The Leap Motors S01 Is Almost The Affordable Electric Sports Car We've Been Waiting For

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What is it?

The Leap S01 represents that rarest of things, an affordable electric sports car. Provided one believes that front-wheel drive vehicles can be classified as sports car, that is. We at Wheelsboy certainly do (Exhibit A: Acura Integra Type-R), which is why we were so excited to try the S01.

A like/hate relationship

It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to describe the exterior styling of the Leap S01 as polarizing, as that would indicate that there are people who actually love it. In our experience with the car, people either hated or “kinda liked it”. Nobody was stepping up to say that they thought it was especially sexy.

That could probably be put down to the distinctive guppy-like front fascia. Distinctive, not beautiful. This isn’t helped by the somewhat unconventional proportions of the S01. This is what happens when you attached a liftback rear end to a car that’s a full 20cm (7.8 inches) shorter than a Subaru BRZ.

The overall result is reminiscent of the very squat proportions of Japanese kei car sports cars from the 1990s, like the Autozam AZ-1. Regardless of how you feel about the design, you can’t deny the relative practicality of a liftback. Despite its small size, the S01 manages to deliver a useful 237L of rear cargo space, expanding to 690L when the rear seats are folded down.

One thing that rubbed us the wrong way about the S01 user experience was the driver’s side door handle. While we had no qualms about the looks, we found its capacitive touch technology slow to react to our hand, making for a meaningful delay between when you insert your hand, and when the door finally popped open.

More space than a BRZ (up front)

The interior design of the S01 is far less controversial than its exterior. There are soft touch materials throughout, and two 10.1-inch screens that feature an attractive and functional UI. There’s nothing particularly innovative, but it’s well executed.

That includes the overall packaging, because the S01 provides a surprising amount of space in the passenger cabin for such a small vehicle. It feels much more spacious, for example, than the previously mentioned BRZ. The back is definitely a different story. The rear seats are fit only for children, and ideally ones with a strong resistance to heat stroke. We drove our test car on a very hot Shanghai summer day, and the glass hatch meant that the back seat was an absolute oven.

A cruiser at heart

The S01 has a single front-mounted electric motor producing 125kW and 250 Nm of torque (168hp and 185 lb-ft). It can be had with either a 35.6 or 48 kWh battery pack providing 305-460km (190-280 miles) of NEDC range. Leap attempts a bit of sleight of hand in their marketing by talking about the S01’s official 0-50kmh (30mph) time of 2.6 seconds instead of it’s less impressive 0-100kmh time of 6.9 seconds.

This seems disingenuous at first, but after driving so many electric vehicles, we are starting to see that it makes a fair bit of sense. In the city, 0-50 km/h is where you spend most of your time, and how you get between those two numbers is very important.

The S01 certainly feels at least as fast as a BRZ at those speeds, and that matters a whole lot to how it feels to drive every day. The combination of instant torque and skinny eco tires also means this thing will absolutely roast the front wheels when you add in even the smallest amount of steering angle, and that’s certainly a kind of fun. You also have to keep in mind that its 19,000-25,000 USD price tag is roughly half that of a Subaru BRZ or a Miata here in China.

But while it’s possible to compare the S01 to those more focused, RWD sports cars when it comes to speed, the same cannot be said when it comes to handling. Quite frankly, its torsion beam rear end cannot compete with the independent rear suspension of the Miata and BRZ.

Nor does it provide the level of drive engagement that you would want in a true sports car. The short wheelbase means this is a flickable vehicle, with decent turn in, but there is very little in the way of steering feel. You can learn more about what the front tires are doing through the sound of their squeal than you can through the steering wheel.

Takeaway

So, the S01 doesn’t necessarily fit the bill as the electric sports car for the masses that we’ve all been pining for. What it does provide is a comfortable, everyday EV that’s fast enough to keep you smiling and more engaging than any other FWD electric vehicle we’ve ever driven. We would call that a step in the right direction.