The Leapmotor C01 is a sedan over 5 meters in length with a pre-sale price range of RMB 180,000 ($26,770) - 270,000.

Leapmotor unveils C01 sedan with cell to chassis technology-CnEVPost

(Image credit: Leapmotor)

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startup Leapmotor has unveiled its flagship sedan, the C01, bringing a host of technological innovations and offering attractive price tags.

Leapmotor officially unveiled the sedan at a launch event on Tuesday evening Beijing time and began accepting pre-orders for a price range of RMB 180,000 ($26,770) - RMB 270,000.

Leapmotor unveils C01 sedan with cell to chassis technology-CnEVPost

It is a mid-size sedan over 5 meters long and is offered in five versions with four options of range including 500 km, 606 km, 717 km and 630 km.

Leapmotor unveils C01 sedan with cell to chassis technology-CnEVPost

The Leapmotor C01 will be equipped with CTC (cell to chassis) technology, which will integrate the battery, chassis and underbody together, thus eliminating the need for a separate battery pack for the vehicle.

Compared to the conventional solution, the CTC solution allows for a 20 percent reduction in the number of components, a 15 kg reduction in vehicle weight, and a 14.5 percent increase in battery arrangement space, according to the company.

Leapmotor unveils C01 sedan with cell to chassis technology-CnEVPost

The Leapmotor C01 has body dimensions of 5,050 mm * 1,902 mm * 1,509 mm, a wheelbase of 2,930 mm and 496L of trunk space.

In terms of performance, the Leapmotor C01 is equipped with an oil-cooled electric drive with a maximum speed of 16,000 rpm and a combined efficiency of 88.5 percent.

The electric drive weighs 85 kg, produces 200 kW of power and 300Nm-500Nm of peak torque, and is designed to last more than one million kilometers.

The four-wheel-drive version is equipped with two electric drives with a maximum output of 400 kW and a maximum torque of 720Nm and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.66 seconds.

The model's intelligent cockpit uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip currently used in mainstream flagship EV models, with which it powers three screens.

The car is equipped with Face ID face recognition start technology, which can automatically associate 25 settings to match user habits.

The Leapmotor C01 also comes with an Android virtual machine that is compatible with more than 99 percent of popular apps, according to the company.

Leapmotor unveils C01 sedan with cell to chassis technology-CnEVPost

Leapmotor has made adaptations to interconnect the vehicle with mobile devices. It allows users to control the vehicle with an OPPO phone or the smartphone maker's watch.

Apple users can also control the vehicle via iWatch and wake up the C01 with Siri voice to perform operations including unlocking, locking and one-touch car finding on the vehicle.

In terms of assisted driving capabilities, the Leapmotor C01 comes standard with the Leapmotor Pilot intelligent driving assistance system, which comes standard with 28 high precision sensing hardware, 23 intelligent driving assistance functions, and will allow users to subscribe to the NAP intelligent piloting assistance system.

It is worth noting that Leapmotor is not currently joining the computing power arms race in which other local counterparts are involved.

Compared to the hundreds of TOPS of computing power common to other EV makers, the Leapmotor C01 is equipped with two chips developed by the company's in-house team, with a total computing power of only 8.4 TOPS.

But this situation appears to be temporary, as Leapmotor will use NVIDIA's Orin-X chip in 2024, according to the company's founder and chairman, Zhu Jiangming.

Leapmotor C01's assisted driving system will provide users with driving assistance covering scenarios including daily city trips, highways, and parking lot parking, according to the company.

Leapmotor unveils C01 sedan with cell to chassis technology-CnEVPost

Its APA intelligent parking system can realize one-touch automatic parking inside the car and remote automatic parking outside the car.

The NAP Intelligent Pilot Assist System, which matches the high precision map, can realize functions such as autonomous entering and exiting ramps, optimal lane planning, autonomous overtaking, and automatic speed limit adjustment according to navigation.

Leapmotor was founded in 2015 and is currently selling the minivan T03, the coupe model S01, and the flagship SUV model C11 .

The company delivered 43,748 electric vehicles in 2021, up 443.5 percent from 2020, according to its prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in late March.

Leapmotor is focused on the mid- to high-end mainstream new energy vehicle market in the RMB 150,000 ($23,637)-300,000 range and will expand its diversified model portfolio in the future to expand its presence in China's mid- to high-end NEV market, its prospectus said.

It delivered 9,087 vehicles in April, down 10 percent from March but up 228 percent from a year ago, according to data released earlier this month.

Leapmotor unveils C01 sedan with cell to chassis technology-CnEVPost