With a budget of $20,000, what kind of range-extended medium-sized electric SUV Car can you buy? Leapmotor might be a good choice.

If your budget is around $20,000 and you want to choose a range-extended medium-sized SUV, it’s actually not that easy because there aren’t many options in this price range. After all, when it comes to this level, there are more factors to consider. However, there is a brand that doesn’t follow the usual path and has launched two products in this细分 market at once. These are the two siblings of the Leapmotor C10 and C11.

In 2023, the monthly delivery volume of the Leapmotor C11 exceeded 10,000 units, and the cumulative sales exceeded 160,000 units, ranking first in the reputation of new energy vehicles of the same level. This report card is really impressive. And today’s protagonist is the new Leapmotor C11. The Leapmotor C11 has both range-extended and pure electric versions available, and the one we tested this time is the range-extended version.

**Exterior: Minor Changes, Solid and Reliable**

Compared with the old version, the exterior of the new Leapmotor C11 hasn’t changed much. In this era when everyone is pursuing a sense of technology and futurism, the design of the Leapmotor C11 looks rather steady and can be said to take a low-key route. Compared with the rather radical look of other new energy vehicles, it has a bit more of an honest and low-key temperament, giving people a feeling of being solid and reliable.

The new Leapmotor C11 adopts the “Four-Leaf Clover” central integrated electronic and electrical architecture. This design not only improves the bandwidth of data transmission but also reduces the number of wire harnesses in the whole vehicle, which is a major trend in the future development of automobiles. The open front grille at the front of the vehicle makes it easy to recognize its identity as a new energy vehicle at a glance. Coupled with the through-type design below and the full LED headlight group equipped with various mainstream functions, the whole vehicle looks both stylish and full of a sense of technology.

The side design of the Leapmotor C11 is very three-dimensional, with a dynamic waistline design. The lines of the roof and the rear are full and smooth, looking quite powerful. The body size of the new vehicle is 4,780/1,905/1,675 mm in length, width and height respectively, and the wheelbase is 2,930 mm.

Both the premium version and the intelligent driving version of the range-extended model are equipped with 255/45 R20 tires. In the same class, this size is really large and matches the vehicle body well. The tires are Ventus S1 evo3 ev of Hankook, with a price of about $1,100.

The charging port of the new vehicle is located at the rear right side of the vehicle. Under fast charging, it takes 30 minutes to charge from 30% to 80%. The external discharge power is 3.3 kW, which can handle outdoor camping scenarios well.

The rear of the new vehicle has a full and大气 shape, equipped with a through-type taillight. While increasing the sense of technology, it also widens the visual effect of the rear. In addition, a hidden exhaust design is also equipped at the bottom, and the rear logo is still Leapmotor C11.

**Interior: Upgraded and Standardized with the 8295 Chip**

The interior upgrade of the Leapmotor C11 is full of highlights. In particular, the center console is equipped with three horizontally arranged large screens, with sizes of 10.25 inches, 14.6 inches and 10.25 inches respectively. Such a design not only gives a strong sense of technology but also has high practicability. Coupled with the two-spoke steering wheel and oval air-conditioning vents, the design style of the entire interior is unique and makes people remember it at a glance.

The three large screens are still the current standard configuration. In particular, the size of the screen on the center console has been upgraded to 14.6 inches, looking more大气. Moreover, it is also equipped with the currently most advanced 5nm Snapdragon 8295 chip, which is rare among vehicles of the same level. Compared with the previous 8155 chip, the 8295 chip has several times improvement in computing ability and 3D rendering performance, which can make the intelligent interaction experience of the whole vehicle more smooth and efficient.

The 10.25-inch entertainment screen for the front passenger can play videos and songs and can also push the target navigation to the center console screen. It’s worth mentioning that the resolution of this screen reaches 1920 * 720, which is also at the forefront among vehicles of the same level.

The voice assistant has also been optimized and can better complete tasks such as voice recognition, continuous voice commands and visible-to-speak.

In terms of practicability, the vehicle is equipped with a 15W wireless charging function for mobile phones and also provides multiple USB interfaces, making it much more convenient to charge mobile phones.

The front seats are equipped with automatic heating and automatic ventilation functions. The driver’s seat supports 6-way electric adjustment, and the front passenger’s seat supports 4-way electric adjustment. The front row of the vehicle we tested also has an 8-point SPA massage function.

The rear seats are very wide and have good support. You won’t feel tired at all during long trips. Moreover, the rear seats are also equipped with seat heating function, which is quite friendly to rear passengers in winter.

I personally really like the frameless door design of the Leapmotor C11. This was once a high-end configuration only available on a few models, and it feels really cool. Moreover, the front row uses double-layer laminated glass, which can make the interior of the vehicle quieter and improve the driving comfort.

In addition, a clever design has been made for the storage slots on the door panels on both sides of the front row: without affecting the placement of water bottles, a cover plate has been added, which not only makes it more practical but also gives a better sense of private space in the vehicle. So wives should be careful, as your husbands may hide their private money under it.

**Handling: Smooth and Stable Suspension Performance**

In terms of power, the range-extended version we tested this time is driven by a 1.5L range-extended engine with a maximum power of 70 kW, and the rear-mounted single motor has a maximum power of 200 kW and a peak torque of 360 N·m.

In terms of battery packs, depending on different configurations, it is equipped with battery packs of 30.1 kWh and 43.74 kWh respectively. The pure electric range of the premium version model we tested this time under the CLTC working condition is 300 km, and the comprehensive range is 1,210 km.

In terms of the driving experience, with a pure electric range of 300 km, if you buy this vehicle, you can completely drive it as a pure electric vehicle. Basically, 300 kilometers can cover the commute to and from work in first- and second-tier cities on weekdays, enabling you to charge it once a week.

We also conducted a simple pure electric test on the vehicle we tested this time. After driving 38 km in pure electric mode on national roads and mountainous sections, the displayed pure electric mileage dropped by 36 km, with an achievement rate of 105.6%, which is quite good. It should be noted here that since the temperature outside the vehicle was suitable and we only turned on the air-conditioning ventilation mode, you can refer to this achievement rate according to your own vehicle usage environment.

Most of the time, you will feel like you are driving a pure electric vehicle when driving this vehicle. Due to the characteristics of the electric motor, whether starting from a standstill or overtaking at medium and high speeds, it can give you a particularly smooth and easy driving experience.

The acceleration and smoothness of this vehicle are excellent. When driving this vehicle in the daily comfort mode, you won’t feel a particularly fierce acceleration feeling. Even if you step on the accelerator pedal a bit deeper, its acceleration response won’t be too abrupt and won’t make the people in the vehicle feel uncomfortable. This comfort-oriented tuning for family vehicles makes the acceleration process very linear, which is definitely worthy of praise in daily driving.

Once switched to the sport mode, the driving experience of the Leapmotor C11 will change significantly. First of all, you can feel that the feedback of the accelerator pedal becomes more stable, which means that you can control the acceleration more precisely. At the same time, the steering system will also become tighter and respond more quickly, so that it can better cooperate with your driving intention, enabling you to handle situations such as overtaking or quickly entering a curve with ease.

The brake pedal feel of the Leapmotor C11 is very linear, with very little free play. You can get the desired braking force by changing the force of stepping on the brakes. This design can control the vehicle speed more precisely, especially when following other vehicles in the city, making it easier to deal with stop-and-go traffic conditions and reducing driving fatigue.

As a medium-sized SUV with frameless doors, the performance of the Leapmotor C11 in terms of noise isolation is just average, reaching the average level of vehicles of the same level. During daily driving, the noise generated by the motor when it is working is well isolated, and the interior of the vehicle remains relatively quiet.

However, when switched to the fuel-priority mode and the 1.5L engine starts, the noise entering the vehicle will be relatively obvious. In addition, when driving at high speeds, wind noise will also increase to a certain extent. But overall, the Leapmotor C11 has done a fairly good job in controlling noise, meeting the general standards of vehicles of this level.

The suspension system is a highlight of the new Leapmotor C11. It adopts the design of front double wishbone and rear five-link, which was usually a configuration only used in vehicles with a price of more than 300,000 yuan in the era of fuel vehicles. It can be seen that Leapmotor has put a lot of effort into the chassis of the C11.

During the driving process, the chassis of this vehicle can handle the small bumps on the road surface well and shows good toughness. Compared with the front row, the riding experience in the rear row will be slightly worse. When sitting in the rear row, you can still feel that the rear suspension doesn’t handle some small bumps thoroughly, especially when driving on gravel roads. But for a household SUV, who would often drive it on gravel roads?

**In Conclusion**

The new Leapmotor C11 has been optimized in the intelligent cockpit and is equipped with the new 8295 chip, which has further improved the usage experience of the whole vehicle’s infotainment system. In daily driving, its suspension not only provides good support but also maintains good comfort. Especially when dealing with road bumps, the shock absorption effect is satisfying.