I don’t know what expectations we as a society had about what kind of, and how many, electric cars there would be on Irish roads by this time in our ‘go EV’ drive.
According to the government, their Climate Action Plan target has well exceeded its target of 195,000 electric vehicles on the road by the end of 2025.
Will target dates for sales of new petrol and diesel (now pushed out to 2040 from 2035 and earlier from 2030) slow down purchasing of EVs?
It’s early days but it does look like we’ve turned a corner. Last year’s figures show an increase of 35.1 per cent (23,601) in new electric cars registrations (from 17,460 in 2024). And there has been a good start to the year, I believe. Surely there is momentum? Or will potential EV buyers be tempted to go for one (or two) more rounds of new diesels or petrols?
Are we, as a society, going to sit back and take it to the limit again?
I’ve met a lot of people down the country in the course of the past sad, few weeks. As ever, the chat, slowly, but inevitably, turned to EVs.
I expected a negative verdict from those I would consider to be from rural, outlying areas. But there was a good proportion of town dwellers too. Many of them were in their twenties and far more knowledgeable than I on several aspects of cars
I came away each time the discussion reared its head, to be able to say that the ‘No’s had it by a considerable figure. There was a valiant vanguard in favour of small urban cars as the household’s second motor. But the main car would be diesel/petrol. Most of the larger car owners all came up with the old reasons not to buy: range, charging, not suitable for their longer commutes, price etc. I’d have thought most of those perceived shortcomings would have washed through the system by now. I was a bit shocked.
The very opposite applied to the non-electrics. Diesel, petrol and hybrid all scored strongly on range, fleetness of fuel fillings etc..
Look, the feedback I got was not meant to be other than a vox pop if you like.
We’ll just have to wait and see if the 31per cent lift in EV purchasing increase last year will be overtaken this year or will there be a fallback.
It just so happened that the sort of car many of those I spoke to would have regarded as a more attractive proposition – a family runaround – was my review car for a few days. It is the Leapmotor T03 city car.
It’s a tidy tot made for city/suburban driving. It is not a car for a non-stop whistle-stop tour of the country.
Its range is a mere 265km; and that is by the WLTP calculations. They are said to be real-world figures. Not in the real world most of us occupy. The WLTP can vary substantially with those, I have found.
However, in a twist to the figures, Leapmotor claim there have been cases where results for some models were even better than WLTP.
It was awarded top honours for efficiency during the ECOBEST Challenge 2025 contest. It managed 290km. That’s 25km more than the official span.
With DC charging time, it takes 36 minutes to replenish from 30per cent to 80per cent.
Leapmotor’s own acceleration figures – from zero to 50kmh – for the 95hp electric motor is five seconds. Will that matter a jot to the anticipated owners? I doubt it.
It’s a nice little car that doesn’t try too hard to be flashy. There’s enough of them.
It is just 3,620mm long and its perceived main rival is the Dacia Spring at 3,701mm. Maybe you are more familiar with the size of the Toyota Yaris? At 3,940mm the Toyota is 300mm longer, though it wouldn’t be regarded as having the same buyer profile. Having said that, many models are made these days to appeal to wider audiences.
Confined within such dimensions, the T03 makers had to push out every millimetre of room. For the size of it, there’s a sense of space when you sit in but I wouldn’t be trying to pack too many six-footers in the back, though the high roof-line permitted two average size passengers to get by without major complaint.
It’s what you’d call a no-nonsense car with a good price. It costs from €18,950 There is just the one trim. Style. There are four colours.
Depending on how you feel, it is either bland, or minimalist, to look at or sit into. It’s a little car of simple styling with a snub-nosed front, stronger flanks and straightforward rear.
Everything on the car is standard. No messing around trying to decipher what is extra and how much more it costs.
Standard are a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, 15ins alloys, 10.1ins high touchscreen, 11 ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), LCD driver instrument cluster, reversing camera, rear parking radar, halogen auto headlights, heated exterior mirrors, single-zone electric air con. Over-the (OTA) update function, voice control, 4-speaker, surround audio system, keyless start are also included.
With three models here poised to battle for buyers this year – the mid-sized C10 SUV, which I reviewed recently; the subject of this review, the T03 – and the B10 budget friendly SUV which was launched here recently,.
And with more models to come they certainly show they mean business in a market that will be closely monitored to gauge what, if any, effect the new EU deadline of 2040 will have on buyers’ preferences.
