What's the difference?
Alfa Romeo’s new entry-level model has finally arrived in Australia.
Pitched as a spiritual successor to the MiTo and Giulietta hatchbacks, the Junior is a tiny SUV with plenty of hatchback design cues.
It was originally set to be called the Milano, however members of the Italian government complained, claiming it’s illegal to sell products with an Italian place name that aren’t actually made there.
The Junior is actually built in Tychy, Poland alongside the related Jeep Avenger at a Stellantis production plant.
We’ve driven the Junior a few times now overseas, but now it’s time to see how it holds up on local soil.
First up is the Ibrida, or hybrid. The fully electric version is also on sale but will have to wait for a future review.
The Leapmotor C10 mid-size SUV has been on sale in Australia for more than six months now, but a lot of people still give you a puzzled look when you mention the brand.
Initially offered in electric vehicle (EV) form only, the Chinese carmaker has now introduced a petrol-electric hybrid version to bring the fight to the BYD Sealion 6, Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV and Jaecoo J7 SHS, among others.
Dubbed the C10 REEV (Range Extender Electric Vehicle), it reintroduces a powertrain technology that has previously only been offered in two cars locally. These include the Holden Volt and BMW i3 REx.
With an electric motor providing all the driving power, there’s also a petrol engine that acts purely as a generator. This is claimed to allow the car to still feel like an EV, but also have the flexibility of being able to fuel up for longer distances.
Australian deliveries of the C10 REEV started a few months ago, but CarsGuide is now getting a first local drive of this car following a brief drive in Europe back in April.
How does it stack up? Read along to find out.
@carsguide.com.au Can you tell the difference between these two 2025 Leapmotor C10 models? ⚡ On the right is the new C10 REEV (Range-extender electric vehicle) which has only recently arrived in Australia. Here are some fast facts: ⏩ 158kW electric motor ⏩ 1.5L petrol engine generator ⏩ Up to 1150km total range ⏩ $43,888 before on-roads P.S. How good does Jade Green look? P.P.S. If you said the difference between the cars is also the interior colours, pat yourself on the back #leapmotor #c10 #leapmotorc10 #reev #rangeextender #EV #SUV #car #carsguide #fyp
♬ original sound - CarsGuide.com.au
The Alfa Romeo Junior is a cute car that’s charming and smile-inducing. It deserves to sell well but ultimately this will come down to whether the Australian public is receptive.
There is plenty of competition out there and if you're wanting something design-led, it's hard to look past this without spending much more money.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
Plug-in hybrids are really gaining popularity in Australia and it’s great to see the reemergence of range-extender technology because it allows you to drive an EV, but not have the inherent range anxiety that comes with it.
The Leapmotor C10, as a base, is far from a perfect car, but its appealing price point and the amount of space it offers is commendable. It's not a driver's car, but rather just a means of transportation.
The C10 REEV's range-extender powertrain firms as the pick of the C10 line-up if you want the flexibility of being able to charge up the car, or just fuel it up with petrol for simplicity's sake. While it mightn’t be as efficient as rival PHEVs, it generally is quieter, safety system chimes aside.
I look forward to seeing whether Leapmotor can continue to improve the safety systems in the C10 because while the REEV on test here is better than the original EV I drove earlier this year, the way the systems operate still makes it hard to recommend.
This is such a cute and tiny car with Alfa Romeo trying its hardest to sandwich all of its hallmark design traits in. It’s certainly a busy design on the outside which I don’t love right now, but I imagine I’ll grow to like it with time.
At the front there’s a special grille as standard that features Alfa Romeo script, plus an offset license plate and cool matrix LED headlights with the company’s ‘3+3’ lighting signature.
Around the side the 18-inch alloy wheels have a flower petal-like design, hidden second-row door handles, as well as a hidden serpent (Biscione) easter egg that’s laser etched into the C-pillar.
The rear of the Junior is my least favourite angle. It tries too hard to look more like a hatchback than a crossover SUV with the slanted rear window and the big black slab where the tail-lights are.
The twin exhaust pipes are a cute look, however, especially given the engine doesn’t scream performance credentials on paper.
Inside there’s an obvious attempt at making the cabin look and feel driver-oriented and sporty.
I like the seats which have a red section that runs down the backrest and onto the seat base. It helps break up the black finishes nicely.
Speaking of, however, there's a sea of black finishes throughout the rest of the cabin. I’d like to see some more silver or chrome accents as the glossy piano black may not age well.
There is interior ambient lighting around the cabin with a customisable colour, which looks great in low-light situations. It particularly pops in the large circular air vents which flank the dashboard and are shaped like cloverleaves.
If you look closely you may notice the Junior shares a lot of its physical switchgear with the related Jeep Avenger. Examples include the steering wheel buttons, gear selector, starter button and the physical climate control switches.
While there’s an argument to say that this cheapens the feel of the Junior, I’m thankful there is physical switchgear in this car to begin with. Plus, the Junior does look different enough as it is.
If you haven’t already noticed, the Leapmotor C10’s technology seems heavily inspired by Tesla. The same can be said for its design, which is incredibly minimalist.
It’s hard to find any distinguishing features on the outside of the C10 that makes it uniquely a Leapmotor. Everything, even the car’s rounded, jelly bean-like silhouette, is generic and doesn’t stand out from the crowd.
In saying this however, the C10 REEV test car does turn heads and a few people asked what it was. This is likely because no one knows what a Leapmotor is.
It also helps the test car was finished in the delicious-looking Jade Green exterior paint. It’s definitely my pick of the available colour options.
There are the popular exterior design trends like animated lighting sequences, a rear LED light bar, connected front headlights, flush door handles, and Leapmotor script on the tailgate. Nothing revolutionary here in terms of design.
The only way to tell the C10 REEV apart from the C10 EV is its fuel filler flap on the right-hand side of the car. Everything else is identical.
Inside there are two colour choices – Black or Camel Brown. Our tester is fitted with the former, which is definitely the more conservative option.
Regardless of the colour option, the majority of the interior is finished in that colour. It’s more noticeable with the almost orange-looking brown colour option.
This makes the interior look a little bland as it lacks contrast and visual interest.
There’s no denying there are some high-end-feeling touches inside, especially for the price point. You really need to go searching for harder and scratchier plastics, but they are present lower down in the cabin.
Virtually every touch point is soft and spongey, with the entire dashboard being covered in a smooth synthetic leather. Pretty cool for $45k.
This is even before mentioning the seats. The top-spec C10 Design comes with silicone leather upholstery, which is by far one of the softest seats I’ve ever touched and sat in to date. It’ll be interesting how this finish holds up after years of use, however.
A lot of the interior design pivots around the large, 14.6-inch central touchscreen. Thankfully unlike Teslas, there’s also a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster which also displays critical information, like your current speed.
The front seats in the Junior are very comfortable for longer drives. The driver’s seat in particular offers six ways of electric adjustability and a massage function. You don’t see features like that very often on a tiny SUV.
Ahead of the driver there’s a leather-wrapped steering wheel. It’s surprisingly slim which makes it nice to hold. There are also paddle shifters on the back which could be more pronounced.
As standard there’s a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster which emulates analogue dials for the tachometer and speedometer. While the screen is high-res and clear, it’s interesting that Alfa Romeo chose to emulate dials in a digital way rather than just have physical ones, especially because you can’t change their appearance.
There’s a section in the middle that has a few different informative pages you can cycle through. I’d love to see more configurability given there’s limitless possibilities with a screen.
Moving across there’s another 10.25-inch screen for the central multimedia system. It certainly makes up for the lack of configurability in the digital instrument cluster and you can create and customise five different home page screens with a vast array of widgets. It’s fairly clever though at some point it feels like overkill.
There aren’t many menus or sub-menus to get lost in, however, the home button took me a while to locate. It’s above the touchscreen in a small pod of physical buttons alongside the hazard lights and door lock switch.
Underneath the touchscreen there’s a wireless phone charger, plus USB-C and USB-A charger ports.
The engine start button is mounted prominently on the centre tunnel with the lightswitch-like gear selector directly behind it. It’s mounted a little too close to the centre armrest which means craning my arm like a T-Rex to use it.
Other amenities up front include a deep console area with configurable cupholders, a sliding centre armrest with a cubby, as well as a tiny glovebox.
It’s very clear the second row of the Junior isn’t the focus. At 182cm tall I need to splay my legs on either side of the driver’s seat in my desired driving position. Despite this, toe room and headroom is adequate, even with the optional sunroof.
The second row isn’t a place anyone would want to spend too long in. Kids would likely suit better, plus there are top-tether points on all three rear seats and ISOFIX mounting points on the outboard rear seats.
Amenities are limited to a single USB-C port in the second row. There are no air vents or centre armrest. You need to make your own entertainment.
At the back there’s a hands-free power tailgate, which is rare for a vehicle of this size. Once it’s open, the available boot space is decent, especially for such a small car. There’s 415L of boot space with the rear seats upright.
The area itself is fine. There’s no load lip which allows you to get things in and out with ease, plus there’s a two-tier boot floor, allowing you to stow items under the floor away for prying eyes.
In terms of boot-related amenities there’s a 12V socket, a light and some hooks. It’s fairly standard back there.
Unfortunately there’s no spare wheel as standard in the Junior line-up. Instead there’s a tyre repair kit which is not super handy if you have a tyre blow out.
Thankfully you can purchase a space-saver spare wheel for the Junior Ibrida for $314 as a genuine accessory. It would be better if this came as standard given there’s the space for it.
Although the Leapmotor C10 REEV is a mid-size SUV, its interior space feels considerably larger and more spacious, especially in the second row. This is because the car is built on an EV architecture and has no driveline running down the middle, so interior space can be maximised.
Up front both seats are electrically adjustable, though neither of them offer adjustable thigh support which is a pain for people with longer legs, like myself, as it can sometimes feel like you’re slipping out of the seat. It doesn’t help that the seats are so soft and buttery.
I will say though, the heated front seats and steering wheel get warm almost instantly, which was great in the almost Arctic weather Melbourne has been experiencing recently.
While I can appreciate the minimalist design of the dashboard, from a practical standpoint it’s a huge pain. There’s virtually no physical switchgear beyond the indicator and gear selector stalks, with the majority of the controls built into the touchscreen multimedia system.
Want to adjust your side-mirror position, the air-vent direction, or drive mode? That all needs to be done via the touchscreen. Sure there are some buttons on the steering wheel which help with functions like adjusting the volume and cruise control, but it doesn’t do them all.
This is incredibly frustrating because when you do interact with the touchscreen on the move, the driver attention monitor chimes at you for not keeping your eyes on the road ahead.
Add to this, the touchscreen runs Leapmotor’s own operating system. Admittedly it does run really smoothly, but it doesn’t offer any smartphone mirroring functionality, which is a negative for some.
I imagine you would get used to using the selection of inbuilt third-party apps if you own this car, but I find the connected satellite navigation app particularly painful because it would send me on a slower route. Having Google Maps or Waze would be much more intuitive.
Up front there are two cupholders next to the wireless charging pad, a storage shelf under the centre console, a massive centre console box, a mediocre glovebox, a USB-A and USB-C port, and a 12V socket.
Moving to the second row, it’s arguably the best place to be in the C10 REEV. There’s oodles of space on offer and a completely flat floor.
At a leggy 182cm tall, I had plenty of legroom behind my driving position and also plenty to look at thanks to the huge fixed panoramic glass sunroof which, thankfully, has an electric block-out blind if the sun gets too bright.
The second-row bench feels like a big, soft couch in the best way. It’s leans backwards, allowing you to lay back and relax as a passenger.
One of the few things that detract from the space is high floor, due to the high-voltage battery pack placement. It makes you feel like your knees sit higher than normal.
Second-row amenities include centre console-mounted air vents, USB-A and USB-C ports, seat-back map pockets, door pockets, and a fold-down armrest. If you’re looking for cupholders, they’re right next to the air vents on the centre console.
Like the C10 EV, you can fold the front seats backwards to create an almost-flat space for lounging. You need to remove the front seat headrests to do this, but once you do it’s a cool novelty to show to your friends, or use while charging.
Around the back the tailgate opens quickly and quietly. Once it’s open the space on offer is decent, but not class-leading.
Leapmotor claims there’s 546 litres of boot space on offer with the rear seats upright, which is 35 litres less than the C10 EV. Folding the rear seats expands this space to 1375 litres.
Boot-related amenities include a retractable cargo cover, a light, some bag hooks, as well as two boot floor storage compartments for things like the charging cable.
Unsurprisingly, there’s no spare wheel of any kind in the C10 REEV. Instead you get a tyre repair kit under the boot floor, which is handy if you have a slow leak but not if you have a complete tyre blowout.
The Junior Ibrida is the “entry-level” variant and has an asking price of $45,900 before on-road costs, which is fairly steep for such a small vehicle.
Depending on what you class as a rival for this car you can either see it as good or poor value. It’s cheaper than the likes of the Lexus LBX and around the same price as a related Peugeot 2008.
However, Chinese rivals like the Chery Tiggo 4 and the MG ZS, albeit slightly larger, are virtually half the price. But they lack the primo Alfa badge.
Despite this, the Junior comes fully loaded as standard in Australia so there’s plenty of kit.
Standard equipment includes 18-inch alloy wheels, matrix LED headlights, a hands-free power tailgate, two-tone black roof, dual 10.25-inch screens, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charger, single-zone climate control, heated front seats, as well as black cloth and synthetic leather upholstery.
The only options available include a sunroof and premium paint. Both of these cost $1990 each.
Just like the EV, the Leapmotor C10 REEV is offered in two spec grades – Style and Design. Our test vehicle is the latter, which is top-spec.
Pricing for the C10 REEV starts at $43,888 before on-road costs, and extends to $47,888 before on-road costs. This is $2000 cheaper than the C10 EV.
It’s also firmly in the price bracket of plug-in hybrid rivals like the BYD Sealion 6, Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV and Jaecoo J7 SHS.
Standard equipment across the C10 REEV line-up mirrors the EV equivalents. On the base Style you get 18-inch alloy wheels, a fixed panoramic glass sunroof, automatic LED headlights, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a 14.6-inch touchscreen multimedia system, a 12-speaker sound system, synthetic leather upholstery and powered front seats.
It’s a pretty high level of equipment for a base-model vehicle, especially for the price point.
Moving up to the C10 REEV Design adds 20-inch alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, an LED rear light bar, a power tailgate, multi-colour interior ambient lighting, a heated steering wheel, silicone leather upholstery, and heated and ventilated seats.
While this does sound like a lot of standard equipment, there are some notable omissions. One of the most obvious is the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto across the entire range.
Leapmotor does however include apps like Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Deezer, Zoom, connected satellite navigation, and a browser app built into the touchscreen multimedia system as standard. TikTok was even added with a recent over-the-air software update.
Another feature omission is a regular key with buttons to unlock and lock the car. Instead you get a key card you need to tap on the driver’s side mirror to unlock and lock the vehicle, then tap on the wireless charger pad to start up the car.
You can also use your smartphone as a key, but it’s worth noting that you can only connect one smartphone key to the car at a time. This might be a pain if you share the car because one of you will need to use the key card instead of their phone.
It’s worth noting the Leapmotor smartphone app also gives you access to a range of remote functions, like battery charging, climate control, locking and unlocking, among others.
The Junior Ibrida is powered by a 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine with 48V mild-hybrid assistance.
In the six-speed dual-clutch transmission is a 21kW electric motor that’s fed by a 0.9kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
It’s worth noting that this is the exact same engine set-up that features in a growing number of Peugeot models locally, including hybrid versions of the 2008, 3008, 5008, 308 and 408.
Total system outputs are 107kW and 230Nm which is far from class-leading. Alfa Romeo claims the 0-100km/h sprint takes 8.9 seconds.
The key difference with the Leapmotor C10 REEV compared to the C10 EV is what’s under the bonnet.
Both feature an electric motor that drives the rear wheels, however the C10 REEV’s is slightly detuned to produce 158kW, compared to 160kW in the C10 EV. Torque for both is 320Nm.
Both also have a high-voltage lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, but the C10 REEV's is smaller at 28.4kWh, compared to 69.9kWh in the C10 EV.
However, under the bonnet of the C10 REEV is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that acts as a generator to charge up the battery pack.
Unlike typical plug-in hybrids, the engine cannot directly power the wheels at all. It’s a similar concept to Nissan’s e-Power hybrid system, but with a considerably larger battery pack.
In addition to three driving modes, there are four ‘energy drive’ modes. EV+ doesn’t kick in the petrol engine generator until the battery charge drops below nine per cent; EV doesn’t start the battery until the battery charge drops below 25 per cent; Fuel, which can hold the battery charge or use the engine to generate charge up to 80 per cent; and Power+ which constantly has the engine charging the battery.
Leapmotor claims the C10 REEV can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 8.5 seconds, which is one second slower than the C10 EV.
It’s worth calling out the C10 REEV is around 30kg lighter than the C10 EV, but with a tare mass of almost 2000kg, it’s far from lightweight.
The Junior Ibrida has a claimed fuel consumption of just 4.1L/100km, which is solid for a mild-hybrid vehicle.
There’s a 44L fuel tank which requires a minimum of 95 RON premium unleaded petrol.
During our 200km drive loop on the launch which consisted of mixed and spirited drive, we returned an average of 5.4L/100km. However, during one section with fewer twists and turns we saw an average of 4.0L/100km, which is incredible.
Using our as-tested fuel consumption there’s a theoretical range of 815km.
Leapmotor claims the C10 REEV has an electric range of up to 170km, according to NEDC testing.
All up with a single battery charge and full 50-litre fuel tank, the company claims you can travel a total of up to 1150km, also according to NEDC testing.
In EV mode, Leapmotor claims the C10 REEV has an energy consumption of 15.2kWh/100km. In practice during my testing I saw an average of around 13kWh/100km, which is fantastic and almost Tesla-like in terms of efficiency.
This theoretically means you can travel 218km on a full battery, but it's worth noting the battery pack will never fully deplete its charge.
Combined fuel consumption is claimed to be 0.9L/100km, though your fuel consumption will depend heavily on how much and how often you charge the car.
During my testing I tried out multiple different drive modes, including one section where I kept the car in a battery charge hold mode called ‘Fuel’. During this I saw an average of 6.7L/100km, which isn’t fantastic for a hybrid.
With this as-tested fuel consumption figure you can theoretically travel 820km on petrol power alone. Adding the theoretical EV range, you get a theoretical total range of 1013km.
You’re able to AC charge the C10 REEV at rates up to 6.6kW, which is notably slower than the C10 EV (11kW). The DC fast-charging rate is also notably slower at 65kW, compared to 84kW in the C10 EV.
It’s worth noting, however, Leapmotor claims you can DC charge the battery from 30 to 80 per cent in the C10 REEV in 18 minutes, whereas it takes 30 minutes in the C10 EV.
Starting up the Junior Ibrida, the turbo three-cylinder engine roars to life with an off-beat, thrum-y sound.
If the engine is bone cold, it’ll stay on to get the fluids up to operating temperature. Once this happens it will happily switch off.
Initial acceleration is typically done on electric power alone and if you don’t press the accelerator too hard it’ll stay in EV mode at city speeds. It’s very electric-heavy for a car that’s technically only a 48V mild-hybrid.
At many points the engine switches off at speeds up to 80km/h, especially if you’re travelling on flat ground. Even at 100-110km/h, it’ll switch off if coasting.
Something to note is the electric motor is part of the six-speed dual-clutch transmission which means you can sometimes feel gear changes even when driving in EV mode. You do get used to this.
A positive of the electric motor being in the dual-clutch is it helps iron out awkward pauses and jerks that this type of transmission typically presents. It’s still not perfect though.
If you press the accelerator harder or the battery charge gets lower, it’ll inevitably fire up the three-cylinder engine. It makes a rorty note during acceleration which is fun to listen to.
The transition from electric to petrol is generally seamless. There can be a slight shudder when the three-cylinder first fires up at low revs, but I’ve experienced much worse in other cars.
There’s only one setting for regenerative braking, which is fairly strong and almost one-pedal-driving like. It takes a bit to get used to the feeling. You do still need to put your foot on the brake pedal to come to a complete stop.
With the combination of the petrol engine and electric motor, acceleration is far from break-neck but it’s far from slow. The fact it doesn’t have much power actually makes this car more endearing, especially because it’s rewarding to drive.
The steering in the Junior is communicative and direct. It's a joy to take corners in as the feel errs more on the lighter side. It almost has a Mini-like go-kart feel as the car feels so nimble.
Additionally, the ride is composed and settled, even at higher speeds on rough roads, which is rare for small vehicles. This is likely because the Junior only has 18-inch alloy wheels with a decent amount of tyre sidewall, rather than the low-profile 20-inch units that are offered in the Veloce Elettrica overseas.
On the highway the Junior’s cabin is surprisingly quiet. You can’t hear the three-cylinder once you’ve reached your set speed and there’s also minimal wind/tyre noise.
Lastly, the safety systems do a good job at working but not being annoying. The worst culprit is the intelligent speed limit assist which chimes when you go over the signposted speed limit.
If it does grate you too much, you can easily switch it off in a dedicated advanced driver assist system (ADAS) menu that can be reached via a shortcut button near the hazard lights. It’s as easy as that.
Setting off in the Leapmotor C10 REEV, it’s surprising just how much it’s like the EV version.
The rear-mounted electric motor provides all the power, so you get a zippy feel from a standstill and at lower speeds. The acceleration is gradual and won’t snap your neck like some EVs.
This car is beautifully quiet and serene in pure EV mode. The light steering and tight turning circle also makes this an easy car to drive and park in the city.
However, the pedals feel like they’re mounted too high, which makes you awkwardly bend your ankles back to press the pedals comfortably. This can be tedious in stop-start traffic.
Add to this the disjointed interaction between the regenerative braking system and traditional friction brakes. There were many times where I’d be pressing the brake pedal and as soon as the car got below 5km/h it would stop dead. It’s not the most pleasant feeling and something I never mastered during my three-day loan.
Depending on how often you charge up the car’s battery pack, it’s possible that you might never have the 1.5-litre petrol engine kick in during your daily commute. Even if it does when the battery charge gets down low enough, you likely would not be able to tell.
The first few times it happened I genuinely had no clue the engine had started. There’s no jolt through the accelerator or dip in acceleration. The only way I found out was by going into the vehicle status menu on the touchscreen and seeing the engine temperature and revs in the top left-hand corner. It really is that quiet.
When the engine is charging up the battery at city speeds, it’ll rarely rev above 1800rpm, which at that point it’s imperceptible in the cabin. Out on the open road however it can creep up to 2500rpm, which then makes its presence known a little more. It's still nowhere as buzzy as a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, however.
For a brief period I tried out the Power+ mode on some country roads and I found the engine really did come alive at this point, and not in a good way. It would frequently rev above 3000rpm, and the droning engine sound would enter the cabin.
The Leapmotor C10 REEV is generally a nippy car, but when the battery charge does get down it can limit the amount of power the electric motor sends out.
Below 25 per cent a charge warning light comes up on the digital instrument cluster, and unless you’re in Power+ mode, it limits the power output to around 100kW. It’s not terribly slow, but if you’re needing to overtake, it can notably slow the process down.
In terms of dynamics, Leapmotor claims the C10’s suspension was tuned by Maserati engineers. Like the C10 EV I drove previously, however, the ride errs on the comfort side and big bumps can unsettle the car.
In the twisties the car is also far from a dynamic weapon. It tends to get the leans in the bends and can wallow around when changing directions rapidly. The steering also has no feel whatsoever, making it feel like you’re piloting a car in a video game.
For context though, none of its direct rivals are fantastic from a high-speed dynamics standpoint, so it’s almost par for the course.
The Alfa Romeo Junior hasn’t been crash-tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP just yet.
Standard safety kit includes six airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, front, side and rear parking sensors, as well as a reversing camera.
Some features missing from the line-up include rear cross-traffic alert, plus a proper surround-view camera. With the latter, however, the reversing camera stitches together when reversing to create a surround-view image, much like Peugeots.
Junior owners get 12 months of complimentary access to connected services which allows for things like SOS emergency calling and live traffic satellite navigation, plus a range of remote functionality through a companion smartphone app.
Unlike the Leapmotor C10 EV, the C10 REEV hasn’t been awarded an ANCAP safety rating just yet. It also hasn’t been crash tested by Euro NCAP.
Standard safety equipment includes seven airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, driver attention monitoring, lane-keep assist, lane centring, adaptive cruise control, a surround-view camera, and rear parking sensors.
A notable absence on the safety equipment list is front parking sensors. This isn’t offered on any Leapmotor C10.
As noted above, the C10 REEV offers a range of connected services. Owners get three years of complimentary access to a range of remote functions through the Leapmotor smartphone app.
In terms of the safety system’s functionality, this C10 REEV's does feel less intrusive than the C10 EV I drove back at the vehicle’s launch in February 2025, however that was a very low bar as they were horrific.
It’s worth noting Leapmotor has made some tweaks to the safety systems with over-the-air software updates, and more are likely on the way.
There are still plenty of chimes that come from the driver attention monitor, though the intensity seems to have been dialled down. It still struggles to see my eyes, though, when I’m wearing sunglasses.
The intelligent speed limit assist chimes incessantly the moment you start travelling over what the car thinks is the sign-posted speed limit. It frequently picks up the wrong speed limit as it only uses the cameras and not sat-nav data.
Thankfully, both of these safety systems can be quickly turned off with a swipe-down control centre-style menu on the touchscreen. Annoyingly, however, they default back on every time you drive the car.
The adaptive cruise control system activates in the same way a Tesla does (with two downward pulls of the column-mounted gear selector). When active the acceleration efforts can feel jerky, and it’ll brake heavily even if a car is way off in the distance. I much prefer driving myself.
Lastly, the lane-keep assist and emergency lane-keep assist systems continue to act poorly, especially on tighter roads with poor lane markings. The moment you drift off the centre of the lane the system vibrates and kicks at the steering wheel, almost making you fight against the resistance to regain steering control.
It’s not a pleasant feeling, and the system cannot be completely turned off on the move. You need to be stopped and in park.
The AEB system engages from 5km/h, while the lane-keep system kicks in from 60km/h.
ISOFIX child-seat anchorage points are fitted to the outboard rear seats, along with three top-tether points.
Like other Alfa Romeos, the Junior is covered by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
There’s also five years of roadside assistance as standard. An additional 12 months of coverage can be added for the lifetime of the vehicle every time you service at an authorised Alfa Romeo dealer.
Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. The first five services are capped and total $3105.84, which averages out to around $620 each.
This seems pretty expensive for such a small car, but it's only a touch pricier than the Lexus LBX.
It’s clear maintaining this vehicle with its dual-clutch automatic transmission and mild-hybrid components is costly in the long run.
Leapmotor quietly made some changes to its ownership structure for model year 2025 (MY25) cars.
All 2025 Leapmotor C10s, including the REEV, are covered by a six-year, 150,000km warranty. It was previously seven years, 160,000km for MY24 cars.
The high-voltage battery warranty remains unchanged at eight years, 160,000km.
Some key differences, however, are eight years of roadside assistance (previously five years), as well as eight years of capped-price servicing (previously five years).
The Leapmotor C10 REEV requires logbook servicing every 12 months or 10,000km, whichever comes first, which is notably shorter than the C10 EV’s 12 month/20,000km intervals. This will likely add up if you travel long distances.
Capped-price servicing for the C10 REEV totals $4000 after eight years or 80,000km, whichever comes first. That averages out to $500 per service. Ouch…
For context, servicing the C10 EV for eight years or 160,000km, whichever comes first, costs a total of $3000. That’s $375 per service, which is still a little on the high side for an EV.