Cupra Born 230

Our EV’S mod cons make getting on your way more agreeable

IT’S EASY TO LOOK BACK AT THE DAYS of analogue motoring with rose-tinted spectacles. Manual transmissions, hot hatchbacks with naturally aspirated engines, the late-20th-century aesthetic delights of Gandini, Giugiaro and Sacco. This stream of nostalgia is something I (as a millennial, no less) think about often, but there’s something no analogue car offers that the Born does – modern connectivity.

In contrast to our Cupra’s generally atrocious touchscreen interfaces, the ability to step into its cabin, place my phone on the wireless charger and instantly (and wirelessly) connect to Carplay really is welcome. It also plays to my hatred of exposed cables and allows me to be wildly irresponsible with my at-home phone-charging regime.

As with many new cars the Born is also permanently connected to the internet, unlocking the ability to communicate with it via a Cupra smartphone app. It’s tough getting out of bed in my cold Victorian flat on a chilly morning, but all it takes is a few taps to activate the Born’s climate control and get those heated seats nice and toasty for when I eventually head outside.

There have been a few glitches, though. For instance, there was a period of three weeks or so when the car thought it was left-hand drive, only warming the passenger seat and prioritising the climate control on the left side of the cabin. And while I haven’t personally experienced a full blackout of the centre screen, it is a problem other Borns have been plagued with. But by and large the seamless connectivity has been a boon, not least because it meant I didn’t need to scrape a windscreen once this winter.

Date acquired August 2022 Total mileage 6044 Mileage this month 401 Cost this month £0 mi/kwh this month 3.2