Leapmotor C11

¡¾Car Purchase Experience¡¿
Before buying this Leapmotor, I always drove fuel-powered cars. The first one was a Ford Focus 1.8T manual, and the second one was a MG HS 2.0T 2019 model. I drove it for six years and covered 48,000 kilometers. Compared with the first Ford Focus, I drove 10,000 kilometers less on average each year. It was because of the high oil price and fuel consumption, which cost about one yuan per kilometer. I was reluctant to drive, so the car was parked in the underground garage every day, and I took the subway to and from work. Later, some of my friends bought electric cars one after another. I also watched videos online and learned that new energy vehicles are quite mature now, and the cost of using a car is relatively low. I can install a home charging pile in my parking space. Plus, the government introduced a replacement subsidy, so I decided to buy a pure electric car.
I learned about Leapmotor mostly from the Internet. The price was roughly within my expected range, between 150,000 and 200,000 yuan. For other brands, if they had the appearance and configuration I liked, most of them cost more than 200,000 yuan.
The cars I considered first were the ZEEKR 7X, Leapmotor C11, and ARCFOX ¦ÁT5. The ARCFOX ¦ÁT5 doesn't have intelligent driving capabilities at all, and there's no option for lidar configuration, so I ruled it out. The ZEEKR 7X can meet all my requirements, and I could just about afford it with a landing price of just over 200,000 yuan. I almost bought the ZEEKR 7X because there were even some in stock, but then I heard that Leapmotor was going to release a new version of the C11, so I decided to wait. After the new version came out, I made a pre - order during the pre - sale period because it was refundable. Anyway, I could get my money back if I didn't like it. After the official launch, all the configurations were revealed. The HUD, the audio system, the appearance, and the seats have all corrected and optimized the shortcomings of the 2024 model C11. They also added the HUD configuration that I really wanted.
As soon as the price was announced, I placed an order right away. It was 165,800 yuan, and I directly bought the top - spec pure - electric version without hesitation. It's tens of thousands of yuan cheaper than the XPENG G7 and ZEEKR 7X. Many people think the Leapmotor brand isn't as good as those two, but I don't care about the brand. I mainly look at the appearance, configuration, and price. Appearance comes first, then configuration, then price, and the brand comes last. Actually, there were also a lot of negative news about Leapmotor, such as the old models not being able to do OTA updates and battery locking, but overall, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, so I didn't rule out Leapmotor.
There were really no discounts on the new car. I bought it at the original price. The insurance cost 5,800 yuan, and the license - plate fee was 500 yuan. The dealership gave me a car mat, a 1,000 - yuan film - sticking coupon, and a portable charger. I placed the final order on the 10th. The car was produced on the 17th and started being transported. It arrived at the dealership on the 19th, and I picked it up on the 21st. It was quite smooth and fast.

¡¾Driving Experience¡¿
So far, I've driven the car for a little over a hundred kilometers, which isn't much. I've only driven it to and from work for two days and driven around in the city. I'm quite satisfied with the car's handling and power. The acceleration responds immediately when I step on the pedal, and it speeds up very quickly. The steering of the vehicle is also quite good. Although it can't be said to go exactly where I point, the steering is very flexible. The steering wheel is relatively light, which takes a little getting used to. I think the suspension is great. When going over speed bumps, it's not too rigid, and it feels quite comfortable. It also filters out small potholes on the road well, and the overall riding experience is quite good.
I haven't driven on the highway yet. In the city, I've only driven at a maximum speed of 80 - 90 km/h, and the car is still quite stable. The deceleration is also good. The regenerative braking is a bit weak. I set the brakes to the comfort mode, and it feels even more comfortable than the brakes on my previous fuel - powered car. I set the acceleration to the standard mode, and the steering is also in the standard mode. The acceleration is very fast, and it can reach 80 - 90 km/h in no time. The power response is much faster than that of a fuel - powered car.

¡¾Most Satisfied¡¿
The air - conditioning cools down quickly. The temperature drops within three minutes, which is quite fast overall. The seats are very soft and have ventilation, so my back and buttocks don't get as hot. In Changsha's summers before, my buttocks and back would often be soaked when I drove, even with the air - conditioning on. But these two days when I drove the Leapmotor to and from work, my buttocks and back were cool.
The central control screen is very large, 17 inches. The steering wheel slightly blocks the lower - left corner, but the resolution is quite high. I chose the clear mode. The font is larger than in the delicate mode, and the colors are also good. The operation is as smooth as a tablet computer. It responds immediately with no delay, and the UI interface is quite reasonable. It's easy to find the functions I want to adjust.
The HUD is very clear, and the colors and brightness are good. It can display the camera images. When I turn on the turn signal, the images from the left and right cameras will be displayed on the HUD. I think this function is very technological and meets my expectations. Although the central control screen and the driver's instrument can also achieve similar functions, it's more about the satisfaction of a sense of technology.

¡¾Riding Experience¡¿
So far, only my wife, daughter, and nephew have ridden in the car, and their feedback is all positive. They said the space is large, the seats are comfortable, and the leg rest in the front passenger seat is also well - received. No one said they felt carsick, and the overall riding experience is highly rated.
The driver's seat needs to have a headrest added, which would provide much better support for the neck.

¡¾Disadvantages¡¿
1. Leapmotor's lifetime warranty policy is a bit unclear. The manufacturer doesn't have a clear set of lifetime warranty terms. The 4S store mentioned several points, most of which are normal, such as having to have maintenance and repairs at the 4S store and the annual mileage not exceeding 35,000 kilometers. But there's one point that's hard to understand: if the vehicle has been in an accident, the insurance company has paid out, and the three - electric systems (battery, electric motor, and electronic control system) have been repaired at the 4S store, then the lifetime warranty is void. I really don't understand why this is the case.
2. I tried it once. When waiting at a traffic light, I could open the tailgate by pressing the button. This isn't very safe. It would be better to change it so that the tailgate can only be opened when the driver unbuckles the seat belt or gets out of the car.
3. The HUD needs to be adjusted to the lowest height of - 5 to display properly. It might be difficult for taller drivers to adjust, and they may have to lower the seat to the lowest position. This should be optimized.
4. The front calipers are fixed four - piston, and the rear calipers are floating - piston. It's a rear - wheel - drive car with relatively strong power. Would it be safer to use fixed four - piston calipers for both the front and rear?
5. The description in the user manual about the requirement for regular battery calibration is very unclear. I couldn't understand it and had to ask the 4S store to know what to do.

??There's one thing about the exterior of the 26-version C11 that I can't accept, which is its electronic door handles. I don't understand why they aren't made manual like those of the C10. It's okay not to make them electric, but the emergency switch inside is neither obvious enough nor well-located. In case of an emergency, it's not very convenient to open the door from the inside. The switch is in an opposite and upper position, making it hard to find. I tried it, and it's not easy to pull open.
¡ðThis time, I also specifically noticed the brake calipers. The fluorescent green color is a bit out of place, especially in the version with brown interior. It makes the caliper color look like it was painted later.
2??In terms of interior, I think the overall texture is better than that of the C10, with a bit of a luxurious feel. However, the wood grain trim in the brown interior version looks a bit old-fashioned. The overall seat shape looks quite high-class, somewhat similar to the seat design of Mercedes-Benz, and the leather feels smooth. But the leather of the driver's seat already had obvious wrinkles after I sat on it for a short time. I wonder if it will get worse with long-term use.
3??Space: The space can fully meet the needs of daily family use, but there are also some things to complain about.
¡ðAfter adjusting my sitting position in the front row, there's still about two fists of legroom in the back row, which is acceptable. There's about one fist of space from the head to the sunshade curtain, which is completely fine for daily family use. The middle seat in the back row is completely flat and can be put down as an armrest when not in use. There's a hidden cup holder inside that can be stowed away when not needed. However, the child seat interface in the back row is a bit deep and requires some effort to buckle.
¡ðThe trunk space of the pure-electric version of the C11 is quite large. There's also a hollow storage space under the trunk cover, which can easily fit a backpack. Moreover, the two back seats support a 4/6 split-fold, which forms a sloped space after being folded down. However, it's not flat enough to lie directly on for sleeping. An air mattress needs to be added later.
¡ðDrawback of the pure-electric version: It doesn't have a front trunk, which is okay. The biggest problem with the front cover is that the hood switch has an issue. It won't close with a gentle touch; you need to slam it down hard to close it at once. I wonder if other people's cars have similar problems.
4??Configuration: There are two features in the configuration that impressed me deeply, one is the HUD head-up display, and the other is the aromatherapy system.
1. The overall clarity of the HUD head-up display is okay, but the clarity of the side image is average when the lights are on in rainy days and it's not very clear to see from inside the car. You can experience it for yourself. After all, you can't expect too much from a 150,000-yuan car.
2. The aromatherapy system gives a high-class feel and is quite rare in cars at the same price range. After opening the door, the smell inside the car is very fresh. Especially after comparing it with the C10 and C16, those two cars had a bit of an unpleasant odor, while the C11 doesn't.
?There's a drawback in the configuration: It's the air conditioning system. When I sat behind the driver's seat in the second row and set the rear air conditioning temperature to 26 degrees and the wind speed to the third gear, I felt an obvious resonance in the feet area in the back row. But when I adjusted it to the second gear, this feeling immediately decreased a lot. I specifically tried it again, and it's indeed the case. I wonder if it's an individual case or a common problem.
5??Driving experience: Overall, it doesn't feel as stable as the C16, but the noise insulation is better than I expected.
¢ÙNoise insulation: Later I found that although it uses frameless doors, it adopts double-layer glass. So, whether it's road noise or tire noise, it's even smaller than that of the C16.
¢ÚSteering: The C11 has three steering modes: Comfort, Standard, and Sport. It's recommended to use the Comfort mode usually. The Comfort mode isn't too light, with a moderate weight, which makes it easier to move the car at low speeds in the city. The Standard mode is a bit heavier, and this difference is more obvious at low speeds. When the speed is above 20, the difference between the Comfort and Standard modes isn't significant. The Sport mode is obviously heavier and a bit strenuous for daily driving, but it's just right for high-speed driving.
¢ÛPower: There are three acceleration modes: Comfort, Standard, and Sport. The acceleration in the Comfort and Standard modes is relatively linear. Even if you floor the accelerator, there isn't a very obvious push-back feeling when moving forward. However, there's an obvious push-back feeling at the beginning in the Sport mode. For daily driving in the city, the Standard mode is sufficient. You just need to step on the accelerator a bit deeper when changing lanes or overtaking, and the acceleration in the second half is significantly improved.
¢ÜBrakes: The brakes of the C11 are a small drawback, mainly manifested as lack of linearity. The connection between kinetic energy recovery and actual braking is a bit unnatural. When I was driving and the speed dropped to around 40, gently stepping on the brakes didn't result in an obvious deceleration. When I stepped on it a bit deeper, it seemed to suddenly reach a certain braking critical point, and the car suddenly decelerated. But you can still continue to step on it until it completely stops. The passengers in the back row don't feel very comfortable with this kind of braking.
¡ðOne good thing about the brakes is that the nose-dive phenomenon is more natural than that of the C10, without the obvious nose-dive like the C10. After turning on the Comfort braking mode, the nose-dive is almost imperceptible.
¢ÝChassis: I'm a bit dissatisfied with the chassis. Overall, I think the C11 isn't as stable as the C16. When passing over a single deep manhole cover, you can feel a relatively large impact transmitted from the chassis to your buttocks, and the car shakes obviously.
??Another thing that makes me feel the C11 is inferior to the C16 is that when I encountered a section of rough road with many coarse particles and an uneven surface, the C11 had an obvious left-right shaking feeling on this road, and the suspension had a jumping feeling, which I didn't feel in the C10 and C16.
6??Energy consumption: On a rainy day, I drove 9.5 km in 35 minutes, and the display showed an average energy consumption of 15.1 kWh. This energy consumption level is just average. After all, the car is so big, so don't have too high expectations.

I've always driven fuel-powered cars. The previous car I owned was a BAIC Senova D50 purchased in 2014. It has accompanied me for 11 years, never requiring major repairs and never leaving me stranded on the road. It only had some minor issues. Considering that the exemption from purchase tax for new energy vehicles will end by the end of this year, and next year there will be a 50% purchase tax, I've decided to buy an electric car.

At first, I was torn between buying an extended-range electric vehicle or a pure electric one. When test-driving the Deepal S07, it was a good car, but the service at the 4S store was rather poor. The staff was unresponsive, and there was no definite release date for the new version of the S07. I didn't want to wait that long. Then I went to test-drive the Qiyuan Q07. It was also quite easy to drive, but since its pure electric range was only 215KM, I passed on it. My wife said the interior of the Xingjian 7 didn't look good. I negotiated the price of the Chery Fengyun T9. The long-range version with a 210KM range had a discount of 20,000 yuan, costing 163,900 yuan.

After waiting for half a month, the app still showed that the car was in production. I´ߴÙ the salesperson twice, and was told that two top - spec pure electric cars in Rime Rice color had arrived at the store. I really didn't want to wait anymore, so I quickly chose to change the color. I made an appointment with the salesperson and went to the 4S store to pick up the car. I waited a long time for the bank's vehicle certificate in the morning and didn't get it until 11:30. I didn't finish the paperwork until 1:30 pm.

Since this is my first time driving an electric car, I wasn't used to it at first. The car responds quickly when starting and overtaking, and it's very quiet inside. I can even take a nap in the car during lunch breaks. I haven't started using the assisted driving features yet. They said I need to learn first. I'll share my experience after I have time to learn. The chassis feels much more comfortable than my previous car. Since I haven't driven many other cars (just test - drove a few for a short time), I can't make a horizontal comparison. The car's infotainment system is quite smooth. Maybe it's because it's a new car. I'll see how it performs after using it for a longer time. I haven't tried the automatic parking assist function yet, so I don't know if the car's system logic is reasonable. I really like the 360 - degree and 540 - degree transparent chassis features. They're very friendly to new drivers and female drivers. I can't directly see the data on energy consumption and range for now. I'll have to wait and see after using the car for a longer period.