The Dacia Spring now faces stiff competition from the Stellantis-led Chinese electric mobility firm, Leapmotor.
Stellantis has revealed that its joint venture with electric mobility firm, Leapmotor, will be bringing one of the most affordable EVs to the market with its T03 city car.
Leapmotor is a Chinese startup firm that specialises in producing affordable electric cars for the masses.
Priced at £15,995, the T03 is a compact urban city car that comes with a five-door body style and four seats.
The T03 is the company’s answer to the Dacia Spring and will be offered with a 37.3kWh battery pack that Leapmotor claims will take the car 245 miles on a single charge on an urban cycle — almost 110 miles more than its French/Romanian rival. In terms of performance, the electric motor produces 96bhp and 158Nm of torque. However, given that the claimed range figure is during inner-city driving, it’s expected that its total range will be far lower during mixed driving periods.
Externally, the car features a tall and narrow body, plus there are rear LED taillights and plastic wheel arch trims that extend to the lower body along the door, too.
Inside, there is an eight-inch instrument display and a 10.1-inch central touchscreen, plus the front seats feature cloth upholstery and the gear selector is located on the steering column to free up space in the cabin.
There is only one specification to choose from with customers only being able to opt for a choice of three different body colours.
Standard equipment includes 15-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, a reversing camera, parking sensors and automatic air-conditioning.
Customers can order a T03 from late November and expected deliveries are due before the end of the year.
By Cameron Richards