Cupra Tavascan EV review

Unlike most EVs made in China, this eye-catching SUV won’t grate on your nerves.

Matt Campbell

3 min read

April 14, 2025 - 2:10PM

Motoring

New Cars

Don't miss out on the headlines from New Cars. Followed categories will be added to My News.

This electric SUV from China gets a lot of things right – but it’s not from a Chinese brand, and maybe that’s why…

It’s the Cupra Tavascan, a battery-electric coupe-style SUV that starts at just over $60K before on-road costs, and has an abundance of style, tech and driveability that many of the like-priced EVs from China can’t match.

The Tavascan comes in two grades – the rear-wheel drive Endurance with 534km of range, and the dual-motor all-wheel drive VZ with 499km of range. Both have a 77kWh (usable) battery pack, and both have decent 11kW AC charging (8 hours from 0-100 per cent on three-phase power) and 135kW DC charging (10-80 per cent in 28 mins).

MORE: Aussie favourite takes on Toyota hybrids

2025 CUPRA Tavascan Endurance and VZ. (Picture: Supplied)

It’s built on the Volkswagen Group MEB platform, with the Spanish brand taking advantage of a production facility in China to keep costs low. And, compared to some others in the segment, you feel like you’re getting a vehicle that is largely complete, not ‘waiting for a software update to fix things’.

That’s partly because – unlike most new EVs – the Cupra Tavascan doesn’t have connected services in Australia. So, no over-the-air updates, and also, sadly, no smartphone controllable elements like charging timers and preconditioning the car on hot days or cold mornings. You can still do that stuff on the car’s screen, however.

The screen menus will take a little learning, but there is a row of favourites tabs you can configure at the top of the display, while at the bottom there’s a climate ‘bar’ that remains there, but you still have to go on screen if you like to fiddle with fan controls and air direction.

MORE: ‘None better’: Luxury brand stuns with electric SUV

2025 CUPRA Tavascan VZ. (Picture: Supplied)

The cabin space is avant-garde in its finishing, with some outstanding design elements like the central ‘spine’ section between the seats and the design ‘blade’ that runs across the dash. There is ambient lighting and fetching finishes on the doors and seats, and those seats are lovely to spend time in, too.

Most of the practical bits are there, with heaps of loose item storage, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging and USBs front and rear. The boot is roomy with 540 litres of cargo capacity, but sadly no spare wheel is on offer. You do get a Type 2 charging cable included, and Cupra has a few home charging options that you can pick from if you need it – plus you can roll the cost into your finance, and the brand has a guaranteed future value program if you’re concerned about resale values for your new EV.

2025 CUPRA Tavascan. Picture: Supplied

Another way this crossover model betters some competitors is the safety technology integration. There’s a driver monitoring camera which is lenient in its approach and won’t chime incessantly like most, and there’s also no speed-sign recognition and warning bing-bong tech to ruin your experience, too. If you don’t want the lane-keeping tech on, it’s a simple swipe down on the screen to press a favourite button to disable it.

The drive is best in the base model, with a pure balance and easy handling that combines with a comfortably firm ride to offer plenty of reassurance on urban and country roads. It steers sweetly, and is very predictable.

MORE: Did RAM utes just go woke?

2025 CUPRA Tavascan VZ. (Picture: Supplied)

The dual-motor VZ is a smidge quicker (5.5 seconds 0-100km/h vs. 6.8sec for the base), but unless you really need AWD, I’d suggest the entry model is a better bet. Admittedly there are 15-stage adaptive dampers in the high-spec, so you can tailor the drive a bit more, but it’s not as fun as the Endurance.

Both are reasonably efficient, too – I saw 16.4kWh per 100km in the Endurance, and 18.3kWh per 100km in the VZ. And that was across a few hundred kays of country and urban driving in and around Adelaide.

The thought that kept recurring in my mind on the drive was, “would I prefer to be in any of the other Chinese-made EVs instead of this?”

The answer was a resounding “No!”

4.0 STARS