First revealed through a China MIIT filing in March, it has been reported that the updated Leapmotor C10 will soon begin domestic sales. Improvements to the all-electric D-segment SUV include a step up in the platform architecture, which brings along an increase in power output. The 2026 model year C10 also gets a slightly higher capacity battery pack as well as minor equipment upgrades.
With the same exterior and interior styling, all the revisions that have come about are under the skin, led by the switch from a 400V platform to an 800V system, which brings about improvements in charging ability. The change was indicated by Leapmotor CEO Zhu Jiangming at the recent 21st Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition (Auto Shanghai 2025).
“The C10 which is on sale now in China is based on a 400V platform, but it will be updated to 800V this year, and this will also apply to other C-series models such as the C11 and C16, as well as the B10,” he said during the press conference following the global debut of the China-only B01 sedan.
He added that the reasoning for the switch is because 60 to 70% of the domestic charging network in the country is now 250A and 800V capable already, and so the decision was made to make the transition.
Along with the change in platform architecture is a more powerful electric motor, which puts out 299 PS (295 hp, or 220 kW). This is 68 PS (67 hp, or 50 kW) more than that available on the present Chinese market C10, which has a peak output of 231 PS (228 hp, or 170 kW). Comparatively, the C10 currently sold in Malaysia has a slightly lower output of 218 PS (215 hp, or 160 kW).
As you’d expect, the increased output makes for a faster car, and the updated C10 now does the 0=100 km/h sprint in 5.9 seconds, a notable improvement over the 7.3 seconds for the present model (the Malaysian C10 does the same run in 7.5 seconds).
The battery capacity has also been increased marginally. It’s still a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) unit, but its now rated at 74.9 kWh compared to the existing 69.9 kWh unit. Correspondingly, operating range on a single charge is also up, with the new car having a quoted CLTC range of 605 km, or around 495 km WLTP, which is around 70 km more than the present C10 (424 km, WLTP).
The 800V switch means faster DC charging compared to the existing C10, but there was no mention of maximum rate, with Zhu only saying that how fast the new C10 will charge will simply depend on the charger. The current C10 has a maximum of 84 kW of DC fast charging, which can bring the LFP pack from a 30 to 80% SoC in about 30 minutes. As for AC charging, the 800V transition should up the rate to 11 kW rate from the 6.6 kW at present.
Elsewhere, the equipment changes are minor, and are led by a switch from a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip for the infotainment system’s OS to a 8295P processor, in line with the move to the latter on higher-end B10 versions. Other new bits, as reported by CarNewsChina, include a new purple exterior colour, electrically-powered door handles and a 50 watt wireless charging pad.
With local assembly of the C10 in Malaysia set to begin at the end of 2025, will we see the changes brought about by the update on the CKD version? Guess we’ll find out in due time.
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