I’m not quite sure how much passion you expect your next small electric SUV to attract, but Leapmotor reckons the new B03X is a “Passion Magnet”. Apparently, the thinking is that it’ll attract all the passions in your life and you’ll be able to fit them all into the car. I’m still not entirely sure what that means and I suspect something may have been lost in translation, but there’s a more serious point behind it: Leapmotor has somehow managed to squeeze an awful lot into a relatively small car.The B03X is a 4,270mm-long electric SUV, 1,810mm wide and 1,635mm tall, so it’s not a huge thing, yet a 2,605mm wheelbase helps give it a genuinely impressive amount of space inside. There’s plenty of room for people, a very clever boot, some neat seating tricks and 33 separate storage areas dotted around the cabin. You certainly can fit plenty of your passions in there and the front seats can fold flat for a bit of passion, too, even if I’m not convinced I’ll be repeating that slogan too often.Despite the characterless front end, there is a bit of personality on the outside. The rear lights have a cheery smiley-face look about them, while Leapmotor has hidden little graphics of its Leapy mascot around the car as Easter eggs, and the rear lights are supposed to feature Leapy, too. The door handles are semi-hidden, there are 18-inch alloys and roof rails as standard, and the blacked-out C-pillar gives the roof a floating appearance, even if it is a bit reminiscent of the old Citroen C3 Aircross.Underneath is a 53kWh battery giving a maximum claimed range of 237 miles, while the front-mounted electric motor produces 194bhp. And, as with the rest of Leapmotor’s range, there’s just one highly specified version rather than a price list with so many trim levels that you need a lie down halfway through reading it.The provisional on-the-road price is £28,495, with Leapmotor’s own £1,500 Leap-Grant bringing that down to £26,995. Orders open in October with deliveries due from December.Leapmotor is still a relatively unfamiliar name in Britain, but it does have a useful advantage over some of the other new brands arriving from China. Leapmotor International is a 51/49 joint venture led by European automotive giant Stellantis, so sales, servicing, parts and after-sales support come through an established network rather than something that’s being built entirely from scratch. Leapmotor says it now has 80 UK retailers.So, there’s quite a lot going for the B03X before you’ve driven it. Unfortunately, my time with the car in Southern Spain also revealed a few areas that still need rather more work before those first customer cars arrive in Britain. Leapmotor says that some over-the-air software updates will fix many of my criticisms, so let’s wait and see…How I testedI drove the Leapmotor B03X extensively in Southern Spain, covering town roads, faster routes and winding roads while assessing its comfort, handling, refinement, technology, practicality and quality over varied surfaces.Leapmotor B03X: from £26,995, Leapmotor.netThe Leapmotor B03X comes generously equipped with 'everything as standard' according to the company (Leapmotor)Independent rating: 7/10Pros: Impressive passenger and boot space, clever rear seats and storage, loads of standard kit, fast rapid chargingCons: Feels cheap in places, inconsistent driver assistance systems, endless beeps and bongs, overly light steering, disappointing tyre grip, needs to be cheaperPrice from: £26,995Battery size: 53kWhMaximum claimed range: 237 milesMaximum charging rate: Up to 133kW DC, 30 to 80 per cent in just 16 minutesBattery, range, charging, performance and driveThe B03X’s numbers are pretty straightforward: there’s a 53kWh battery, a maximum claimed range of 237 miles and a single electric motor driving the front wheels with 194bhp and 200Nm of torque. That’s enough to get the car from 0-62mph in 8.6 seconds and on to 99mph, which is perfectly adequate for a small family SUV. It feels brisk enough when you put your foot down, although there is a bit of an issue with grip if you accelerate too hard, which I’ll come on to.The Leapmotor B03X is priced from £26,995 including a £1,500 Leap Grant (Leapmotor)There are Comfort, Standard and Sport driving modes, although you need to head into the touchscreen to choose between them and, truth be told, there’s not a huge amount of difference in them. Comfort supposedly gives you softer steering and gentler acceleration, Standard sits somewhere in the middle and Sport sharpens the accelerator and adds more weight to the steering. There are three regenerative braking settings, too, including a one-pedal mode.Charging is one of the stronger parts of the package. The B03X can take up to 133kW from a suitable rapid charger, with Leapmotor claiming a 30 to 80 per cent charge in just 16 minutes. There’s an 11kW onboard AC charger, battery pre-heating through the app and a heat pump fitted as standard.Vehicle-to-Load is included, too, supplying up to 3.3kW at 230V to power things such as laptops, electric bikes or a portable fridge. Leapmotor supplies Type 2 and domestic three-pin charging cables with the car.There’s quite a bit of interesting engineering underneath. Leapmotor’s CTC 2.0Plus Cell-to-Chassis construction integrates the battery into the structure rather than treating it as a completely separate box underneath, which helps the company claim an 88.1 per cent space-efficiency figure. The electric motor is oil-cooled, too, which Leapmotor says helps efficiency, smoothness and durability.Unfortunately, some of that clever thinking doesn’t translate into quite such a clever driving experience. My biggest issue was the steering. It’s simply too light and doesn’t self-centre as naturally as I’d like, so you’re left making more little corrections than you should. There’s not a great deal of feel through the wheel, either. I was told there’s a software update coming that should improve things before UK cars arrive, which is encouraging because the basic ingredients are there.The tyres bothered me more. The Yokohamas on my test car squealed occasionally around roundabouts and gave up grip surprisingly easily if I pushed the front end only moderately hard. And this wasn’t on a cold, wet British January morning; the roads were perfectly dry and the weather was warm in Southern Spain. Whether UK cars will arrive with different tyres remains to be seen. Here’s hoping.The ride is a funny mixture as well. It can feel firm and fidgety over smaller lumps and bumps, yet over larger undulations it settles down and becomes much more relaxed. There’s a conventional MacPherson-strut arrangement at the front and a torsion beam at the back, while a tight 10-metre turning circle does make it nice and easy to manoeuvre.Then we come to the driver assistance systems, and I’m not convinced I’d trust all of them yet. The lane-keeping system was worryingly inconsistent. Sometimes it was too keen to intervene when the car was still some way from a white line; at other times it appeared to be having a little rest when I expected it to do something.That inconsistency is the real problem. A system that annoys you every time will at least annoy you predictably; with the B03X I wasn’t quite sure when it was going to wake up and join in. That doesn’t build confidence.The B03X features rear lights inspired by Leapmotor's 'Leapy' mascot with two eyes and a smile! (Leapmotor)And when the various systems do wake up, they certainly make themselves known. At times, driving the B03X feels a bit like being on life support in an episode of Casualty, with what seems like an endless collection of competing beeps and bongs all wanting your attention at once. I’m told software changes should improve the ADAS calibration and warning sounds, too, so the cars customers get towards the end of the year should hopefully be better than the one I drove.Interior, practicality and boot spaceIf the way the B03X drives leaves work to be done, its interior packaging is far more convincing. There really is an impressive amount of space inside, both for passengers and luggage, while Leapmotor has come up with some genuinely clever ideas for making the most of it.The Leapmotor B03X impresses for the quality of its interior (Leapmotor)Rear passengers get a claimed 947mm of legroom and 979mm of headroom, while there’s 1,009mm of headroom in the front. Numbers aside, it feels very roomy for a car of this size and the flat floor helps make the back particularly usable.Then there are what I’d call the magic rear seats. As well as having conventional 60:40 split-folding backrests, the seat bases lift upwards cinema-seat style, very much like the clever arrangement Honda has used in the Jazz. It gives you a tall load area across the rear floor, which is useful for anything you’d rather carry upright while still leaving the boot available.The front seats have another party trick because they can recline completely flat if you fancy stretching out while parked. Fold the front passenger seat and the B03X can take items up to 2,530mm long, which gives you considerably more flexibility than you might expect from a compact SUV.The boot is cleverer still. There’s 405 litres of conventional luggage space, but lift the floor and you find another 105-litre compartment underneath. It’s waterproof and washable, complete with a plug to make cleaning it out easier, so muddy boots, wet swimming kit and whatever other unpleasantness family life throws at you can be kept away from everything else.The Leapmotor B03X's rear seats will flip up, cinema-style, to offer additional storage space in the back (Leapmotor)Add both areas together and there are 510 litres with the rear seats up, rising to 1,605 litres with them folded. Remove the floor and Leapmotor says you can carry something up to 1.14 metres tall, while the boot opening itself is 700mm wide.There are 33 individual storage spaces elsewhere, including a big open area underneath the floating centre console, a lidded storage box between the front seats and a pair of phone trays, one of which includes wireless charging.The quality inside is better than I expected in places, too, and certainly better than the impression given by some of the exterior. There are some nice soft-touch materials across the dashboard and doors, a few neat chequered details and 64-colour ambient lighting, although I did find myself wondering why there had to be quite so much grey everywhere.Currant Black is the standard interior treatment, with the Oat Grey available at no extra cost. The synthetic leather upholstery is Oeko-Tex certified, while both front seats are heated, the driver’s seat has six-way electric adjustment, and the steering wheel is heated.The B03X's boot features a waterproof well, complete with plug to let water out (Leapmotor)It’s when you start poking around the outside that the impression drops away a bit. Tap the metal on the bonnet or tailgate and it sounds pretty flimsy, the doors don’t close with anything approaching the reassuring thunk you get in some rivals, and the parcel shelf feels really cheap. It doesn’t even rise out of the way when you open the boot, which soon becomes irritating.That’s probably the biggest quality contradiction in the B03X. The interior has some smart materials and very clever thinking behind it, yet a few of the simpler bits around the car make it feel as though the accountants have been through with a particularly sharp pencil.Technology, stereo and infotainmentThe B03X gets the usual Chinese car combination of a 14.6-inch touchscreen and eight-inch driver display. Cameras make parking easy (Leapmotor)It won’t take you long to spot the technology because the middle of the dashboard is dominated by a big screen for a small car – in this case a 14.6-inch touchscreen with 2.5K resolution. There’s a separate 8.8-inch screen ahead of the driver and, thankfully, the main display is one of the better parts of the car.It responds quickly and the basics are easy enough to find, while swiping down from the top gives you a useful bank of shortcuts, like on a smartphone. Thankfully ,Leapmotor hasn’t gone completely button-free. There are four physical buttons and two scrollers on the steering wheel, including a button that takes you to the shortcuts. Double-click another steering-wheel button and up pops the mirror adjustment on the touchscreen. I’d still rather adjust the mirrors without having to look at a screen at all, but at least there’s a quick way of getting there.The system runs Leap OS 4.0 Plus using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8155 processor and supports over-the-air software updates. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard and the infotainment worked well during my time with the car.I’d like one of those promised software updates to have a go at some of the graphics, though. I’m a simple soul when it comes to a speedometer: I want the number big, obvious and preferably right in front of me. In the B03X it’s too small and pushed off to the side, while some of the other information is tiny and rendered in shades of grey that don’t make it any easier to glance at on the move.The touchscreen can show two applications at once and there’s online navigation with live traffic and charging information. Leapmotor also includes apps such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, YouTube and TikTok, although clearly some of those are for use while you’re safely parked.Voice control can handle functions including navigation, climate, music and communications, while the car also has various special operating modes for camping, cleaning and leaving occupants or pets inside with the climate control running.The Leapmotor phone app does plenty, too. It can act as a digital key as well as letting you pre-heat the battery, schedule charging, control the air conditioning, check the car’s status, lock and unlock it, operate the windows, heat the steering wheel and seats, send navigation destinations to the car and find where you parked it.There are five places to charge devices in the cabin, including two USB-C sockets in the front, USB-A and USB-C connections in the back and a 15W wireless pad. The standard audio system uses 12 speakers in a 7.1 surround-sound arrangement, with different settings allowing you to focus the sound across the whole cabin, the front or the rear.There’s an equally lengthy list of safety and assistance technology. Leapmotor says 21 systems are fitted, using 14 sensors and cameras, with adaptive cruise control, Traffic Jam Assist, blind-spot detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane keeping, rear cross-traffic alert and braking, front and rear collision warnings, intelligent speed assistance and driver drowsiness monitoring among them.Automatic lane changing is included, too, along with door-opening warnings, hill-descent and hill-start assistance, front and rear parking sensors and a 360-degree camera. There are seven airbags, including a centre airbag, plus two Isofix mounting points in the rear.The B03X's driver display could do with an update to make its graphics more legible (Leapmotor)It’s an extraordinary amount of technology to get as standard in a car at this price. The frustration is that the quantity is currently more impressive than the execution. I’d much rather have fewer systems that I can rely on than 21 constantly beeping at me while I’m wondering whether the lane-keeping assistance has decided to work this time.Prices and running costsLeapmotor’s provisional on-the-road price for the B03X is £28,495, but the company is knocking £1,500 off that with its own LEAP-GRANT, bringing the customer price down to £26,995. With so many similarly (and lower) priced rivals, that feels a couple of grand too high to me.The Leapmotor B03X front end is smart if a bit nondescript (Leapmotor)There’s just one version, which makes ordering refreshingly simple, though. As Leapmotor says, everything is standard, including the 18-inch alloys, automatic LED lights, roof rails, heated and electrically folding mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, rear privacy glass, heat pump, climate control, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, six-way electric driver’s seat, 360-degree camera, parking sensors, wireless phone charging, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and the full driver assistance package.Acorn Brown metallic is the standard exterior colour, while Beige, Tundra Grey, Berry Blue, Galaxy Silver and Seaweed Green are also offered. Optional paint is £575. Currant Black is standard inside and Oat Grey is a no-cost alternative – I suggest you go for the black.The whole car is covered by a four-year/60,000-mile warranty, with the battery covered separately for eight years or 100,000 miles. The rear lights of the B03X are said to resemble the Leapmotor Leapy mascot's eyes and smile (Leapmotor)There’s no question that the specification is generous, while the space and clever practicality are probably the strongest reasons to look seriously at the B03X. The 237-mile maximum claimed range should be enough for plenty of buyers and that 16-minute 30-to-80 per cent rapid-charging claim is impressive.The verdict: Leapmotor B03XThe B03X is roomy, clever and loaded with kit, but the steering, tyres, ride, inconsistent driver aids and endless warning noises left this promising little electric SUV feeling unfinished overall. The good news is that many of these things can and probably will be improved with a software update – but we’ll have to drive it again to find out.Leapmotor B03X rivals:Citroen eC3 AircrossKia EV2Ford PumaFAQsHow long does it take to charge?The Leapmotor B03X can charge its 53kWh battery from 30 to 80 per cent in as little as 16 minutes using a suitable rapid charger, with a maximum DC charging rate of 133kW. It also has an 11kW onboard AC charger.How much does it cost – is it worth it?The provisional on-the-road price is £28,495, reduced to £26,995 by Leapmotor’s £1,500 Leap Grant. With so many talented rivals around, that feels like £2,000 too much to me. There’s only one version and it comes with an unusually long list of equipment as standard. The space, boot, clever seating and rapid charging are strong points for the money, but the car I drove still had too many weaknesses in its steering, tyre grip, ADAS calibration, warning sounds and some areas of perceived quality for me to rate it more highly.Does Leapmotor replace batteries for free?The B03X battery is covered by a separate eight-year/100,000-mile warranty, while the car itself gets four years or 60,000 miles of cover. Why trust usOur team of motoring experts have decades of experience driving, reviewing and reporting on the latest EV cars, and our verdicts are reached with every kind of driver in mind. We thoroughly test drive every car we recommend, so you can be sure our verdicts are honest, unbiased and authentic.With more than 30 years of experience, Steve Fowler is one of the UK’s best-known automative journalists. Steve has interviewed key industry figures, from Tesla’s Elon Musk to Ford’s Jim Farley, and is a judge for both Germany’s and India’s Car of the Year Awards, as well as being chair of World Car of the Year. When it comes to electric vehicles, Steve reviews all the latest models for The Independent as they launch, from Abarth to Zeekr, and he uses his expert knowledge of car buyers' needs to provide a comprehensive verdict.