New mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid performance SUV will offer 100km of electric range in PHEV form.
Cupra has teased a new model that will introduce a new generation of hybrid technology to SEAT’s sporty sub-brand in 2024.
Teased by SEAT and Cupra boss Wayne Griffiths during SEAT’s annual earnings press conference, the new model appears to be an SUV in shape, although the size of the vehicle is still unknown.
It’s one of four new cars coming to the Cupra line-up in the coming years, alongside the all-electric Tavascan SUV, the UrbanRebel – a small, affordable EV using the MEB Entry platform – and one other, as yet unknown, vehicle that could be an estate or shooting brake based on the Volkswagen Arteon.
“It’s an electrified SUV with mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid technology, that we will produce together with the Audi Q3 sportback in Hungary,” revealed Griffiths.
“With an all-electric range of 100km, I think it will lead a new generation of plug-in hybrids,” he added.
It’s possible that it could be an SUV in an entirely new segment for Cupra, as hinted last year when SEAT’s boss said that two new vehicles that would ‘expand’ the Cupra line-up would be arriving in the next couple of years.
However, the arrival date of 2024 lines up with what could be the end of the Ateca’s life-cycle. The brand’s C-segment SUV was introduced as a SEAT in 2016 and became a Cupra with a hot version in 2018, acting as the launch vehicle for the Cupra sub-brand.
Using plug-in hybrid power and being built alongside the Audi Q3 Sportback, the car is almost certain to use an evolution of the VW Group’s MQB platform, offering up a more substantial plug-in hybrid system than that currently available on PHEV models based on the MQB.
The increased range of 100km will be achieved through the fitment of a larger battery currently available in plug-in hybrid cars using the MQB system. However, the packaging needs of a larger battery could also point to this model being larger than the Ateca, occupying a segment above.
James Brodie