Having started out as SEAT’s high-performance badge, Cupra is now well and truly into its stride as a standalone brand. Up to this past year, it had still obviously been a SEAT spinoff and although it had its own brand-specific models - the Formentor crossover and the Born electric hatchback - there were an equal number of models borrowed from the SEAT stable - the Leon and the Ateca. Now, though, with the arrival of this electric Tavascan SUV-coupe, and the combustion-and-hybrid-engined Terramar SUV, Cupra is looking more and more like its own entity.
Precisely what Cupra stands for remains a touch indistinct. It has moved away from its posh SEAT origins and now arguably occupies a space that’s more affordable Audi, but it faces considerable competition, not least from in-house rivalries with Volkswagen and Skoda. Equally, for a brand that’s supposed to be about sporty driving, Cupra sure does make a lot of SUVs, a breed of car not known for their inherent sportiness.
Can this Tavascan square that circle? It arrives with striking SUV-coupe styling, a genuinely interesting interior and - in standard ‘Endurance’ form as tested here - a 286hp, 545Nm electric motor driving the rear wheels.
How much is the Cupra Tavascan in Ireland?
Through the month of January, Cupra reduced the price of a new Tavascan thanks to a promotion which effectively doubled the SEAI grant of €3,500, but even so the Tavascan is not a cheap car. Part of that is down to the fact that it’s the only Volkswagen Group electric car that’s made in China, which means it’s subject to import tariffs thanks to new EU legislation introduced last year.
It means that the most affordable Tavascan is the Endurance 4, which starts from €45,365 including grants. All Endurance models use the same 77kWh (net) lithium-ion battery and a 286hp electric motor driving the rear wheels. The Endurance 4 has a one-charge WLTP range of up to 569km.
Standard equipment includes a 15-inch infotainment screen (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) and a 5.3-inch digital driver’s instrument pod. There’s also keyless entry, rapid wireless phone charging, intelligent park assist with a remote function, an electric tailgate, 19-inch alloy wheels, illuminated Cupra logos front and rear, three-zone climate control, bucket sports seats with a textile covering made partly from recycled material, ambient cabin lighting, adaptive cruise control and privacy glass. Notably, heated seats are absent from that list, which feels a bit strange at this price level, especially in an EV.
If you want a hot bottom, you need to upgrade to the €55,765 Endurance 6, the model we’re testing here. That additionally comes as standard with heated seats and steering wheel, electric front seat adjustment, rear armrest, adjustable boot floor, expanded ambient lighting, Sennheiser audio, a 360-degree parking camera system, an augmented-reality head-up display, DCC electronically adjustable suspension, 21-inch alloy wheels and a panoramic glass roof. Officially, the range on a charge is 546km.
The Endurance 7 model costs €62,575 and comes with forged 21-inch wheels, high-performance tyres, ‘Cup’ bucket seats which are also ventilated, a synthesised engine sound and a range of 504km.
Above the Endurance models, there’s the more overtly sporting VZ versions of the Tavascan, which come with a two-motor 340hp powertrain, and a price tag for the VZ 8 model of €71,210. Standard equipment is broadly the same as for the Endurance cars, except that the basic VZ 8 gets 20-inch alloys and Matrix LED headlights as standard, and a range of 522km. That falls to 516km for the €71,990 VZ 9, and 481km for the €76,550 VZ 10.
At the time of writing, Cupra Ireland currently has a finance package offer for the Tavascan, with 3.9 per cent APR interest and monthly repayments starting from €319. That offer also includes three years’ Cupra Care servicing (including delivery and collection), and three years’ tyre insurance.
A look inside the Cupra Tavascan
One thing you’d have to say about the Cupra Tavascan is that it has a hugely distinctive interior. True, the digital screens and the ‘slider’ stereo volume and heating controls are shared with other Volkswagen Group electric vehicles using the MEB EV platform, but Cupra has in style terms gone all out to give the Tavascan a unique look and feel inside.
A big player in that game is the sweeping centre console, which has moulded scale-like decorations to look as if a futuristic, cybernetic Manta-Ray fish has taken up residence behind the dashboard and left its tail poking out between the seats. It’s a dramatic visual effect, and bravo to Cupra for being brave enough to put this concept-car-like detail into production.
The rest of the dashboard is almost as distinctive, spreading out towards the doors with the flowing shape of the rest of that robotic Manta-Ray’s body, with a broad copper-coloured highlight running the full width through the centre of the air vents. The centre console’s scale motif is replicated on the doors, and in this Endurance 6 model, there are star-like pinpricks of light coming in through tiny holes in the door cards. It’s genuinely striking in there.
Comfortable too thanks to high-backed bucket front seats with a microfibre-style cloth. There’s plenty of space up front, and Cupra gets a lot of things right, such as the steering wheel which is mostly round (only the base is flattened) and it features driving mode switches which are mounted to little pods hanging off the steering wheel’s spokes. Well, if it’s good enough for Porsche and Ferrari...
There’s decent storage space in large door bins, a big storage box under the front seat armrest, and another open area under the centre console. There are also two decent cupholders, mounted down near your elbow.
In the back, there’s ample space for two, and the flat floor means that it’s slightly easier to squeeze in a third rear seat passenger (although the shape of the rear bench means that they’ll be well and truly perched up and not massively comfortable). Legroom is generous, but headroom - thanks in part to the shaping of the roof needed to accommodate the big glass panel of the panoramic roof, isn’t quite so good. It’s fine for most, but very tall passengers in the back might feel a little enclosed.
At 540 litres, the Tavascan’s boot is a substantial size, and the optional adjustable boot floor means that there’s somewhere to stash your charging cables in lieu of any under-bonnet ‘frunk’.
How many child seats can I fit in the Cupra Tavascan?
In spite of its swoopy bodywork, the Tavascan is pretty practical from a family point of view, with two ISOFIX anchor points in the rear seats, and another in the front passenger seat.
How safe is the Cupra Tavascan?
The Cupra Tavascan gets a full five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, including an 89 per cent score for adult occupant protection, 86 per cent for child occupants, 80 per cent for vulnerable road users, and 79 per cent for active safety systems.
As standard, all Tavascans come with rollover prevention, tiredness recognition, traffic sign recognition, intelligent speed assistance, blind-spot monitor with exit assist, lane-keeping steering, forward collision alert with automated emergency braking and a pop-up bonnet, adaptive cruise control, and ‘Emergency Assist 3.0’ which can detect if the driver is unresponsive and bring the car to a controlled and safe stop while activating the hazard lights.
The Cupra Tavascan’s on-board technology
As standard, the Tavascan comes with the now-familiar Volkswagen Group small 5.3-inch digital instrument display behind the wheel (which is actually a better solution, especially at night, than some larger rival displays) and a big 15-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash.
That screen would benefit from some proper physical buttons to allow you to access more commonly used controls while driving, although at least Cupra’s software is getting to the point where it’s merely fiddly, as opposed to genuinely maddening, to use. The slider controls under the screen are as annoying as ever, though.
Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto both work well, and there’s a handy wireless phone charging pad under the centre console. The Sennheiser stereo, standard on this Endurance 6 model, is excellent with very good sound quality, helped by the Tavascan’s aural refinement.
There’s a ‘Connect’ package that includes over-the-air software updates, breakdown call-out, bi-directional charging (including being able to power your home if you have the right equipment), remote climate control and the ability to send navigation directions to the car from your smartphone. The nav comes with ‘Connect Plus’ which includes live charging point information, as well as parking info.
Driving the Cupra Tavascan
The Tavascan is refined and comfortable, especially when you access the DCC adaptive suspension menu and realise that there’s a damper setting that’s two steps lower than ‘Comfort.’ As with many EVs, the Tavascan is naturally refined, and Cupra has clearly gone to great lengths to minimise the likes of tyre noise and wind rush, as well as making sure that the cabin is pretty well squeak and creak free.
Combine all of that with those excellent front seats and the Sennheiser stereo and you have a great long-haul car.
However, the Tavascan is, after all, a Cupra and Cupra is, after all, supposed to be a sporty car brand. Now, to be fair this is the Endurance 6 model, and there’s the Endurance 7 to which you can upgrade which comes with notably sportier tyres (which exact a significant penalty in terms of range) but the Tavascan’s is just not all that sporty.
It’s undoubtedly well-balanced, it corners fairly briskly and the steering feels suitably weighty. Call up the Cupra driving mode, by pressing a prominent button mounted on the steering wheel, and set the dampers to their stiffest, and there’s a modicum of sportiness about it all, but fundamentally the Tavascan is set for comfort in any of its driving modes, and when you try to get all enthusiastic about cornering, you suddenly remember that this is a 2.1-tonne EV.
Unlike Cupra’s petrol-powered models - the high-powered versions of both the Formentor and Leon feels fabulously frisky to drive - this Tavascan Endurance model is quick, sure-footed and precise but it’s just not sporty enough to make itself stand out. Perhaps the more powerful VZ version will do a better job on that score.
How far will the Cupra Tavascan go on one charge?
According to the WLTP test, the Tavascan will do 546km on one charge, at least in this Endurance 6 form, with the 77kWh battery and the single 286hp electric motor. That seems broadly realistic. In chilly conditions (and without the possibility of pre-conditioning the car before driving) we averaged 22kWh/100km on test and saw a potential 400-450km on one charge. In more favourable conditions, we’d expect that to be more like 500km.
The reasons you'd buy a Cupra Tavascan
Cupra, and the Tavascan in particular, we feel still needs to work on what it’s supposed to be. If it’s genuinely a sporty brand, then we need to see more evidence of that coming through in all models, and not just the range-topping VZ versions. As it stands, the Tavascan does struggle to set itself apart from its Volkswagen Group sibling models in terms of the driving experience. That said, all of this means that it’s a brisk, comfortable, long-ranged, practical, comfortable and refined electric SUV, which just happens to have one of the most distinctive and interesting car cabins of them all.
Ask us anything about the Cupra Tavascan
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