Leapmotor C10 vs MG ZS

What's the difference?

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.

The MG ZS Essence with the 1.5-litre petrol engine has many strengths - price and value for money, practicality and space, good looks… and the only area where it really struggles to match its rivals is its underpowered engine. 

The good news is the Essence also comes with a turbo engine and while this isn’t a race car by any means, turbocharging is a way to add the oomph needed in a car this size. 

Stepping up to the MG ZS Essence Turbo costs an extra $2000, but if you can make the budget stretch you’ll have the complete package of value, looks, practicality, safety and much better performance for more enjoyable driving.

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 ZS's good looks is another strength.

The new-gen ZS arrived in Australia late in 2024 and this petrol version landed in February 2025. The styling looks more expensive and premium than its price tag would suggest. The sleek nose, the refined tail-lights, a pleasing profile all make for a good looking small SUV.

There are many interesting elements in the design - the grille and its aggressively looking flanking 'air intakes', the crease through the door panels, the little fin that meets the tail-light.

Squint and it looks like a mini Ford Territory. Sort of…

The cabin of the ZS Essence is equally refined with a modern design and soft touchpoints throughout. It’s a minimalist and spacious place free from button clutter.

The ZS is 4430mm long, 1818mm wide and 1635mm high. Ground clearance is 161mm, in case you’ve been lying in bed wondering.

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.

Practicality is a big strength, too, with a proximity key that’ll unlock the car when you touch the door handle, and a cabin with good legroom and headroom even for me at 189cm tall.

There's also a wonderfully simple charging pad for your phone - it's a large area on the centre console which works well in terms of connection but also in terms of wasy access. Many rivals will hide phone chargers away is small crevices that make them hard to extract or even pop in.

You'll find four USB ports, too plus a 12V charger, too.

Clever storage like a shelf built into the dash for loose objects, four cupholders and big door pockets are also on hand.

The boot is also a decent size for a small SUV at 443 litres which is bigger than many rivals, including the Subaru Crosstrek.

The MG ZS’s biggest strength is its affordability and the petrol variant in the Essence grade we tested is a relative bargain at $29,990, drive-away. The entry-grade Excite is even cheaper at $26,990, drive-away.

The Essence offers more standard equipment though and is worth the extra three thousand if you can afford it. Coming standard are LED headlights, 17-inch alloys wheels, silver roof rails, a panoramic sunroof, proximity unlocking, push button start, a 12.3-inch media screen, sat nav, digital radio, six-speaker audio, heated front seats and a leather steering wheel.

That’s good value, and we can testify the LED headlights are excellent for a night-time country road, the proximity unlocking is hard to live without and the heated seats do get very warm.

But the stereo’s sound is 'meh' and the shade on the panoramic roof could be thicker to block out the intense Aussie sun.

Also the seat upholstery is vinyl and while it is easy to clean and looks great, it doesn’t have the nicest feel to it. Still, the car is $29,990 and is better value than the Kia Seltos and a few other rivals.

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.

Okay, we've listed a lot of strengths for the MG ZS but the engine isn’t one of them. The 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine makes 81kW and 140Nm.

Really, power needs to be at least 100kW and torque closer to 200Nm in something weighing 1330kg otherwise acceleration is going to feel woeful - which it is.

Seriously, the first time I tried to overtake I looked down to see if the handbrake was still on.

Not helping performance is a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) which, while good for fuel economy, seems to have trouble getting power to the road effectively.

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.

Official fuel consumption for the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 6.7L/100km, which isn’t outstanding, especially compared to the hybrid version which can get 4.7L/100km.

Our own testing after city driving and motorways saw 7.9L/100km. Not the most efficient engine in the range, so if it’s saving petrol you want then go for the hybrid, or better still, the electric version of the ZS.

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 lack of oomph from the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine affects the driving experience of the ZS. This lack of accleration is hampered not just by the low outputs of the engine but also by the transmission, which is a CVT and these don't favour getting power to the road as effectively as torque convertor transmissions.

Handling is good for this class, with the ZS feeling stable under most conditions. Steering is excellent, with a nice weight and accuracy to it.

And while the ZS is no prestige car, the ride is comfortable, composed and better than many small SUVs at this price point.

Other pluses include its smaller size which makes it easy to manoeuvre in city traffic and park in tight spaces.

The final driving score however is dragged down by the engine and transmission which fail to provide the acceleration needed to easily overtake, merge or move quickly when needed at stop signs or out of car spaces on busy roads.

Safety is a strength, as well, with the MG ZS scoring the maximum five-star ANCAP assessment. Safety tech is abundant with AEB, lane keeping assistance, blind spot warning and rear cross traffic alert.

You’ll also find a clear 360-degree camera view, seat belt reminders and adaptive cruise control.

For child seats there are two ISOFIX mounts and three top tether points across the second row.

A space saver spare wheel is located under the boot floor.

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.

Ownership costs are a strength, too. The MG ZS is covered by a 10-year/250,000km warranty.

MG’s ‘Precise Price’ service plan locks in the cost of servicing with 12-month/15,000km intervals and a cost of about $1200 over five years.