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

#electriccars #cupraborn #seatcupra #electriccar

If you want an electric car with attitude, make sure the new Cupra Born is on your shortlist. The feistier Spanish stablemate to the Volkswagen ID.3 is the perfect for those who prefer a sportier drive.

We've been living with the Cupra Born for a while now, our in depth, long term, full review on life with the more exciting sibling to the the VW ID.3.

While it shares its underpinnings, batteries and motors with the ID.3, the Cupra is more than just a clone. Cupra hopes its Spanish newcomer will attract drivers who want the hassle-free ownership of an electric car, but the driving excitement of a hot hatch.

Does the Cupra answer the brief? Tom has all the answers...

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[vakaryusuf]

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

[CubbyTech]

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!

[tomquimby]

A rare video on this channel, a personable presenter giving a true account of a car.

[smeghead]

Really good report and nice to see they let Tom Barnard out. Go on let him out more he's not just for Christmas.🖖

[kaputtkonfigurator]

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.

[pigeonpoo]

For someone who doesn't stand in front of a camera that often, well done. Do it some more.
The car. VW said the chassis wasn't good enough to do a GTi (hot) version, so I'm disappointed this isn't the first mainstream EV hot hatch it looks like

[Brokenbritain]

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

[Joe-lbqn]

KUdos for minor but key points like the A pillar and wipers which in the longer term can make or break the driving experience longer term

[mikadavies]

Never knew about the tyres being a special size and the wiper blades being for LHD cars! Sadly these two issues would be enough for me to not touch it with a barge pole. Only buying top grade Continental Tyres!! Notice that the tyre "price" wasn't mentioned.... I bet it was around £200 each.

[louishiggins]

Had my V3 58kwh for nearly a month (after ~5 month wait) - only option panoramic roof.
Really like the car, it's quiet and drives well 😁.
It feels a lot bigger than my previous Golf mk7 (on paper a similar size), particularly as you sit a lot higher due to the underfloor batteries (does give excellent visibility, though).
The only cons so far; inability to switch off lane assist permanently, which is a real pain ☹️, and using touchscreen/haptic buttons is distracting when driving.
Appreciated the ability to warm/defrost the cabin remotely + heated seats and steering wheel during the recent cold snap, were brilliant 😁.

[justinsheldon]

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.

[robhallam]

To change back to miles in My Cupra App go to Profile / Account / Units....took me ages to find it!!! I agree with every one of your comments with the A pillar blind spot being my biggest moan. Other than that and the very hit and miss App, I love my V3!! By the way, my colleague received her V2 a few weeks ago and within 3 days the battery had blown leaving her stranded on a winding unlit back road...have been told a battery module has blown but Seat can't look at it until early Feb because it needs to go to a specialist battery centre.

[anielloliguori]

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.

[dbm]

Have covered 4500 miles in my V3 58kw e-boost version. Totally agree with what was said about the app being very modest about the range. Not a bad car at all, but the infotainment system seems to crash more often than not. Have also started to receive over the air updates.

[tomooo]

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.

[williamdhughes]

Had mine (73 plate) for 6 weeks ish and i love it.
Last car was a Ateca cupra and before that leon estate cupra, both 300
This is my first ev and i absolutely love it.
Love how it (she) drives
She's plenty quick enough.
Very comfy and looks great

A lot of people ask about it and as you said people seem to love it
Infotainment and steering wheel has been fine. Had no issues. Took a couple of days to get used to it but thats the same with all new cars
Love her

[belgiumarthur]

When I tested this car I had already tested a lot of different cars, and I was very disappointed by the Born. It wants to be a hot hatch, but drives more similar to a family monovolume. It's not low enough to the ground, sure, but even then there is nothing sporty about it bar the rear-while drive and the looks. I had the same 204bhp version as the video and it lacked power compared to other cars. It did drive very comfortably, but it doesn't fit the image they try to project. Another thing is that the accelerator has a sluggish feeling. If I put my foot down, I want max power, don't build it up over a second or two. At least in sport mode I expected to have this fun and dynamic driving. I just could not have fun driving it. I'll admit, the car I tested before was a BMW i4 and that punches you in your back when you want it to, so the Born was disappointing to drive afterwards.

The worst thing however, is the infotainment and specifically the haptic buttons on the steering wheel. I'm not sure if mine was a bit defective, because it was so sensitive that I changed the volume multiple times over a 30 min drive. A slight touch or even when you skin gets very close it activates the button. And a swipe touch area for volume? Piss off. Bad design. What a cheap-out. Cupra should have designed a better infotainment and steering wheel, even if it made the car more expensive. Don't just follow VW if it's something bad.


Good looking car, but too many disabilities. It's a case of "All bark, no bite" IMHO

[MartynDews]

A fair assessment. We have one sat on the driveway now and I agree with you main points. The car is mechanically great; looks great, drives great but the software is less than great but that's well documented. Evidence, I feel, of the VW Group execs overriding engineering advice in the rush to get something to market. Of course the CUPRA sadly inherits a lot of that code. To be fair to CUPRA, they seem to be taking steps to address the bugs.

And yes, that A Pillar blind spot is dangerous. Driver need to be 100% aware on right hand bends.

Overall a great car though, despite the niggles.

[alistairjackson]

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.

[deganellis]

Some really good practical insights. The wipers, for example. That would about the bejesus out of me.
Thanks for that.
Still an interesting proposition. Will be Interested to see how they be received here in Australia, with our long distances and crappy charging infrastructure!
The rest of the cupra brand cars are doing very well, having just been launched here.
Great content. Keep it up!