Cupra, the Spanish high-performance brand now owned by VW, launched the Born, an electric hatchback back with a range exceeding 500 km into the Australian market in 2022.
To date, that model has sold over 1250 units, making it the best-selling European electric hatch in the market, and now the company is looking to offer a second electric vehicle to Australian consumer, the Tavascan SUV, which is due on these shores later this year.
The Cupra Tavascan will come in rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive variants, although details of the final specs and prices have yet to be released. We do know that the top-spec variant will be able to sprint from 0-100 km/h in 5.5 seconds, while offering up to 534 km of WLTP range.
Cupra is the only brand within the VW umbrella to have launched EVs in the market since we are yet to see any VW electric products land in the country.
Last week, I got to see a Tavascan in person at a Cupra garage in Melbourne so here are some details of what to expect from the car.
The Barcelona-designed SUV has some unique style points, such as the accents of copper-like features on the logo, front bumper and wheel add to the uniqueness of this, and some illumination around the logo that would help the car stand out when driving in low light or night conditions.
This design language continued on the inside with the interior as it had lots of copper design elements along with the sportier cockpit found in the company’s first EV, the Born.
With the Tavascan, there is now a much larger infotainment screen that ever-so faces the driver, making it a driver-focused cabin.
There is also quite a bit of storage space in the centre with USB charging ports, cup holders and cubbies in the centre console.
Around the interior, there is also ambient lighting which runs in the door panels as well as the front dash. In the Tavascan, it was one of the better implementations of this feature that I have come across.
Sitting in the driver seat, the new seat materials and different support levels for the back, made it quite a comfortable place to be in.
Given it was a static viewing of the car, it’s not yet clear how the seats would perform on longer drives but initial impressions around its supportiveness were positive.
There was plenty of room in the back seats, thanks to the flat floor and a cleverly designed rear cabin.
There are controllable air vents and charging ports for the rear passengers along with ambient lighting found in the rear door trims as well.
The boot is quite deep with a small section underneath the flat floor but nothing like the storage seen in the back of the Tesla Model Y which incorporates a deep storage compartment.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.