The new electric Cupra Tavascan SUV will rival the Tesla Model Y and is coming to Australia.
It’s been five long years since the Cupra Tavascan concept was unveiled, but the sporty Spanish brand has finally revealed the production-ready version of its all-electric coupe-SUV. It’ll hit the streets in 2024 as a rival to the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Tesla Model Y and all-new Polestar 4.
The road-going Tavascan’s styling is faithful to the 2019 concept, with the production car retaining the polished black A-pillars designed to emulate the look of a racing helmet’s visor. The heavily sculpted bodywork and athletic silhouette are similar to the concept’s too, while the production Tavascan features Cupra’s signature copper-coloured accents and badging.
New details on the production car include a black front fascia that’s unique to the Tavascan, an illuminated Cupra logo on the bonnet and a distinctive three-triangle headlight signature – a motif that’s repeated in the tail-lights. These are linked by a full-width light bar, with another illuminated Cupra logo on the tailgate. There’s also a lip spoiler on the boot and a diffuser insert for the rear bumper.
The Tavascan is 1861mm wide and 1597mm tall which contributes to its rakish look. At 4644mm from nose to tail, the Tavascan is longer than the Ariya as well, while the Cupra boasts 540 litres of boot space. That’s nearly 140 litres more than you get from a Mustang Mach-E.
Inside, the Tavascan features a driver-focused design defined by its central spine (also carried over from the concept car). It not only separates the driver and front passenger, but serves as a structural piece of the interior, connecting the dash and centre console, with storage underneath.
Bucket seats will be fitted as standard up front, with buyers to be offered a choice of recycled textile or microfibre upholstery, plus Deep Plum or Dark Ice Metal colours for the door mouldings, central spine and other areas to add some contrast. There are plenty more copper accents inside, plus ambient lighting.
The centrepiece of the cabin is a 15-inch touchscreen – the same display found in the recently unveiled VW ID.7 sedan. It’s the largest screen ever fitted to a Cupra, but perhaps the bigger deal is the illuminated climate controls below. That’s because the non-backlit touch-sensitive sliders in the Cupra Born, and all of VW’s ID electric cars until the ID.7, have been a constant source of criticism.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both standard as you’d expect, and you get a 5.3-inch digital dash. There’s also a new 12-speaker sound system developed in collaboration with Sennheiser, while buyers will also be offered an augmented reality head-up display that projects info such as speed and sat-nav instructions onto the windscreen.
There’s no shortage of safety tech on board either, with predictive adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, lane assist and fatigue detection among the kit featured. The new Connected Travel Assist system offered for the Tavascan can keep the car in the centre of the lane, adjust your speed while cornering and offers assistance with lane changes on the motorway, while the Assisted Parking function allows you to perform parking manoeuvres remotely using a smartphone.
The Tavascan is based on the VW Group’s MEB platform, which also underpins Cupra’s other pure-electric car, the Born hatchback. There will be two versions offered from launch: the base model uses a rear-mounted electric motor that produces 210kW and 545Nm of torque. It’s fed by a 77kWh lithium-ion battery that delivers a claimed range of 549km.
Cupra is making more of the all-wheel drive Tavascan VZ. This model features a dual-motor set-up producing 250kW – 30kW more than a VW ID.5 GTX – as well as 679Nm of torque. The Tavascan VZ can hit 50km/h in just 2.4 seconds and will crack 0-100km/h in 5.6 seconds. The VZ’s range drops to 517km from the same 77kWh battery, which can be charged at up to 135kW. It’ll take half an hour to top up from 10 to 80 per cent, with the possibility of adding 100km of range in seven minutes.
Being the sporty brand in the VW Group, Cupra has fitted the Tavascan with Dynamic Chassis Control Sport technology, sport suspension and progressive steering, with the aim to deliver a “unique sporty driving experience”.
Drivers will have a choice of Range, Comfort, Performance, Cupra and Individual drive modes, with the all-wheel drive version receiving an additional Traction setting. There are also four levels of regenerative braking, switchable using paddles behind the steering wheel.
Wheel size will range from 19 to 21 inches, with the largest wheels wrapped in performance tyres. An optional heat pump should help heat the cabin more efficiently, too.
Australian pricing and specifications haven’t yet been announced, but we expect it will be near the Polestar 4 that’s also arriving in 2025.
Cupra says the Tavascan was designed and developed in Barcelona, but it will be produced at the Volkswagen Group’s factory in Anhui, China. It’s one of three electrified models the Spanish brand has announced, with the plug-in hybrid Cupra Terramar due on sale in 2024 and the Cupra UrbanRebel – its affordable entry-level electric car – on track to land in 2025.