► We take advantage of Leapmotor’s tech…
► … by making our own electrical gremlins
► The feature has practical uses, however
Last week, I attended the UK launch of the new Leapmotor C10. While I was beetling around Sussex, I discovered the car had a ‘routines’ function that, once programmed, allows you to perform a series of actions, like you can with your Google nest at home.
This has some serious benefits. For example, in the baking summer months, you can program the car to switch the air conditioning system to full blast the second your backside touches the driver’s seat. It saves you from faffing around with the touchscreen.
The trouble is, Leapmotor’s parameters for the tech are – ahem – generous. You can use it to control basically anything on the car. Climate control. Stereo volume. Electric windows. Reading lights. The lot. And that opens some excellent opportunities for mischief.
Because I’m a child, I spent the last half an hour of the launch event creating electrical gremlins in my C10 test car. And if you’re the poor sod at the Stellantis press garage trying to figure out why your brand-new Leapmotors are going haywire, sorry. My fault.
Rather stupidly, I recorded the whole process – hence incriminating myself. You can watch it below. My goal was to make the car act like a knackered Italian motor from the 1980s so, every time someone sat in the passenger seat, I told the C10 to lower its rear right window, switch on the front left reading light and turn the radio volume to full.
Off camera, I also created a routine that made C10 drop its rear right window every time you opened its driver’s door. I was in utter hysterics as I watched journalists and Leapmotor executives alike approach the car and then recoil in horror at the ‘demon’ possessing it.
The process was made even funnier by Leapmotor’s slightly wonky Chinese translations. The touchscreen described the rear windows as being either ‘On’ or ‘Off’ rather than ‘Open’ or ‘Closed’ – and the front occupants could either be ‘Seated’ or ‘Not Seated.’
There’s even a menu that allows you to select the strength of the acceleration provided by the electric motor. The three options are ‘Smooth,’ ‘Stable’ and – wait for it – ‘Robust.’ I damn near fell out my ‘Seated’ position laughing at it.
So, there you go. My quick guide on how to create your own poltergeist in a new Leapmotor. If you’ve got a mate who’s just bought a C10, feel free to use any info in here to wind them up. Just don’t reveal your source. I can do without the hate mail.