Volkswagen Group's Spanish brand Cupra is on course to become a serious player in the electric vehicle (EV) space in Australia, with a multi-pronged model rollout starting in only a few weeks.
First cab off the rank of course is the Born, a Toyota Corolla-sized hatchback that is already making waves as Australia's cheapest long-range EV at $59,990 before on-road costs for the big-battery 77kWh version.
An even bigger splash is possible if Cupra decides to import the Born’s baby brother, the as-yet unreleased city car based on the Urban Rebel concept as previewed earlier in 2022.
If it gets the green light, this Kia Picanto-sized runabout with a very sporty flavour could debut locally possibly as soon as 2026, giving Cupra a competitor against the growing tide of cheap Chinese cars that are on the horizon for our market.
Just as the Born is based on the coming VW ID.3 small car, the production version of the Urban Rebel, that’s rumoured to be called the Raval when it surfaces globally during 2025, will be derived from the as-yet-unseen VW ID.1, which will effectively replace the Up! supermini in Europe and elsewhere.
A hint of what the end product might look like can be seen in the 2021 VW ID. Life concept, which is a sub-four-metre supermini and the first to use a front-engine/front-wheel drive version of the MEB scalable electric architecture. Battery sizes are said to range from between 35kWh and 55kWh, while a concerted effort is being made to keep weight as well as costs down.
That’s why SEAT is said to be leading the development of this low-priced electric component set, and it will be made in Spain as well. The latter brand, of course, is the parent company of Cupra.
The VW Group has already said that the ID. Life/ID.1/Urban Rebel/Raval line will kick off from around 20,000 Euros (under AUD$32,000), which would make the Cupra version one of the least expensive EVs on the Australian market… IF it makes it here. Let’s wait and see.
The 2021 VW ID. Life concept hints at a sub-four-metre supermini.
At the ID. Life’s unveiling last year, then-VW CEO, Ralf Brandstätter, stated that accessibility is everything, and that of course also applies to the Cupra version.
“The ID. Life is our vision of next-generation fully electric urban mobility,” he said. “The concept car provides a preview of an ID. model in the small car segment that we will be launching in 2025, priced at around 20,000 euros. This means we are making electric mobility accessible to even more people.”
Meanwhile, the Cupra EV with the largest sales potential in Australia will be the Tavascan.
Based on the 2019 concept car of the same name and due to enter production sometime in 2024, it will be positioned right above the Born in the small SUV segment, meaning it will likely have the broadest appeal of any of Cupra’s EVs when it finally arrives in about 2025.
Inevitably, there are VW Group equivalents already in existence. Two are already confirmed for Australia – the VW ID.4 and the Skoda Enyaq – while the third, Audi’s Q4 e-tron, is expected by about mid-2024. Key competitors will be the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6 and Ford Mustang Mach-E.
The Urban Rebel concept was previewed earlier in 2022.
Cupra has already announced that its final new-model release with an internal combustion engine (ICE) will be the Terramar – a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) promising about 100km of pure electric range.
Out by 2025 in Australia, it should serve as the replacement for the Ateca small SUV, and is derived from the MQB platform that underpins scores of VW Group products like the VW T-Roc and Audi Q3.
From that point onwards, all future Cupras will be EVs, and by 2030 there will no longer be ICE models in the company’s line-up. Hence their massive importance to the fledgling brand in Australia as well as around the world.
More Cupra EVs, of course, will be revealed in time, so watch this space.
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