Cupra showcases its electrified future with three soon-to-arrive models

Newcomer brand Cupra has given more details about its medium-term future at a European event that showed off its first EV SUV, to be known as the Tavascan.

The new Cupra Tavascan was flanked by a pair of concepts, the Terramar SUV PHEV and the UrbanRebel city hatch EV.

While the Volkswagen-owned brand has shown concept versions of the Tavascan and UrbanRebel previously, these latest iterations are closer to what the production models will look like when they start rolling down the production line in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

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“Tonight, we show the entire range of Cupra’s next generation of heroes to be launched by 2025,” said Wayne Griffiths, CEO of Cupra, while also hinting the Leon, Formentor and Born that will arrive in Australia in July will all be renewed by 2025.

Aiming to fill the gap between mainstream brands such as Toyota and Mazda and luxury marques such as BMW and Audi, Cupra is planning to build its annual sales to 500,000 vehicles by 2025.

While Cupra is aiming to only sell EVs by 2030, the brand is also pushing ahead with more plug-in hybrid models as part of its electrified journey.

Cupra Tavascan

Cupra Tavascan
Cupra Tavascan

The Tavascan was first shown as a concept in 2019 but has evolved into a mid-sized all-electric SUV with a clear emphasis on design.

It is Cupra’s second battery electric vehicle – alongside the Born – and the brand’s first EV SUV.

Sharing its electrical architecture and underpinnings with the Volkswagen ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq iV, the Tavascan has a sleeker body more in line with the Volkswagen ID.5.

Specifications weren’t revealed at today’s event but with the concept Tavascan Cupra has previously suggested it will use a dual-motor setup providing a combined 225kW.

That concept was fed by a 77kWh battery claimed to provide up to 450km of range.

Cupra Terramar

Cupra Terramar
Cupra Terramar

Terramar is significant to Cupra because it’s the name of a historic banked racetrack outside Barcelona, the brand’s hometown.

Now Terramar is a car – or, at least, it soon will be.

Sharing its architecture with the Audi Q3 (it will also be built in the same Hungarian factory), the Terramar will be offered with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain capable of 100km on electricity alone.

There will also be an ICE-powered version, and Cupra chief Griffiths says it’s the last fuel-burner that the company will introduce. It’s aiming to be 100 percent electric by 2030.

Cupra UrbanRebel

Cupra UrbanRebel
Cupra UrbanRebel

It’s a city hatch but one that clearly wants to stand out on the road.

The UrbanRebel has evolved the more radical styling of an earlier concept, and is now pretty much exactly what will go into production in 2025.

The UrbanRebel is an all-electric hatchback that utilises recycled plastics and bio-based materials as prt of its eco pitch.

“The Cupra UrbanRebel will be the biggest project for our company in the upcoming years, since it is key for our transformation as a fully electric brand,” said Werner Tietz, Vice-President for Research & Development at Cupra.

“We are leading the cluster development, the family of vehicles that will democratise sustainable urban mobility, for different brands within the Volkswagen Group.”

“This is how the car will look like, I promise, even in 2025,” he added. It will drive “like a go-kart”.

The performance version of the UrbanRebel is powered by a single electric motor driving the front wheels and making 166kW.

It will be offered with at least two battery pack options, one of which will deliver up to 440km of EV range with a less powerful motor than the performance variant.

  • Cupra UrbanRebel
  • Cupra UrbanRebel
  • Cupra UrbanRebel
  • Cupra UrbanRebel
  • Cupra UrbanRebel