Here’s the new CUPRA Tavascan - and it’s set to wade into the electric SUV leasing market swinging punches!
The launch of the Tavascan has been a long time coming, with CUPRA first teasing it as a concept model back in 2019.
But now the Spanish firm has confirmed the aggressive performance EV will be available to lease from next year.
And because it combines plenty of power with a mean and moody exterior - and a very decent range between charges - the Tavascan is sure to be a popular choice.
You might view the Tavascan as the evil twin of the Volkswagen ID.5.
Both cars are fully-electric SUV coupes, and both are built on VW’s ‘MEB’ (it stands for ‘Modularer E-Antriebs Baukasten’, in case you were wondering…) electric platform.
The ID.5, however, is positively mild-mannered compared with the in-your-face Tavascan.
Yes, there’s a performance variant of the ID.5 - the all-wheel drive ID.5 GTX, which comes with power of 299 PS and has a 0-62 mph acceleration time of 6.3 seconds.
With the Tavascan, however, even entry level models get power of 286PS. And the dual-motor, all-wheel drive Tavascan VZ ups the ante with power of 340 PS and a 0-62mph sprint time of just 5.6 seconds.
Despite all that get-up-and-go, the Tavascan still offers a range of up to 341 miles between charges, courtesy of a 77 kWh battery, and can be charged from 10% to 80% in less than half an hour thanks to 135 kW rapid charging.
The Tavascan should also handle as well as it goes.
It features a dedicated ‘Sports’ dynamic chassis control system, which stiffens the dampers and provides more feedback through the steering wheel, as well as a suspension set-up that’s there to be pushed.
You also get performance tyres mounted on large 21 inch alloy wheels.
Inside the cabin you can expect a 15 inch infotainment screen - the largest fitted in a CUPRA so far - as well as a 12 speaker sound system from Sennheiser. Nice.
Wayne Griffiths, CEO of CUPRA, said:
“Back when we presented the Tavascan concept at the IAA in Frankfurt 2019, it was our dream car – a manifesto for everything we wanted CUPRA to become. Since then, we’ve kept believing that if we dream it, we can create it. Well, today, that dream comes true.”
The CUPRA Tavascan will launch in 2024. But until then, you might also want to run the rule over the more compact but equally unruly CUPRA Born (below).
The e-boost Borns get power of 233 PS and can hit 62 mph from a standstill in 6.6 seconds - just fractionally slower than a Ford Fiesta ST - which makes it very much an electric hot-hatch.
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