Leapmotor enters the burgeoning C-sector EV hatchback market with its sharply styled B05. By Pete Tullin.

What is it?: Medium EV hatchback  How much?: From £30,495  Economy: 3.9mpkWh  Range: 300 miles

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With so many companies sheltering under one enormous Stellantis group umbrella, design sophistication and brand equity are vital to the success or failure of each manufacturer.

Despite having zero heritage kudos though, Leapmotor remains confident it can command a preeminent position in the Stellantis portfolio, thanks to its fleet-footed model development, cost-effective Chinese manufacturing techniques and agile, can-do mentality.

It may lack pedigree, but there’s nothing naive about the B05’s design, which avoids the cliched renderings associated with many pile-high, sell-cheap Chinese offerings, in favour of a more sophisticated silhouette.

Complete with coupé-style frameless windows and elegant proportions, it is therefore even more disappointing that the interior doesn’t share the same level of panache.

Awash with swathes of grey-on-grey materials, this rather dour setting is underlined by a couple of bolt-on infotainment screens complete with many emaciated icons, and a rather clunky-looking steering wheel. Consequently, the B05’s interior wow factor isn’t in the same league as stablemates such as a Peugeot 308 or Vauxhall Astra.

That said, overall material quality is more than passable, while the rear accommodation provides a completely flat floor, above average kneeroom and a raised rear bench seat to provide a light and airy viewing perch for rear-seat travellers.

At 345 litres, load space is slightly below the class norm and there is quite a high load lip to overcome, making it difficult to avoid scraping the painted bumper when loading heavier items, and this isn’t helped by a substantial drop from the bumper to the boot floor.

From a driving perspective, the B05 is one of the more relaxing hatchbacks currently on sale. At town speeds, the suspension is compliant and sweetly damped, while the brake pedal is reassuringly precise and allied to an appropriate level of, electric motor retardation, it is child’s play to exact seamless, chauffeur-like braking.

At 1,850kg, the B05 is no lightweight but even with a modest 215hp to call upon the electric motor that drives the rear wheels is more than man enough to cope with the cut and thrust of daily commuting. Granted, a fair bit of elbow twirling is required to get the nose of the car to change direction, but despite this, the B05 is an easy car to pedal along a country road in a spirited manner and maintain an intuitive, easy-flowing equilibrium, simply by varying the electric motor’s strong torque output.

If you fancy a wee bit of traffic-light top trumps, you can tap into the launch control system, which drops the 0-62mph sprint time to 6.7 seconds, but our guess is you’ll use this once to impress the kids, then never again.

Ordering a B05 couldn’t be more straightforward. The P11D value for the one and only substantially loaded spec and single 67kWh battery pack, which provides a range up to 300 miles, is £27,930. This undercut rivals such as the new VW ID.3 and Vauxhall Astra E by around a grand and gives you a slightly greater range potent but it’s not that difficult to see where the savings have been made. You pay your money etc.

In Brief:

Key fleet model: B05

Positives: Standard equipment; good range potential; comfort

Negatives: Lacks interior design flair, not much cheaper than rivals with superior perceived quality.

Summary: Stylish family hatch from outside, lacklustre inside

Also consider: Volkswagen ID.3 ; Vauxhall Astra Electric; MG4