Cupra Born UK customer deliveries to begin in a few weeks

Update: ‘Specifications’ and ‘Price & Launch’ sections updated.

Seat’s sub-brand of performance-oriented cars, Cupra, lifted the covers on its first-ever all-electric car, the Born, in May 2021. The Cupra Born, designed and developed in Barcelona, Spain, entered production at Volkswagen’s Zwickau plant in Germany on 28 September 2021. This is the fifth model to roll out from what happens to be Europe’s largest EV factory. Customer deliveries of the Born in the UK are set to begin in the coming weeks. Here’s everything you need to know about the Cupra electric car.

Exterior

Though the Born is a re-bodied VW ID.3, Cupra designers have lent it a sporty and athletic character. At the front, the Cupra Born comes with all-LED headlamps with daytime running lights integrated. The front bumper of the Born is given a concave design, below which a large intake is placed with signature copper highlights and accents. The curved front bonnet gets a copper-finished logo sitting on the tip of it, with ‘Cupra’ lettering present on the thin strip running between the headlamps.

The Cupra Born features a sharply raked A-pillar, and the door panels wear a sharp crease that emerges from the front wheel arch and ends up at the side edge of the tail lamp. The C-pillar has a three-dimensional textured finish, providing a floating roof effect. The Cupra Born is available with six 18-inch, 19-inch, and 20-inch options with machined finish and copper highlights.

The first Cupra electric car features a diffuser, roof spoiler, and LED tail lamps at the back, with a thin LED strip across the boot lid connecting the lamps. The body-coloured rear bumper comes with a grey finished region, which includes license plate housing and reflectors. The EV will be made available in six paint schemes, namely Glacial White, Rayleigh Red, Vapor Grey, Quasar Grey, Geyser Silver and Aurora Blue.

Cupra Born interior

The Cupra Born welcomes one with puddle lamps which project the Cupra logo when the doors are opened. The cabin uses recycled materials – a step taken for enhanced sustainability. An example is the central part of bucket seats that uses ‘Seaqual’ yarn comprised of upcycled marine plastics.

The Born comes with a Cupra-specific steering wheel to highlight its sporty demeanour. Cabin highlights include a 12-inch touchscreen infotainment system slightly tilted towards the driver side. This fully digital cockpit includes gearshift buttons and parking brake, a nine-speaker Beats audio system head-up display that shows driver assistance, speed, and navigation indicators. Customers can select one of the multiple colour trim options with various 3D effects and surfaces on offer.

The infotainment system of the Cupra Born features wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto, touch sliders for adjusting climate control, and volume controls. Also on offer is a voice recognition system that can be activated by saying “Hola, Hola,” and Cupra Connect technology along with the new My Cupra app. Through this connect technology, one can monitor the car’s exact percentage of battery charge and climate settings inside the vehicle, make an e-call, and access live traffic information and nearby charging stations, all via an embedded SIM.

Specifications

The Cupra Born is 4,322 mm long, 1,809 mm wide, 1,537 mm tall, with a 2,767 mm wheelbase and a boot capacity of 385 litres. For perspective, it’s just slightly longer and marginally taller than the VW ID.3. It runs on standard 215 mm section tires for all the alloy wheel options on offer, with an optional 235 mm wider tire available as well for optimised performance.

The Cupra Born is available in three variants — V1, V2 and V3, which differ based on their performance with different lithium-ion battery options. The 45 kWh battery with the 150 hp motor will be exclusively available with the V1 variant. The 58 kWh battery with a 204 hp motor can be had with all three variants, and currently, this is the only powertrain option on sale.

With a 125 kW fast charging option, the Cupra Born can gain an additional range of 100 km in just 7 minutes of charging, with the time taken for gaining up to 80 per cent charge being 35 minutes. An 11 kW AC wall box charger will recharge the 58 kWh battery from 0-100% in only 6 hours 15 minutes.

Later in 2022, customers will also be able to opt for the e-boost package, where the variant with a 58 kWh battery has a power output of up to 231 PS (170 kW), with a claimed 0-100 kmph sprint in 6.6 seconds. The best-in-range variant with 77 kWh battery (Range pack) features has a power output of 231 PS (170 kW) and an enhanced range of 540 km. Both these options will be available at a later date.

Variants	45 kWh battery (V1 only)	58 kWh battery
Power	150 PS (110 kW)	204 PS (150 kW)
Torque	310 Nm	310 Nm
Maximum range	340 km	424 km
0-100 km/h	8.9 seconds	7.3 seconds
Variants (with e-boost)	58 kWh battery	77 kWh battery (Range pack)
Power	231 PS (170 kW)	231 PS (170 kW)
Torque	310 Nm	310 Nm
Maximum range	420 km	540 km
0-100 kmph	6.6 seconds	7.0 seconds

MEB platform

The Cupra Born sits on Volkswagen group’s MEB architecture and gets Macpherson struts at the front and advanced five multi-link setup at the rear, with an optimised platform for the central positioning of the battery. The vehicle features dynamic chassis control with four different drive modes – range, comfort, individual, and Cupra.

OnlyElectric’s Thomas Majchrzak likes what he sees

Thomas Majchrzak from OnlyElectric got to look at the Cupra Born, and he seems to come away reasonably impressed.

As for the exterior, Majchrzak says the Cupra, being the sport-oriented brand from SEAT, holds a much sportier look when compared to its sibling, the VW ID.3. Where the VW has a more van-ish appearance, the Cupra is almost sportscar-like thanks to the front lip that holds the brand name. Even when viewed from the side, the short bonnet and low height give a very aggressive appearance which is probably added on to by the fact that the suspension lowers the front of the car a bit more than the rear. Speaking of which, the rear diffuser adds to this feel.

Source: OnlyElectric/Youtube

The bucket seats come standard and, despite that, are extremely comfortable, says the German presenter. Many elements like the seats and the floor mats have been made using recycled materials. The infotainment system is a 12-inch screen, unlike the ID.3’s 10-inch display. However, the lack of physical buttons is a little bit of an issue—the same problem with the steering wheel’s capacitive touch controls.

The instrument cluster is tiny with minimal customisation, but that is because of the Head-Up Display with augmented reality. At the rear, there is enough space for someone as tall as Majchrzak, (who is 6 ft 1 in.) even with the front seat pulled back to his preference. The boot is voluminous and usable even though the Cupra is a small vehicle. Like the ID.3, however, there is no ‘fruit’ (front boot).

Price & Launch in the UK

The Cupra Born’s prices in the UK start at GBP 33,735 for the base V1 variant. The V2 variant starts at GBP 34,190, while the V3 variant is priced at GBP 37,375. All prices are OTR. The only powertrain option on sale is the 58 kWh battery with a 204 hp electric motor. The 45 kWh battery with a 150 hp combination will soon be launched in the future at a lower price. Likewise, the more powerful 231 hp variants with 58 kWh and 77 kWh (e-boost) will arrive later in 2022. Deliveries of the Cupra Born are set to begin late in Q1 2022.

Cupra Born FAQs

Featured image: Cupra