Leapmotor B05 Ultra debuts

Electric hatchbacks are a brutally crowded business now — especially if you want to sell one in both China and Europe. That is the real backdrop for Leapmotor’s B05 Ultra debut. The company showed the new car at Auto Beijing on April 24, but the more interesting part is the split launch: China gets the amped-up Ultra, while Europe gets the regular B05 first. That tells you a lot about how Chinese EV makers are thinking in 2026. ### What is the B05 Ultra, exactly? It is the top trim of Leapmotor’s B05 family — a sporty electric hatchback the company is pitching at younger drivers who want something sharper than a plain commuter EV. In China it is called the Lafa5 Ultra, but Leapmotor uses B05 as the global name. The company is leaning hard on the idea that this is a factory-built “sporty coupe” rather than just a normal hatch with bigger wheels. (media.stellantis.com) ### What makes the Ultra version different? The headline upgrade is performance. Leapmotor says the B05 Ultra uses a rear-mounted 180 kW motor with 320 N·m of torque, does 0-100 km/h in 5.9 seconds, and tops out at 170 km/h. It also adds a sports chassis package with anti-roll bars, performance dampers, and short springs, plus a body kit, sport seats, and Ultra-specific trim. Basically, this is the version meant to make the B05 feel like more than a budget EV. (media.stellantis.com) ### Is this also a tech play? Yes — maybe even more than a speed play. Leapmotor is stuffing the Ultra with features that read like a spec-sheet flex: dual Qualcomm 8650 and 8295 chipsets, urban navigation-assisted driving, and even 8-point PWM seat massage. Some of that is genuine user benefit, and some of it is theater. But in China’s EV market, theater matters. Buyers compare software, screens, assisted-driving stacks, and cabin gadgets almost the way people compare phones. (media.stellantis.com) ### So why not launch the Ultra in Europe too? Because Europe is the hard market. Leapmotor’s own language makes that pretty clear. Outside China, it says the rollout is “step-by-step,” focused on core volume versions, simple lineups, and aggressive pricing. Orders for the standard European B05 opened on April 23 starting at €26,900. That is a very different pitch from “look at our hottest trim with massage seats and a dual-chip cockpit.” Europe gets the easier sell first — affordable, sporty enough, not overloaded. (media.stellantis.com) ### Why does Stellantis matter here? Because Leapmotor is not trying to brute-force Europe alone. Stellantis owns about 21% of Leapmotor and controls the Leapmotor International joint venture, which has the rights to sell and build Leapmotor vehicles outside Greater China. The partnership already pushed the brand to more than 850 sales and service points in Europe, with over 40,000 shipments there in 2025. That gives Leapmotor something most Chinese startups do not have — an instant distribution and manufacturing bridge into the region. (media.stellantis.com) ### Is Spain part of the plan? Yes, but the near-term official focus is the B10 compact SUV. Stellantis and Leapmotor said on May 8 they intend to deepen the partnership and potentially start Zaragoza production of the B10 as early as 2026, while also evaluating broader Spanish manufacturing expansion. So the big Europe story around Leapmotor right now is not “Ultra goes global.” It is “use Stellantis’ industrial footprint to localize more mainstream models.” (stellantis.com) ### What does this launch really say? It says Auto Beijing is becoming two shows at once. One is still the domestic Chinese spectacle — faster trims, bigger features, younger branding. The other is an export showroom where companies separate halo products from the versions they can actually scale overseas. Leapmotor’s B05 Ultra fits the first role. The regular B05, sold through Stellantis in Europe, fits the second. (stellantis.com) ### Bottom line The B05 Ultra matters less as a standalone car than as a strategy signal. Leapmotor is using China to prove it can make exciting EVs, and Europe to prove it can sell affordable ones at scale. If that split works, the company stops looking like a niche Chinese startup and starts looking like a real cross-border volume brand. (media.stellantis.com)