When you wanted the top of the line in hatchbacks you would invariably end up with the most athletic version, in VW’s case if you wanted the top-spec Golf, you got a Golf R and might have paid around 60k for it. With Cupra the name has always had an athletic association, the designs look incredible inside and out but do they follow through on their heritage? The Cupra Born e-Boost is the top of the line Born. It maximises acceleration and range, and features instant performance at the push of a button. The Born has around 419 kms of range and decent rapid charging capabilities. This top of the line version also comes in at around 60k.
Special mention : Wonderful looking design inside and out, Dinamica seats are very comfortable
Needs work : A few tweaks, a little weight loss and we could be getting close to the Seat Cupra of days gone. Also, we need our buttons back.
| 204 BHP / Range 419 km (355 km as tested) | Electric / Auto |
| 0-100 km/h in 7.2 seconds | Road Tax €120 |
| Price: from €48,275 As Specc’d €52,584 | Boot Space 385 litres |
So what do you get? Well the Born is currently offered with a choice of either a 58kWh or 77kWh battery, with an entry-level 45kWh version due to join the line-up somewhere down the road. The 204 bhp 58kWh model is rated at covering up to 419 kms on a single charge, although this is dependent on many factors, driving it normally we didn’t get above 355km. It comes with 19” ‘Typhoon’ wheels, the more kit you add, the heavier it gets (and it’s not too light on its feet at 2,280kg).
Charging speed is now as important a factor as range. The Born with 58kWh battery maxes out at 150kW. A standard home wall box at 7.4kW will take around 12 hours to charge to full. If you want to make the juice last a little longer, don’t forget that factors such as driving style, the type of roads, temperatures etc will affect overall range. Also weight and this model comes in at over two tonnes, for a five-door hatchback this definitely affects the handling and dynamics. In order to increase efficiency there are two modes for the regenerative braking, the strongest of which provides a decent amount of stopping power when you lift off the throttle, but don’t rely on it for full one-pedal driving.
With its lower centre of gravity, it sits down in tight corners and feels pretty settled through switchbacks. Adjust the driving modes and you’ll notice the steering gets heavier, but firmer brakes and increased feedback would be welcome if the Born is to claim a title such as a true hot hatch.
Acceleration off the mark is typically lively for an EV, which helps to make the Born quite fun around town, while it’s pretty responsive at higher motorway speeds, too. providing increased range and rattling off 0-100 km/h in 7.2 seconds. Road and wind noise is reasonably damped in the cabin leaving you feel more relaxed and refreshed after longer journeys.
Visibility around the Born is good but the large A-pillars can cause some obstruction at junctions. dashboard design is all angles and at times can be knocked off of accidentally by your knee while coming and going from the car. Elsewhere there are plenty of soft-touch materials and if you can up spec to the optional Dinamica bucket seats, they are far more comfortable when it comes to support.
The levels of standard equipment for the Born is decent with adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, LED headlights, automatic wipers and rear-view camera as standard. The next trim level comes with an AR head-up display, heated front seats and heated steering wheel. Finally the top-spec trim comes with the 12-way electrically-adjustable Dinamica bucket seats and a massage function, something that seems to be quite popular with manufacturers recently especially the French. Je ne sais quoi.
While the design of the infotainment and features such as climate control have been designed with a reduction of button pushes in mind, it ends up being less user friendly. For example the dual-function electric window switches use a haptic toggle to switch between front or rear windows, but they usually require more pushes than necessary to operate. Also the touch-sensitive sliders for the cabin temperature and volume are not the easiest to use and don’t light up for visual enhancement. There’s a 12”infotainment screen with integrated sat-nav, a Digital Cockpit display and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. You can get a wireless charging pad which didn’t work when we kept our phones protective case on, not an issue encountered with wireless pads in recent press cars.
While the glove box loses out on space due to the placement of the fuse box, the rest of the cabin has a decent amount of storage with the usual duo of cup holders, large door bins and a big central cubby.
The passenger space is good due to the flat floor and that extra bit of space under the front seats giving rear passengers that ounce or two of comfort.
While there’s no extra storage under the Cupra’s bonnet, the boot has 385 litres of space. Folding the Cupra’s rear seats gives you 1,267 litres of space to play with, however the seats don’t fold completely flat and the false boot floor that helps mitigate that is an extra.
The Born uses most of the VW’s ID 3 parts but with a nicer interior, exterior and sharper handling. It’s much more expensive than budget Chinese models and the interior materials and design feel as much. And as for the use of haptic buttons on the dash and the steering wheel, they’re not as good as the idea behind them. Give us our buttons back.