Leapmotor B05 Ultra Brief Drive: Chinese brand’s first hot hatch is a 180kW move from vanilla to more exciting flavours
The Leapmotor B05 Ultra is a change of pace for the Chinese brand. Actually, that’s underselling it. It’s not just a change of pace, it’s a change of direction, a change of destination, a change of underwear, a change of just about everything.
Until now, the brand’s global play has been built around sensible things, SUV-shaped things. The kind of things bought by people who like to compare Costco bargains at BBQs.
And the B05 Ultra is not that. It’s not an SUV, it’s not especially practical, and it’s more about performance than anything else.
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This is Leapmotor’s electric hot(ish) hatch, which in regular guise (the one that will be arriving in Australia towards the end of this year) makes 160kW. This Ultra version, which will likely follow it as flagship a little further down the line, dials that up 180kW and 320Nm.
It’s also rear-wheel drive, promises a perfect 50:50 weight distribution, and its ride and handling has been workshopped not in China, but by Stellantis’ suspension gurus in Europe.
We’ve also driven it, albeit very briefly, on a closed test circuit near Leapmotor’s headquarters in China. Before we go on, I’m going to need you to sign two important waivers.
The first is that while the B05 is confirmed for Australia around the end of the year, the Ultra is not yet locked in. It is more likely to follow later as a range-topping, brand-building flagship. The second is even more important; the car we drove is not the car Australia will get. And that, friends, is likely a good thing.
Our market will take the European version of the B05, and Leapmotor says that car is substantially different from the Chinese-market version sampled here. Not just different in tune, either, but different in the way it’s bolted together. It’s designed to feel firmer, sportier and more engaging than the domestic version.
“We have, after some assessments done in November, lowered the hook point of the suspension arms on the rear, and lowered the centre of gravity, and the car has totally changed behaviour,” the brand says.
“So if you drive a B05 in Europe versus B05 for China, it’s totally different.”
So, with all that in mind, what are we dealing with?
For starters, the B05 looks like no Leapmotor that has come before it. The C10 and B10 SUVs have copped criticism in some corners for looking a little too vanilla, though I’ve always thought both were cleaner than some Chinese brands’ far busier efforts.
The B05 isn’t Vanilla, though. Its 4490mm in length, 1880mm in width and 1510mm in height (2735mm wheelbase) and looks low, sleek and swept back, with a sporty stance. The Ultra turns it up further with a bigger front splitter, a rear wing, grey-look 19-inch alloys and gloss-black side skirts.
Inside, the sporting theme continues, but not at the expense of the usual equipment overload. The front seats are trimmed in a sportier-feeling fabric and bring heating, ventilation and massage functions, while a 14.6-inch central screen and an 8.8-inch driver display deliver infotainment and key driving data.
As with plenty of Chinese-market cars, the screen does a lot of the heavy lifting, and we’ll need to wait for the European-spec car to see exactly how the software, menus and equipment translate to Australia.
Now, the drive.
And again, let’s keep our expectations bolted firmly to the floor. Our test loop was short, closed and about as thrilling as reversing out of a driveway. There may have been a corner somewhere, but if there was, I didn’t see it.
Still, even from limited wheel time, the B05 Ultra immediately feels like the most convincing Leapmotor product I’ve driven so far. It feels more buttoned-down, and more polished, than the other products in the portfolio.
The power delivery is smooth and strong rather than properly savage, with enough shove to make the B05 feel brisk without ever crossing into performance-car territory.
But… the car we drove also felt a little too Chinese in terms of its on-road behaviour. The ride felt too spongey, helping to produce more body roll than you’d expect of a hot hatch on the slalom course, and making steering inputs feel doughy and slow to respond.
That said, this is where the European-spec car becomes important. If Leapmotor’s claims about the revised suspension geometry and the sportier feel prove true, then the version heading for our shores should be a contender in the warm electric hatch segment.
A rear-drive electric hatch with an 800v architecture, decent power, a sportier flagship grade and European ride and handling input are good ingredients, especially if Leapmotor can get the price right.
But for that, dear reader, we’ll have to wait and see.
Leapmotor B05 Ultra price and specifications
Price: TBA
Basics: EV, 5 seats, 5 doors, hatch, RWD
Electric Range: Up tp 600kms (CLTC)
Battery capacity: 56.2kWh or 67.1kWh LFP
Battery warranty: TBA
Energy consumption: 13.2kWh per 100km
Powertrain: Single rear-mounted electric motor producing 180kW/320Nm
AC charging: Unstated
DC charging: Unstated
0-100km/h: 5.9s (claimed)
