LONG TERM REPORT: Are we torn about the Cupra Born? / Electrifying

It's an ID3 only much, much, much better looking.

What colour is this

There is a huge software update version 3.2. Warning it has to go to a Cupra dealer and takes up to 6 hours.

Windscreen wrong lead wiper is a big deal breaker for me (I owned a car with it this way for 20 years, and every single time I used the wipers in rain, I cursed them!!!!) and no sunroof in any model trim. And could the interior be made to look anymore depressing?

Looks nice but I am not convinced about the quality here. How does it compare to the Volvo EX30 or the KIA e-Niro?

Great vid. just bought one. expecting in July so this vid has defo helped with any byuers remorse ... refreshing straight to the point approach to the review too.. just the right amount of humour

Will you have something on the iX1 soon?

Nice car to drive but horrendous to live with. It has AC and DC charging faults Cupra have no idea what to do about. Too much comment on range: real issue is charging. Basically you get half what website says!

We drive our Born since December and are absolutely loving it. It's the same model with 58kw Battery and that's just enough for everyday use. For me it's the smoothest car I ever owned and it's just fun to drive.

Am really looking forward this Cupra born, but in 77kwh version, to have the maximum range in a smaller size than my current kia Niro EV.

Rode my bike past a Born today and I found myself smiling. It really is a nice little car.

yummy

I think the Cupra Born is a fantastic looking car. It's what the ID.3 should have been. A bit expensive though. VW group seriously need to rethink their controls & infotainment though.

Great review. The car great looks and I love a cupra... BUT it fell apart for me on the wiper issue + blind spot. AND the paint work I expect to last.
I Dragon once said 'I'm out'
Shame but that would stop me spending my hard earned cash....

VW should have just made this their deisgn langauge in North America.

Just starting month 3 with my Born . A 77kw V3 with e boost. First electric car, as a company car , to make the benefit of cheap BIK taxes. Anxiety from distance soon faded away with the larger battery,. Its a great car to drive and with the cars in the household, would always be the first key to get snatched by any driver needing transport. As all have said the software and infotainment is not fun at all. Cupra dealer changed my car to miles on the app on one of my visits , but they had issues with head offices servers , so its still not totally working on the app. Also, I have had irregular keyless entry issues. No real drama but should work. The alarm also works , as sometimes I open the door from locked, it unlocks and sets the alarm off. Cue hunting for the key in my pocket to shut it up and its ear piercing loud. Ask my neighbours.
Range wise , I am getting 3.6miles/kw through the winter , that I have had the vehicle. Thats on comfort mode, heater, lights and pre-heat if required. So, hopefully make 4miles/ kw when it warms and I use less heating etc.
Quick off the line with the e-boost button. Does surprise and make a difference. Wife , after I showed her to press it , took off like a scalded cat and then swore and hit the brakes and she isnt scared of power or speed, but took her by surprise.
The dealer I bought it from sold me a tyre insurance ( gave him some pocket money) and judging by yourself and Top Gears long term cars both getting punctures, should work well in the term I am covered at the price of the tyres to what I ( well my boss) paid.
Agree on the paint. Now 6k miles in and I had a stone hit the front 'bronze banana' which will be interesting to touch up and also the nose near the badge and a wing has chips already.
Same issue with mileage randomly showing a shortfall of distance , weirdly mostly after charging. App does disconnect from the car sometimes when I need to pre-heat to defrost. So , I have to go into the car, connect the phone, go back indoors and turn the ac on.
So, conclusion ( I didnt mention steering wheel sliders or dark volume sliders on the screen as everyone else does) is that its a lovely car to drive. Does get a bit fidgety on uneven road surfaces. Smooth tarmac at speed it like a quiet limo ride with a small hint of tyre noise. Peppy to take off from the lights. Good build quality. Feel the vents slide, just solid. No squeaks or rattle. In a way , a bit of a game changer for us with ICE cars . I dont believe I will get an ICE company car again.

you should be able to adjust the wiper to swing closer to to the pillar

wish it was available in the U.S.

As an American EV enthusiast, I am hella envious of you Brits and number of EV choices y'all have available. America's fossil fuel loving neanderthals are seriously holding back our progress.

Is it worth £15k more than to top of the range MG4 though

Thanks, looks much better than the ID3. Nearly all EVs are fast enough without boost buttons. Mine has sports mode which will take you to 60 in under 5 secs, I almost never use it, it is actually a bit unpleasant in most UK traffic situations.
Thanks for a good video.

I test drove one yesterday and the brakes were awful. I don’t know if I want this or the MG 4

A very balanced and fair review. I have had my Born V1 since last July. Yes it is a very comfortable and easy car to drive and yes it looks heaps better than the ID3. There are, however, a number of very irritating things. Two are ones Tom mentioned, the A pillar which, for me, is a problem on some right hand turns, and the windscreen wipers being the wrong way round and how they add another inch of width to the A pillar. I find the infotainment system a nightmare. You cannot use this at all while driving full stop. It's a distraction and could be dangerous. Maybe that's just me but I would very much like to have the option of shutting it off altogether. The rear of the car has been designed for aerodynamic efficiency which sounds good but in reality means that you have to keep using the rear wash wipe to be able to see through the back window. It also means that everyday I have to wash the back of the car as it gets so dirty. Also, unbeknown to me, the car was fitted with summer tyres when I got it. Fine through to November but then with the bad snow we have had up here in the Highlands the car just could not cope. I had to spend another £500+ on getting some all season tyres. At first the Cupra app was great but then nobody can tell me how you access any notifications that are indicated in the little red circle. Also, for no apparent reason, it has stopped showing total mileage in the driving data and again nobody at the dealership can tell me why this has happened or how to get it back. My car also has the 58 kW battery but I do not get anything like the mileage Tom gets, especially in winter (colder) weather. When I was taking delivery of the car I was told in no uncertain terms to never charge the car above 80% and to never ever go below 20%. This effectively cuts the range down further from the claimed figures. My efficiency since getting the car and having done 5,500 miles is at 3.3, so well done to Tom for getting 3.9. Perhaps he could offer some advice as to how to do that. To sum up, the Cupra Born is a very nice and smart car to drive in many ways but I will not be getting another one unless all the above irritations are sorted with any future model.

Question: Why would I get this shitbox instead of a model 3? Because it's a hatch? Must be the only reason. Same price...

Got a 77kw V3 coming next week as a company car. First foray into electric cars. 77 kw just because of range anxiety, distance drives and also that my charger is the supercharger at the office , which I will now share with my boss and his Etron GT. So, even though I have pulled the trigger, I am now looking at reviews, in a sort of 'wrong way to do it'. But reviews seem to be more positive than negative , so I look forward to its arrival at the end of next week. Mine was an ex demo , so have 4 k miles on it and immediate delivery . For the BIK situation its a no brainer. From hybrid cars to electric my BIK was reduced by about 75% . Just got to get on with panic charge movement until I wonder what the fuss was about ..................

I bought the 58KWh V3 e-boost model and I absolutely LOVE the car. The drive is really nice, it’s comfortable, it has lots of space inside, looks miles better than the ID3. I originally looked at Tesla’s, the EV6 and the Ionic 5 and I don’t regret my descision at all. It looks tasty but it’s practical too - a great combination. Also some reviewers have moaned about the touch controls on the wheel, personally I think they are all just copying each other or they flap their hands around wildly whilst driving. The touch controls are perfectly fine after a couple of days with the car and I have never pressed any of the accidentally. Really love the CUPRA brand and maybe the Tavascan will be my next car.

Great review, thanks

Great video, well done, is there a newer model on the way?

Great review. Please can we have a team test of the Born against the Renault Megane and the MG4 (and the ID3 if you think it is worth including).

I think its abit of a myth that you will get one fast from the factory. I ordered mine late june and delivery is March 2022. Thats for the V1 with no options. If a dealer has stock then you can get hold of one quickly but people getting one through a company car scheme will have a long wait.

I know it's based on the ID3 but it looks an awful lot better. Funny how subtle body shape changes can make or break a car in terms of desirability. I think it's a great looking EV and the efficiency you've got from the 58kW battery pack is pretty good; comparable to many of the other EV's on sale in the UK at the moment.

It is rear wheel drive, BUT? Motor sits in the back. Really? what is at the front? Is that not the motor?

I Have a white V2 with sunroof & heat pump, got it at the end of June, done 6800 miles, use it mainly for work (62 mile round trip) had a few day trips e.g. lakes etc. Firstly love its looks & its comfort & space, for such a heavy car it handles pretty well. I found it a little tricky going up hard knot pass in the lakes probably due to its rear wheel drive not sure! It was pretty steep every car i have gone up there in have been diesel front wheel drive! I Have had 5.1 mile/kw when driving on country & town roads using its regen. At about 60miles/hr on motor way it drops to 3.5-3.8 miles/KW. In the extremely cold weather we had recently my range on 80% dropped from 220 (summer) to 145miles with the heater on at 25 deg C (since i have a heat pump it might be less in one with out) its now running at 165miles at aprox 6-7 deg. Also I followed Manuals advice at sub zero temp by keeping it at 40% & above, this meant recharging it every night during this period! I have a home Charger (Hypervolt) and I have Octupus go tarrif currently 7.5p/kw 12:30am to 4:30am I calculated its saving me aprox £2500/year on fuel not to mention no road tax & first service is after 2 years! Conclusion: Range drops considerably in Winter especially in extreme cold! Love the way it drives, comfort space & looks. Only charged it once at a public charger (120kw) in lakes took aprox 35/40 mins, I think if your doing lots of short journeys with the occasional long one, this car would suffice, if your doing high mileage I don't really know! My one concern is the public charging network, I have considered a PHEV since there have been times when I have let the battery run down so that I am not charging it to often to preserve the battery life, and that point I thought but what if I need to go on a journey and I had to wait for the car to charge or find a public one to get it charged quickly etc. Anyway that's my experience.

I’ve never seen Tom Barnard before. He is really good. Please let him review more cars. Very good presenter. Great review.

One question, does it have memory seats? for when changing the driver, automatically position everything correctly for the driver?

In my SEAT app the selection of units miles/ kilometres is under the Account button and Settings, not where I would expect to find it....

The car comms module shuts down when locked and charging.
The %soc is about right, the mileage is a guess.
The mileage and the app update after about 10mins driving, when the comms module has woken up.

I like Tom's reviews! He has a calm demeanor and gets to the point without a bunch of fluff. More reviews just like this, please!

doesn't the Born have rear drum brakes?

Sell it in the US

I always thought the Cupra and the future Tavascan look worse than the Predator without the mask…

I’ve had my born for three months now and I love it. Heat to drive and very practical. to change back to Miles on app. Go to account bottom right then units at the top

You forgot to mention the rear drum brakes, what modern Ev vehicle with this price tag has rear drum brakes?

The wireless charging pad is only included with the Tech Pack L even on the V3 car. My V1 has it as it was optioned with that pack.

I am sure that 201 HP is so popular because 201 HP translates into 150kW which is quite nice number in the electric motor industry.

Maybe the reason why several cars from different brands have 202hp is just the conversion from 150kW.
Electric motors are usually rated with "round" values in W or kW.
100kW, 110kW, 150kW...300kW... are tipical values of power of electric motors.

Very good report. Like Tom Barnard I've done a similar mileage in almost 6 months. It's a really engaging car to drive and I enjoy the RWD push feeling. I had a '96 Renault Laguna which also had a steeply raked A pillar. I had a blind spot accident when turning right and I hit an on coming car. I quickly learned Tom's double head bob and it came back to me instinctively when I test drove the Born. ( Tom, BTW the App has a built in kms to miles 1.603 conversion factor, incorrectly applied, which goes away the next time the phone connects directly to the car. Oh and I was amazed how few problems you experienced with the hateful Infotainment system, but I still love mine.)

The paint is because all manufacturers are/required to move to low VOC paint, so they are water based. We all know that several years ago Tesla had a problem, then Kia, Hyundai group and now VW. It takes a few years for each company to sort out their water based paints but they get much better as the companies refine it.

The battery pack parallel cell blocks that defines the power output, and they all come from the same source. Hence the 200 hp.

I have the v1 in vapour grey, nice car, a little twitchy on the steering in the wet. So far I've covered 2200 miles, totalling £50 in costs, why? ........ Using free chargers