Cupra Born
Spanish hatch turns on the sporty style, while a bigger battery means there’s a longer range, too
THE Born is more expensive than the Megane, with this top-spec V3 weighing in at £43,735. This car’s extras include the lovely Aurora Blue paint (£880) and the Tech (M) Pack (£540), which adds intelligent park assist, Car 2X vehicle networking, wireless smartphone charging and keyless entry, lifting the total to £45,155.
Design & engineering
THESE cars compete within the same space of the market, and each makes use of a dedicated EV platform, but the engineering decisions taken to produce them are fundamentally different. While the Megane has a single motor driving the front wheels, the Born, which rides on the same Volkswagen Group MEB architecture as the VW ID.3, Audi Q4 e-tron and Skoda Enyaq, has a motor set low down over the back axle and sending torque to the rear wheels.
View it from the side, and the Born looks very similar to the aforementioned ID.3; only the Cupra-specific wheels and colours set the two apart. The changes come at the front and rear; while the ID.3 has gone for a soft, almost friendly look, the Born instead goes for a sharper, more sporty appearance, with slim, pointy lights and Cupra’s signature copper-coloured highlights.
The basic layout inside is much the same as the VW ’s, too, and ‘basic’ is the key word there, because the design looks much more spartan than the Renault’s. There are some odd ergonomic choices, too. The dual-function electric window switches, which require you to press a touch-sensitive key to choose either front or rear opening, are just daft, while the sliding climate and volume controls, which don’t light up at night, are very fiddly.
But while the cabin feels cheaper than the Renault’s, the key component that justifies the Born’s extra cost above its rival is the battery. A 77kWh usable capacity means it’s 17kWh larger than the Megane’s unit. A smaller 58kWh battery is also available in the Cupra. With 227bhp and 310Nm, the Born can boast slightly more power and torque than the Renault, but that battery means that it weighs more than 1.9 tonnes, so it’s also much heavier.
Driving
EVEN though Cupra is pitched as a sporting brand, we’d stop short of calling the Born a hot hatch. Yes, body roll is fairly well controlled in corners, the rear-wheel-drive layout delivers a sweet balance when accelerating out of them, and there’s slightly more grip than in the Renault, but it’s still not a hugely engaging car to drive. It feels a little too lethargic – the car’s weight can’t be hidden completely – and while the steering is accurate, it’s too inert to provide engagement.
To keep roll to a minimum, the suspension needs to be firm, and that’s only too apparent as soon as you travel along expansion joints, over potholes or generally most uneven surfaces. As with the Renault, it manages to take the edge off the worst bumps, so it never feels harsh, but the constant fidget might be irritating if you do lots of driving in town.
The Born covers the 0-62mph sprint in seven seconds exactly, which is half a second quicker than
the Megane. But in the real world, the difference is hardly noticeable. The Cupra’s power delivery is very smooth, though, and the motor is near-silent in its operation. Sportier driving modes sharpen up the throttle response, but even in these settings, it’s easier to modulate the pedal than in the Renault.
It’s just a shame that there are only two regenerative braking settings; the stronger mode can be accessed by selecting ‘B’ on the neat instrument binnacle-mounted gear selector.
Practicality
AS we’ve already established, both cars serve up plenty of space for occupants, but the Cupra’s rear-mounted motor means the Born’s boot is a little smaller than the Megane’s. Still, at 385 litres, it’s a match for combustion-engined hatchbacks like the VW Golf. Charging £340 for a false boot floor, bundled in with a 2.3kW charge cable, seems a little mean in a near-£45,000 car, though. Without it, there’s quite a pronounced hump in the floor when you drop the seat backs down.
On the whole, storage within the cabin is great, though. The front door bins are huge, there’s a deep centre bin under the central armrest, and another further forwards which also has two cup holders. The only small negative is the glovebox, which is effectively halved in size because of the location of the fuse box.
Although passenger space is similar to its rival, the Born has a little more foot space under the front seats. Our car, however, was a strict four-seater: there was no middle seatbelt. But other Borns are available with a three-seat rear bench.
Ownership
BOTH the Born and Megane E-Tech were assessed by Euro NCAP in 2022, and were therefore tested to the same standards. They each earned a five-star rating, but dive into the individual scores, and the Cupra slightly outperformed the Renault across the board. It offered better protection to adults and children inside the car, and vulnerable road users outside, plus it scored higher for its driver-assist tech.
Running costs
ONE area where the Born scores very impressively is its efficiency. We averaged 3.9 miles per kWh on test, but in the right conditions and with more town driving, that figure will easily improve. In mixed driving, the Megane managed 3.7mi/kWh.
Over the course of 20,000 miles, that’s the difference between charging costs of £1,436 for the Cupra and £1,514 for the Renault. The gap will only widen if you rely on costlier public chargers.