News 21-04-2023 Cupra Tavascan: electric SUV with a range of up to 550 kilometers The Cupra Tavascan marks five years of Cupra and sets a new course. Higher in the market and… 83

Highlights Cupra Tavascan

• RWD and AWD
• 550 km range
• First model from new Chinese factory

The Cupra Tavascan is Cupra’s second fully electric car and because the Born was mainly a rebadged Volkswagen ID3, the Tavascan is Cupra’s first all-own EV. Well, completely unique: it’s on the MEB platform, but who doesn’t in the family? You can therefore safely see the Tavascan as a Spanish ID5. The difference is that the Tavascan has no ID4 under it. Cupra wants to be sporty and that only includes a coupé variant, as it is called.

Of course, the Tavascan does not come as a complete surprise. Already in 2019, at the last Frankfurter IAA, Cupra showed a concept car with this name and last year we were already allowed to take a look at studies of the Cupra Terramar, Urban Rebel and Tavascan. With the Tavascan, Cupra wants to take itself a step higher in the market and that seems to indicate that the Seat brand is going to push aside. After all, that has previously said not to build EVs for the time being; something that, with current developments, is tantamount to self-liquidation. Will Cupra be the new Seat? At the moment we are in Berlin celebrating five years of Cupra and we will try to get more clarity on this. Hopefully to be continued.

Exterior

We can see the Tavascan as a hint to future Cupras, we are assured. The most eye-catching are the headlights, which are made up of three triangles, which is called Three Triangle Eye Signature in hot air jargon. Almost as remarkable is the illuminated logo that appears in between. The same trick can be seen at the stern, where all the visual display is connected by a light bar. The carriage is drawn with the typical strong lines and sharp folds that we know from design chief Jorge Díaz. With their high-gloss black, the A-pillars should give a nod to the visor of a full-face helmet and to the Tavascan XE rally car. The door handles are illuminated and the Cupra logo is projected onto the floor below.

Interior

Also on the inside, Díez and his people have done their best to make something special out of it. Everything is drawn around the ‘Central Spine’, a line that divides the whole into two parts in the direction of travel. The center console seems to float on top of it, to curve forward in two arcs towards the A-pillars. These arches contain air vents that are so low that they are hardly noticeable. On the driver’s side we find the well-known trapezoidal display with which the VW roots betray themselves, the co-driver gets a beautifully lit block structure. At 15 inches, the central screen is the largest ever in a Cupra and is aimed at the driver. Cupra has gone to great lengths to create its own atmosphere with light effects; a true paradise by the dashboard light. Not visible, but present is the improved HMI and the renowned Sennheiser brand signed for the music. The materials are largely reincarnations of something else. For example, 90 percent of the textiles in a previous life were something made of polyester.

Bucket-shaped sports seats are standard in the Tavascan, special Cup seats will be an option at a later stage. Thanks to the MEB base, the legroom in the rear is generous and despite the coupé line, even the headroom is quite acceptable. The fifth door opens electrically after an air kick under the bumper and provides access to 540 liters of luggage space.

Cupra Tavascan

Motorization

Cupra prides itself on having tweaked the MEB platform to give the Tavascan a sporty character. Both the MacPherson struts at the front and the multi-link rear axle are spicy, so that the driver is more involved in his driving than in a VW on the same chassis. The weight distribution between the front and rear axles is almost equal and the steering is progressive, so that you steer more directly on challenging country roads than on the highway. The ESC can be disabled as desired. The systems in the entry-level version are set in Range, Comfort, Performance, Cupra and Individual. The top version also has a Traction mode. You can adjust the degree of regenerative braking in five steps using paddles on the steering wheel. The Tavascan has an adaptive sports suspension and progressive steering. You get ADAS assistance from the updated Connected Travel Assist, which includes automatic lane change and Remote Park Assist.

Technically, the Tavascan comes in two flavors. Entry-level is the Endurance, which has a permanent synchronous motor in the rear that sends 210 kW (286 hp) and 545 Nm to the rear wheels. If you find that a bit sober, choose the VZ. It gets a second motor on the front axle, asynchronous, which adds another 80 kW and 134 Nm. However, this is only switched on if the electronics deem it necessary, up to a maximum of 30 percent of the total at that moment. Then the system power is 250 kW, comparable to 340 hp. That results in a 0-100 of 5.6 seconds.

Both motorisations will have a battery pack of 77 kWh net. The Endurance comes with 550 km, the VZ has to be charged after 520 km. Fast charging is possible with a maximum of 135 kW, which takes you from 10 to 80 percent in less than half an hour.

The Tavascan will go into production in the second half of the year at the brand-new Volkswagen factory in Anhui, China, with the honor of entering the history books as the debut model of that production site.