Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs Leapmotor C10

The Hyundai IONIQ 5 costs £4,195 more than the Leapmotor C10. For that premium it adds 176 kW faster peak rapid charging and 85 litres more boot space. The Leapmotor C10 is not just cheaper - it also offers 35 kW more power and a 1.0s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 comes out ahead overall.

The Leapmotor C10 is £4,195 cheaper to buy. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 is cheaper to charge, roughly £160 a year versus £216 for the Leapmotor C10, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Leapmotor C10 comes out roughly £3,915 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 228 miles for the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 175 miles for the Leapmotor C10 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 goes roughly 53 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 18 minutes in the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 30 in the Leapmotor C10, so the Hyundai IONIQ 5 loses less time at each stop. That makes the Hyundai IONIQ 5 the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 10 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 510 mm of total clearance for the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and about 500 mm of total clearance for the Leapmotor C10. The Leapmotor C10 also turns in a 0.8 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 89% battery health for the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 90% for the Leapmotor C10. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. The Leapmotor C10's LFP-type pack tolerates daily 100% charging, while the Hyundai IONIQ 5's NMC-type pack lasts longest kept to about 80% for everyday use.