Leapmotor C10 Hybrid EV Charging Cable

How this car actually works

This is a series hybrid, which means the petrol engine exists only to generate electricity. It has no mechanical path to the wheels at all. The car drives as an electric car from first mile to last, and the engine is what stops it running out.

On the C10 that generator is a 1.5 litre four cylinder driving a 50 kW unit, with traction from a 158 kW motor at the rear. The battery is 28.4 kWh rather than the 69.9 kWh of the pure electric C10, and Leapmotor sells both at the same 36,500 pounds. Electric range is 90 miles and total range 602 miles on a 50 litre tank, at 7 grams of CO2 per kilometre.

It rapid charges, which most hybrids cannot

Unlike the great majority of plug-in hybrids and range extenders, this one has a working CCS inlet. It takes 65 kW and Leapmotor quotes thirty to eighty per cent in 18 minutes. That is lower than the 84 kW of the pure electric C10, as you would expect from a smaller battery, but it is a real facility rather than a token one.

On a car with 90 miles of electric range, an eighteen minute stop is worth about 45 miles of running on electricity instead of petrol. It changes the arithmetic of a long journey in a way an AC-only hybrid cannot.

At home it is a 6.6 kW car and that is the full rate

This is one of the cars that loses nothing on a domestic supply. The 6.6 kW charger is single phase by design at roughly 29 amps, well inside what a home charge point provides, so the car takes its full rated power on any ordinary driveway.

Leapmotor quotes a full charge on a domestic charger in about four and a half hours. Twenty-eight point four kilowatt hours over four and a half hours is 6.31 kW, which fits a 6.6 kW single phase ceiling neatly. The German catalogue publishes 440 minutes for the same car, which would imply 3.87 kW and cannot be reconciled with its own 6.6 kW entry, so we have used the manufacturer time. A heavier lead makes no difference, because nothing downstream of the onboard charger sets the pace.

No usable figure is published for the 28.4 kWh pack, and the independent databases do not index range extenders at all, so the number above is the published capacity with its basis unstated.

How long a full charge takes

Hours come from dividing the pack by the power the car actually draws, with 13 per cent added for losses. The miles column uses 3.5 miles per kWh, which holds up in winter as well as summer. Working from 28.4 kWh with no usable figure available, so real times run a little shorter than shown.

Five hours on our arithmetic and four and a half on Leapmotor own means a single evening fills the battery from empty. With 90 miles of electric range, an owner who charges nightly may use the petrol engine only on motorways.

Which length for a C10 Hybrid

Same body and same socket as the pure electric C10: nearside rear, confirmed as "back left" by a UK source. The car is 4.74 metres.

Ten metres is the sensible default with a rear socket, five metres works where the car reverses in next to the charge point, and fifteen covers a garage at the far end of a drive. Take a tape measure to the run, inlet to charge point, and add a couple of metres before choosing.

How these cables are built

Made to IEC 62196-2, CE marked, and rated IP55 from -30C to +50C so it lives outdoors all year.

Three pin construction follows IEC 62752, CE marked, IP67 rated, usable from -30C to +60C. Two years of manufacturer warranty, free next working day shipping anywhere in the UK, and a month to change your mind.

Looking at another Leapmotor? Start with the Leapmotor T03 EV Charging Cable, or browse every model in Leapmotor charging cables. For a wall box or public post the lead is the Type 2 to Type 2 charging cable.

Leapmotor C10 Hybrid charging cable questions

Does the C10 Hybrid need the same cable as the electric C10?

Yes, a 32A single phase Type 2 to Type 2 lead, and the socket is in the same place on the nearside rear.

How long does it take to charge?

About four and a half hours to full on a home charger, which is Leapmotor own figure for the 28.4 kWh battery.

Can it rapid charge?

Yes, at 65 kW, thirty to eighty per cent in 18 minutes. Most plug-in hybrids and range extenders cannot do this at all.

Does the petrol engine drive the wheels?

No. It only spins a generator. The wheels are always turned by the electric motor, which is why the car drives like an electric car whether the battery is full or empty.

How far does it go?

90 miles on electricity and 602 miles in total with the generator running, on a 50 litre tank.