cruised at around 80 km/h (50 mph), and the car didn't seem bothered by the climbs at all.
I also tested the driver-monitoring camera. I yawned on purpose and the car immediately suggested I take a break. Drowsy driver detection is on the official standard safety list, together with automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist and blind spot detection.
Here's how the dashboard numbers developed:
- on a long climb, instant consumption jumped to about 16.4 kWh/100 km;
- halfway, after 39 km in just over half an hour: 13.6 kWh/100 km, with 50% battery and 126 km of estimated range;
- entering Vaslui: 12.8 kWh/100 km;
- at the charger: 12.6 kWh/100 km (roughly 4.9 miles per kWh), with about 45% left.
One thing I missed: the driver's display only shows range in kilometers, like a gas car would. The exact battery percentage is on the center screen.
Fast charging: steady, with no preconditioning
In Vaslui I plugged into an Eldrive DC fast charger. I started at 43%, and the charger initially showed 31 kW. A few minutes later the power climbed to 40 kW and stayed there. After 7 minutes, the charger screen read 53% and 4.09 kWh added. At 73% and then at 76% the car was still pulling 40 kW, a very flat curve. For a 37 kWh battery with no preconditioning beforehand, I think that's a really good result. I headed home with 80% and 202 km (125 miles) of estimated range.
During the break I took a closer look at the outside. The T03 has disc brakes front and rear, tire pressure monitoring and 15-inch alloy wheels. There's no rear wiper, a small omission, but not a big deal for a city car.
The drive home and a regen test down a long hill
On the way back I took the route over the Bucium hill to see how much energy the car recovers going downhill. I reached the top with 57% battery, 144 km of range and an average of 14.3 kWh/100 km. At the bottom the dashboard showed 58%, 147 km of range, and the average had dropped to 13.3 kWh/100 km. So regenerative braking really does put energy back into the battery. In the end, after 216 km (134 miles) since I picked up the car, the average was 12.7 kWh/100 km, well below the 16.3 WLTP rating. The test was done in spring, at legal two-lane-road speeds, with figures read from the dashboard.
What it means for drivers
The Leapmotor T03 is first and foremost a city car, but this test shows it isn't stuck in the city. On two-lane roads, at around 13 kWh/100 km, my rule of thumb is simple: drive about 200 km (125 miles), take a 20–30 minute break at a fast charger, and keep going. Leave with a full battery and you'll comfortably cover 150 km before the first stop. The steady 40 kW charging makes those breaks predictable. At 130 km/h on the highway, or in winter, consumption will be higher, as with any EV. If you're looking for a small first EV with plenty of standard safety tech, Android Auto, and the ability to leave town without range anxiety, the T03 is worth a test drive.
