The plug-in hybrid you barely need to plug in! Seven-seat Leapmotor D19 promises epic EV range
Leapmotor’s push into Australia could soon include a big, six- or seven-seat flagship PHEV SUV with enough electric-only range to make the daily plug-in almost optional.
The new Leapmotor D19 just launched in China as the brand’s largest and most luxurious model yet, is potentuially only nine months away fron Australia.
It is offered with battery-electric power or as a range-extender plug-in hybrid with a seriously over-sized battery pack.
READ MORE: Leapmotor B05 Ultra hot hatch EV revealed: Rear-wheel, sub six-second 0-100, what’s not to like?
READ MORE: Leapmotor D19 targets “crazy champions” with 400kW electric 4×4
READ MORE: Flagship Leapmotor D19 SUV unveiled: EV and range-extender hybrid powertrain options for three-row BYD Sealion 8 and Kia EV9 fighter
And it is the PHEV-style version that could matter most here, with the D19 REEV using a massive 80.3kWh battery (which is bigger than the packs fitted to plenty of full EVs) to deliver up to 500km of electric-only driving under China’s CLTC test cycle.
That number would almost certainly shrink under Australia’s stricter WLTP-style testing, but even something in the 400km zone would make the D19 a very different kind of plug-in hybrid.
For most owners, that would mean days, or weeks, of driving without the petrol engine needing to fire up, and without having to plug in.
The D19 is no small thing. It measures more than 5.2 metres long and almost two metres wide, with either six- or seven-seat layouts, putting it firmly in large SUV territory.
Leapmotor has not confirmed the D19 for Australia, but the brand says the model is already being studied for overseas markets, including ours.
“In Australia, it could work,” said Francesco Giacalone, Leapmotor International’s global head of brand strategy, product and marketing.
“The Middle East, of course, is a market. South America is interested.
“Definitely it’s a flagship right now. And wherever there is appetite, we will try to be there.”
Logical rivals for the D19 in Australia could include the Toyota LandCruiser, incoming Nissan Patrol, the Denza B8 and a panapoly of luxury SUVs that the Leapmotor would undoubtedly undercut on price.
The timing could be surprisingly quick, too. Giacalone said localisation for overseas markets would take nine to 12 months after the model’s Chinese launch, suggesting an Australian arrival could theoretically happen as early as 2027 if the green light is given soon.
That would give Leapmotor a very different kind of product to sit above the C10 and B10 SUVs, and the B05 warm hatch that will arrive later this year.
The range-extender version uses a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine as a generator, feeding power to the battery and electric motors rather than behaving like a conventional hybrid system.
Total system outputs are a claimed 300kW and 520Nm, with Leapmotor quoting a combined driving range of about 1300km on a full battery and tank.
There are full-electric versions, too, including dual- and tri-motor models. The most powerful version produces a claimed 540kW and 745Nm, with a sub-four-second 0-100km/h sprint and up to 720km of CLTC driving range.
Chinese pricing for the range-extender starts from 210,800 yuan, or about $45,000 at current exchange rates, though any Australian price would be higher than a straight calculation.
