Leapmotor B05: could this be Stellantis’ best Volkswagen ID.3 rival?

The upcoming Munich Motor Show is playing host to some big new car reveals and another name to add to the list is the Leapmotor B05. 

It’s not a name most Europeans will be familiar with, but the Stellantis-backed Chinese brand has quickly expanded its line up this year with the T03 city car, C10 SUV, B10 crossover and now this - the all-electric B05 family hatchback. 

Expected to cost under £30,000 (which would undercut the Volkswagen ID.3 and Peugeot e-308), the B05 was originally confirmed in Spring this year. Now, these new shadowy teaser images offer us our first official look at the hatchback’s design before the covers come off in Munich this month. 

Leapmotor is carving out a clear design language with its latest cars (apart from the decidedly different T03). The B05 continues the themes with slender LED headlight strips sitting beside a full-width panel mimicking a grille. There’s rounded surfacing throughout with flush-fitting door handles and a full-width rear light panel. These teaser pictures tell us to expect a similar design to that of the B10, albeit with a lower profile and more rakish roofline. 

For the B05 we should see the same underpinnings used on the B10 - which we’ve already driven in prototype form. That means Leapmotor’s latest ‘Leap 3.5’ architecture with cell-to-chassis technology (the battery is integrated into the chassis structure for increased rigidity), plus a range of over 260 miles thanks to a 67.1kWh battery.

In the B10 there’s a single, rear-mounted electric motor producing 215bhp and 240Nm of torque for a 0-62mph time of 6.8 seconds. Expect slightly better acceleration for the smaller B05 should it get the same powertrain. 

Another area where we expect the B05 to match the B10 is the interior. We’re yet to see inside the B05, though we should find the B10’s 14.6-inch ‘floating touchscreen’ dominating the dashboard, supplemented by an 8.8-inch driver’s display. If the rest of the Leapmotor range is anything to go by (even including the sub-£15K T03), equipment levels will be high with the likes of wireless phone chargers and a panoramic sunroof potentially coming as standard. 

Leapmotor senior VP Li Cao previously told us the firm’s new range of B-badged models is “born for the youth” – with the company specifically targeting a younger audience than it has with its existing cars. We’ll have to wait and see what that means for the new B05, because while it’ll be shown off in Munich this month, sales of the all-electric hatchback aren’t expected until 2026 - when it’ll be joined by the A10 small SUV and A05 supermini later in the year.

Now you can buy a car through our network of top dealers around the UK. Search for the latest deals…