6-seater extended-range SUV, ideal L8 sells for more than 300,000, too expensive? Qjie M7 sells for more than 200,000, is it still too expensive? Leap C16 is sold for 150,000 yuan (the guide price starts at 155,800 yuan), which is almost "half-price ideal L8". It is also a range extender without range anxiety, and it is also a 2-2-2 6-seat layout, can Leap C16 really break away from the law of what you pay for?
MacPherson + single motor, chassis performance is only responsible for comfort
Twin stamped cast iron lower swing arms, unpretentious MacPherson front suspension, and even the material is no surprise. Although the rear suspension does not have a large area of aluminum alloy materials, the structure of the standard five-link link is still very clear, and there is also a complex stabilizer bar structure. In short, the skirt of the Leap C16 clearly shows from the beginning that it only focuses on the choice of comfort.
This is similar to the choice of the M7. In fact, Li Auto also wanted to choose this at the beginning, but the objective body size and weight made the ideal finally stabilize the front suspension on the double wishbone structure. As for the Leap C16, the curb weight of its extended-range version is only a little over 2 tons, and the support of the suspension is not a problem at all.
Why the weight of the Leap C16 can be controlled at this level, in addition to its own size, there is also a factor that there is only one drive motor in the whole system. In this way, the official 000 acceleration time of the range extender is only about 8.5 seconds. And even the single-motor M7 only takes 7.8 seconds. Not to mention that it is larger, but the ideal L8 with electric four-wheel drive only takes 5.3 seconds to break 100.
As for the difference in performance, does it necessarily lead to a more fuel-efficient effect? The answer may be the opposite. Because the Leapmotor C16 uses a 1.5L naturally aspirated range extender, while the range extender of the Ideal L8 and Wenjie M7 are both 1.5T engines. Although the range extender does not need to be involved in direct drive, the operation of the Leapmotor C16 also has a "small horse-drawn cart" feeling. Of course, as long as the power retention logic is properly designed, it is no problem to ensure the safety of performance. But in the case of frequent feeding, will the fuel consumption performance not be beautiful?
Starting from the specific data, the fuel consumption of the Leapmotor C16 is 6.19L/100km in WLTC mode, which seems to be 0.66L/100km less than the same rear-wheel drive M7. However, combined with the thrust-to-weight ratio, the fuel efficiency of the M7 is actually about 3.7% higher than that of the Leap C16. In addition, in terms of acceleration performance, it is also the M7 that is better. Therefore, the fuel efficiency of the Leap C16 is indeed cheaper. It's just that the gap is very subtle, and in the home scene, the expressiveness of the above gap will be smaller.
However, since it is comfort-oriented, why does Leap C16 have to be rear-drive? The birth of a pure electric platform does not explain this problem. In fact, many BEV platforms are already planning to build lower-cost front-wheel drive electric vehicles. The logic of Leap C16 as a rear-wheel drive may be consistent with that of the M7 and the ideal L8 as four-wheel drive. It's also about comfort in nature.
In the era of traditional fuel vehicles, four-wheel drive is often linked to off-road scenes, and no matter how bad it is, it also takes into account the situation of running bad roads. But many people ignore that four-wheel drive can actually play a role in stabilizing the body, as Audi understands. In particular, the active suspension technology is becoming more and more mature, and the motor is not only the driving hardware, but also gradually extends the function to the chassis suspension.
Since the Leapmotor C16 is a single motor, and there is no more variable suspension execution hardware. Then the choice of rear motor can have a certain stretching effect on the chassis of the body. Therefore, we can see that in the case of a single motor, Leapmotor C16 actually provides comfortable braking (controlling braking attitude), as well as steep hill descent function. This is obviously not possible with a single front motor.
The priority of a fully loaded 6-seater is lower than the comfort of the whole vehicle
Starting from the price of the Leap C16 and its positioning, in fact, as long as the new car achieves the comfort part, it can be compared to the ideal L8 or the M7. But this satisfaction certainly does not include the case where the 6 seats are fully loaded. We have also paved the way many times before, and the size of the Leap C16 is not as large as the other two 6-seater models. In fact, it is also the only player among the three models whose body length does not exceed 5 meters, and the body width has just exceeded 1.9 meters. That's a lot of room for a car with two rows of seats. But to accommodate three rows of seats, there are certain trade-offs in space creation.
Combined with the experience of Leapmotor C16, the focus of the new car is more on comfort creation, including the comfort part of the seat and so on. As for the working condition with a full load of six seats, it is actually placed in the next highest priority. First of all, the width of the body is determined, even with a 2-2-2 seat layout, the width of the middle aisle is not wide enough for adults to pass easily. In addition, due to factors such as complex suspension structure and rear motor, even if the new energy platform is built, the third row of the Leap C16 is still slightly raised.
Of course, as an SUV with three rows of seats, this is harmless. However, the width of the seats in the third row, due to the influence of body size and suspension structure, also limits the possibility of riding two adults at the same time. Taking a step back, even if the third row is mainly for small children, the space can still be cramped when child safety seats are installed. In the face of smaller infants and toddlers, it is not conducive to adults holding the baby in and out of the second row. In the case of older children, the car seat will further limit the legroom.
But this is indeed the maximum initiative that Leap C16 can show in a limited space. Not to mention the backrests of the third-row seats, at the maximum angle and the maximum height of the headrests, they are already close to touching the edge of the trunk. To take a relatively unpopular example, open the co-pilot glove box of the Leap C16, the depth inside is very limited. If you put two bottles of 500ml mineral water, you can't close the level of the lid. And Leap C16, a product with family positioning, is obviously impossible to pick the door in terms of storage capacity. In fact, the storage in the door panels, central control and other places are also dedicated. The performance of the glove box can only show that the center console part of the new car really has no potential to move forward. In other words, the actual cabin space has been as large as possible.
In the case of limited objective volume, Leap C16 actually gives more talent points to the creation of comfort. For example, the second-row seat rails have a long range of forward and backward movement, supporting a 145° lying position. The cushions of the third-row seats will not fall off a cliff from the second-row in terms of material and wrapping. Even excluding the feeling of cramped space, just looking at the seat itself, the support of the legs and waist is better than the performance of a three-row seat SUV in the general sense. However, the thick third-row seats make the trunk not a flat space when the third row is folded down. If you don't put down the third row, then the regular trunk capacity of the vehicle is only 209L.
The entanglement of the construction of the third row of the Leap C16 has blurred the precise audience of the vehicle to a certain extent. To put it simply, the size of the ideal L8 determines its willfulness in the second and third rows. At this point, the M7 can't do it. The well-received zero-gravity seat exposes the idea that the M7 wants to focus on a four-seat environment and then a six-seat emergency. In fact, the same is true for Leap C16, so it is said that it is "half-price ideal L8", perhaps it is better to say that it is a question world M7 with a discount on the level of intelligent driving?