Shadowing Practice: Missed Opportunity - Leapmotor D99 Review - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello and welcome to The Telescope.
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Every week we bring you a fresh insight from the biggest car market in the world.
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Today we get to drive the Leap Motor D99.
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This is essentially the MPV version of the D19 SUV we showed you previously.
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As much as I like this car, I can't help but feel there's a missed opportunity with this.
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Because the SUV brother of this car's D19 started with a smaller battery that's only 63 .7 kilowatt hours.
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I know that's quite crazy for a range extender, but with this leaf motor range, that's only the base battery.
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And that car started at 219 ,000 RMB.
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And this D99, spec for spec, if you compare it with its SUV brother,
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is only 10 ,000 RMB more expensive than a similarly equipped D19 SUV.
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And that means the base spec of this D99 could start at just 229 ,000 RMB
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and that's significant because that means this car would have been only 30 ,000 RMB more expensive than the legendary Buick GL8.
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I used to run PR events, car launches, motor shows for brands so
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when we're allocating the budget we need to calculate how many journalists we're going to host
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and therefore how many buses we need to book
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and how many MPVs we need for those vips actually we
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never say how many mpvs we're gonna book we simply say how many gl8s we're gonna book
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because it's the default choice it's the known quantity it's
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so reliable it's
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so dependable just to show you from another angle how dominant
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the buick gl8 is in china in this sort of business mpv sector
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if you are a private owner of a buick GL8 and you don't know this already, just call your local car rental company
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and ask them for rates during China's major holidays like October the 1st or Chinese New Year.
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You will be shocked by how much money you can get just to rent your cars out during those major holiday periods.
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The GL8 is the key pillar that still holds the Buick brand here in China
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and the base spec GL8 starts at 199 000 renminbi now
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you might say 30 000 renminbi is not a small difference you know
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if let's just imagine that version i'm asking for exists
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and it does start at 229 000 compared to 199 it's
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still a 29 000 renminbi difference it's not small i get
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that however for those professional drivers the buick glas we use to book
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when we're planning for events for those drivers their fuel cost
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they could spend as much as 7 000 renminbi a month
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just on fuel cost this d99 is a range extender
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but it has a ultra long electric range even on
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that smaller battery should still give this car somewhere around 300 kilometers
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or so under the wltc cycle which is very realistic
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and 300 kilometers is the daily average uh mileage i projected
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for those drivers who spend 7 000 renminbi per month on fuel cost
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so let's just say you switch to this car
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and you charge at public dc charges you know even in shanghai use the most expensive public dc chargers
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and you put in a little bit of fuel just to
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cover those extreme scenarios you are looking at 2 000 renminbi
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per month on fuel cost the same mileage no compromise and
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that means you're going to save 5 000 renminbi per month
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just on fuel we are not counting in the much lower maintenance cost of its range extender and
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that means the 30 000 renby price difference initial difference is going to be wiped out after just six months and
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if you're going to keep this car for seven eight years
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you can calculate yourself it's a no -brainer this is if the smaller battery version exists, it's going to be a complete no -brainer.
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And currently, the D99 starts at 249 ,000 RMB.
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Now, you might say that's just 20 ,000 RMB more, you know, 10 months into it, it will be even out from the fuel cost savings.
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Yes, that is the case, but 50 ,000 RMB more expensive than the base spec GLA just means those professional drivers,
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this car will not appear it on their radar.
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They will not even consider this in the first place
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and only if you watch my review
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or do some calculations yourself then you're going to realize okay
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I actually can recuperate all of the extra spending at the initial purchase quite quickly.
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The car we're driving today has the 80 kilowatt hour battery fitted and this is a range extender just to remind you.
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On pure electric range it's rated at 480 kilometers
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which is 30 kilometers more than my Envo L90 which is a pure electric SUV.
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I specifically downgraded my Envo L90 to 60 kilowatt hour battery
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because I have a home charger
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and I have many many battery swap station around my home and
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when the electric range of range extender is longer than some
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pure electric vehicles it fundamentally changes the way this car is operated.
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I could just give you another example
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when this car was first delivered to me it has zero fuel okay I'll show you
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that picture it has roughly 190 kilometers of electric range and the range estimation on fuel is zero
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which i suppose is how these d99s intermediate fleets has been
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operated ever since they just don't put in fuel they just use this as a pure electric car
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and on performance this this has the performance
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that the buick gl8 could only dream of you know this
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has 400 horsepower i know this car is quite heavy
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but still it's a lot faster than the buick gl8
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and all the time i'm speaking to you during this video this car is on combustion engine priority mode
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which means currently i can feel because this car's engine mvh is not
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that good this is consistent with the leaf made the d19
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i can feel a little bit of vibration from the steering wheel that's how i can tell
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that the engine is on all the time i've been speaking to you the engine is on
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which means this is one of the worst case scenario for mvh
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and this mvh still beats the buick gl8 the base spec by a long way
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and the base spec d99 on second row seats the third
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row space still smashes the gl8 some professional drivers might worry
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that the d99 is not as well known as the buick gl8 in a sort of commercial rental space but go
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and check out my static review of this car then you'll realize the difference in space comfort feature is
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so big that once you show your clients
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that this is the car you now you're now running they
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will realize they are getting a bargain they're getting an upgrade from the gl8
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and not a small one if you're only sitting passengers in the front two rows, you know, it's three other passengers in this car.
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Then the third row of this car, this steals the trick from the X -Pon X9,
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that the third row can completely automatically fold back into the floor and gives you a really big boot.
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And the Buick G08 also doesn't have this trick.
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To be fair to the reigning champion, the Buick G08, it still has one advantage in its favor and that's size
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because this d99 is both a hundred mil wider
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and taller than the jl8 now while
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that gives you more cabin space that's actually quite annoying you
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know i suppose the extra width is not a huge problem for professional drivers because they're that much more skilled
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however the extra height could be a problem
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because some underground car parks in china
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that the height is limited to 1 .8 meters
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and this car being 1 .9 meters tall simply means it's not going to fit.
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That's the only advantage I can think of.
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I would suggest Leep Motor to put the 63 .7 kilowatt hour battery into this
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and mark it intentionally towards rental companies and professional drivers.
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Also give it a totally blacked out exterior
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and totally blacked out interior you know complete business focused mpv
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or you could also run a collaboration with dd in certain cities
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when people choose the six seater mpv option it defaults to a d99 currently the most popular mpv in
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that six seater mpv segment on dd is the denza d9
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and this car i'm not talking about
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that more basic business focused version i'm asking for okay just
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this current car undercuts the Denzer D9 by about this much in price.
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It's a complete no -brainer.
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I could only imagine if the 229 ,000 RMB D99 comes out, it's going to be a blood path.
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That is all from the telescope today.
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If you enjoyed this video, keep watching, keep subscribing.
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More videos coming along very soon.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Missed Opportunity - Leapmotor D99 Review”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: buick, range, fuel, mpv, Rmb. This video has 117 sentences and 1468 words to shadow. The speech runs for 9:48. The speaker talks at a natural 150 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| renminbi noun | /ˈɹɛn.mɪn.bi/ | The official currency of the People's Republic of China. |
| speculation noun | /ˌspɛk.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/ | The process or act of thinking or meditating on a subject. |
| extender noun | One who extends. | |
| kilowatt noun | /ˈkɪ.ləˌwɒt/ | One thousand (10³) watts, an amount of power large enough to power such things as a typical home appliance (e.g., a microwave oven, a toaster, or a hair… |
| brainer noun | /bɹeɪ.nə(ɹ)/ | someone with a certain type of brain |
| rental noun | /ˈɹɛntəl/ | Something that is rented. |
| seater noun | /ˈsitɚ/ | A vehicle or item of furniture that has a specified seating capacity. |
| mileage noun | /ˈmaɪləd͡ʒ/ | The total distance travelled in miles or in air miles. |
| charger noun | /ˈt͡ʃɑɹd͡ʒɚ/ | A device that charges or recharges. |
| telescope noun | /ˈtɛl.əˌskoʊp/ | A monocular optical instrument that magnifies distant objects, especially in astronomy. |
| calculate verb | /ˈkælkjʊleɪt/ | To determine the value of something or the solution to something by a mathematical process. |
| meter noun | /ˈmitəɹ/ | A device that measures things. |
| scenario noun | /sɪˈnɛəɹioʊ/ | An outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events. |
| allocate verb | /ˈæl.ə.keɪt/ | To set aside for a purpose. |
| dependable adjective | [dɪˈpɛndəbəɫ] | Able, or easily able to be depended on. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come along verb | To accompany. | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| wipe out verb | To destroy (especially, a large number or complete set of people or things); to obliterate. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 26 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: speculation /ˌspɛk.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/, estimation /ˌɛs.təˈmeɪ.ʃən/, vibration /vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/, calculation /ˌkælkjuˈleɪʃn̩/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/
- Long words — get the stress right: speculation /ˌspɛk.jəˈleɪ.ʃən/, dependable [dɪˈpɛndəbəɫ], estimation /ˌɛs.təˈmeɪ.ʃən/, recuperate /ɹɪˈk(j)uːpəˌɹeɪt/, intentionally /ɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃənəli/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like renminbi, speculation, extender.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.