Cupra Born review: why isn’t this electric ‘hot hatch’ fast?
Who quotes a 50km/h sprint time? A company that’s embarrassed by how slow its car is to 100km/h, that’s who.
There are many wasted hours in my life I’d like to get back – most recently the three interminable ones spent on Avatar 2, but also every single overseas economy-class flight, and the time I spent working on Supermarkets Monthly Magazine in London – but the ones that irk me the most are those spent watching PowerPoint presentations by car companies.
It is hard to describe how boring I find them, partly because I find the numbers, bits and bolts that go into making cars far less interesting than driving them, but also because the people who write these presentations are so lazy that every single one trots out the same turgid twaddle.
Every company will tell us, for example, that its new car’s cabin is “driver focused”, as if there was another option. I long for the day that someone says they’ve designed a car around the kid picking his nose in the third row.
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Occasionally, however, a car company will flash up something on the screen that wakens me from my slumber I fall into as soon as I hear the word “safety” for the billionth time, as Cupra did at the launch of its new and allegedly very exciting hot-hatch EV, the Born.
My eye was immediately caught when I saw “2.8 seconds”, a number that would be seriously, Ferrari-beating fast if it was the Born’s 0 to 100km/h time, but then I noticed that next to it were the figures “0 to 50km/h”. Who quotes a 50km/h sprint time? A company that’s embarrassed by how slow its car is to 100km/h, that’s who.
Basically Cupra – the performance brand of Spanish car manufacturer SEAT – was shouting sotto voce that its car is not as fast as the term “hot hatch” suggests. Frankly, it’s a bit like telling someone you’ve bought a race horse that leads every race after the first 200m. There was also a lot of chat from the Cuprans (I like this term, as it makes them sound like some kind of aliens from Star Trek, all of whom would have the company’s tramp-stamp-like logo tattooed on their cheeks) about how hot hatches have never been about pure speed, they’re all about handling and driver involvement.
On the one hand this is true, but the not so distantly related VW Golf GTI – one of my favourite cars ever, and a wise purchase for any enthusiast who realises they can’t afford a Porsche 911 – hits 100km/h in 6.4 while the Born does it in 7.0, on the way to a top speed of just 160km/h (the cooking hot Golf R smashes it in 4.8 and can do 250km/h).
The fact is that other companies, from Tesla to Porsche to Audi, have taught us that EVs are supposed to be fast, and not just off the line.
I had no fears beforehand that the Cupra Born (it’s named after one of the many cool suburbs of Barcelona) would not be quick; I was more worried that it would be too weighed down by its batteries to be fun to drive. Fortunately its handling provides far better news than the fact that it’s a bit of a slug when you put your foot down at 110km/h.
Cupra has done a quite incredible job of making the Born feel light on its feet and truly enjoyable to hurl along a section of winding road. The EV platform means they’ve been able to make it rear-wheel drive – always more fun – without compromising the interior space.
The steering is just a touch too light for my tastes, but still properly involving, and because the Born is so punchy at the bottom end it’s lots of fun to drive through bendy bits. It could be argued that it’s actually a very safe kind of sports car, because you’re having a hoot without going dangerously fast. People who work in the road-safety industry will no doubt also laud this car for selling itself to enthusiasts and then not allowing them to hit 100mph, ever.
The speed thing is a bit weird because it would make you think that Cupra shoved in a smaller, less powerful battery as a compromise, so that the Born could still be fun to throw around, but that would also leave it with a piddling range between charges. In fact, the Born’s 77kWh battery offers an impressive 511km of range (or 475km if you opt for the $2900 Performance Package, which offers grippier Michelin tyres and Dynamic Chassis Control but no more actual “performance”, although it is even more road-hugging to drive). Cupra points out that this makes the Born not only the Volkswagen Group’s first EV for sale Down Under, but the only one with both a range and a price – $59,990 – that start with a five.
The other impressive selling point is the Born’s design; it really is a looker, particularly from the front (when you don’t need to breathe – a radiator, in car terms – a designer can really have fun with your nose). Some 500 Australians have already ordered one, without ever taking a test drive. No doubt all of them are really going to enjoy zapping their way to 50km/h, but how they’re going to feel after that about their lukewarm hot hatch remains to be seen.
Cupra Born
Engine: single-permanent magnetic electric motor 170kW/310Nm, 77kWh battery
Transmission: One-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Price: $59,990
Rating: 3.5 out of 5