Sporty Cupra EV is Born to be wild
The Cupra Born is the first proper attempt at an electric performance hatch. Nile Bijoux took it out for a spin.
Sharing parts between car brands is extremely common these days. Most vehicles can be traced to another brand, and EVs are no exception. Especially since they use fewer moving parts, there’s a decent scope for adjusting and tweaking the hardware. Case in point, the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform for EVs and this, the Cupra Born, the second model in New Zealand to ride on the architecture (after the Skoda Enyaq), and the first hatchback.
Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?
Cupra is beating Volkswagen to its own punch, with the ID.3 small car still nowhere to be seen. We will get the ID.4 and ID.5 later this year though, if you’re holding out for a VW-badged EV. In the meantime, the Born is here and ready to appease those wanting a sporty small car.
And it is sporty, honest. The Born gets a 150kW/310Nm motor that can boost up to 170kW for 30 seconds in Cupra mode, enough to hit 100kph in 7 seconds. Cupra has also given the Born a bespoke steering and chassis tune, which means it’s more agile than the ID.3 it’s based on. It feels more agile than the electric Mini Cooper too, although Mini doesn’t market the Mini Electric as a hot hatch.
A 77kWh (useable) lithium-ion battery feeds power, with enough in reserve for 511km of range on the WLTP cycle. It supports charge rates up to 170kW on DC power.
Styling is also markedly different – another bonus of sharing hardware is that different brands can focus on giving their vehicles more unique styling. The Born has a snubby nose with aggressive lights, a copperaccented lower grille, Cupra badge, text and wheels, while the rear end has a full-width, ‘‘coast-to-coast’’ LED light bar and an interesting texture on the floating C pillar.
The dark blue shade here is an $850 option, which means customers can choose it and still get the Clean Car rebate. Five other colours (white, red, grey, silver and a lighter shade of grey) are all free.
Inside are sports front seats, upholstery made from upcycled marine plastic with copper stitching, a floating 12-inch touchscreen running Cupra’s reskin of Volkswagen’s operating system, a heated sports steering wheel, and wireless phone charging. Behind the wheel is a 5.3-inch display.
Unfortunately, as New Zealand doesn’t have the same level of connectedness as Europe, Cupra doesn’t offer navigation or wireless phone mirroring. Wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay is available though.
There’s plenty of safety too, with adaptive cruise, blind spot detection, a 360-degree camera, adaptive high beams, and autonomous emergency braking all standard kit. ANCAP awarded the Born a five-star safety rating as well.
Finally, Cupra offers a fiveyear/100,000km mechanical warranty and an eight-year/ 160,000km battery warranty on the Born, along with five years of roadside assistance.
Where did you drive it?
The roads around Auckland, heading north towards Warkworth before meandering back down to Helensville. These are great roads for the Born, allowing the little hatchback to stretch its legs as well as testing its suspension and steering.
Electric power means the Born is punchy out of the corners, especially in Cupra mode with a jumpier throttle. The traction control light blinks a lot, understandable considering the damp patches and that instant shove, but you never really feel it in action unless you’re really getting out of shape.
The steering is accurate, although it could be a tad heavier, and Cupra’s work on the suspension pays dividends on these roads. The coil springs absorbed the worst of the bumps while keeping the car planted through some more aggressive corners.
Even more impressive considering these cars didn’t have Dynamic Chassis Control fitted.
If you want DCC, it’s an off-sheet option that comes with 20-inch alloys that costs $4000, putting it out of range of the Clean Car rebate.
Cupra describes the Born as something of a hot hatch, and the driving dynamics certainly live up to that. It’s easy to be spoilt for power these days but the point of a hot hatch is having fun slinging something without spleen-busting oomph through corners at moderately tame speeds, but holding that velocity through the turn instead of braking hard then punching it on the other side. And the Born does that very well, even though it’s rear-wheel-drive, while a hot hatch should technically be front-wheel-drive.
I’m still not a fan of Cupra’s infotainment system – it’s easy to get lost in all the buttons and screens – and I dislike the touchyslidey air-con controls. It’s also easy to accidentally palm one of the wheel-mounted control pads when steering.
But the column-mounted screen is easy to read and always in your field of vision and the seats are comfortable and supportive. The jury’s still out on whether the stereo does that annoying VW Group thing of turning itself down, but you can ask for a better BeatsAudio system for an extra $950.
What stands out the most?
This is the best driving electric hatchback so far, which is pulling from an admittedly small pool. The dynamics of the Born are brilliant when you’re going for it on the backroads, but the car is still tame enough to be liveable everywhere else. Plus it looks great.
Why would I buy it?
You’re part of the slightly niche group that wants a performanceoriented electric hatchback and aren’t interested in the larger sedan or SUVs, or the fully electric Mini Cooper.
Why wouldn’t I buy it?
The better part of $70,000 gets you a Honda Civic Type R, which is neither electric nor small but much faster and involved to drive, or an entry-level Tesla Model 3 sedan, which is larger and less interesting to drive but leaves you with more change in the bank. Of course, the Tesla Model Y is still around, also asking about $70,000 in entry trim.