Cupra Born eBoost 231 HP: are you the most beautiful electric car in the VAG realm? Test and video

It’s called the Cupra Born e-Boost, for many it will be yet another expensive electric car, but if we stop and make a more careful analysis of the market and how the car world is changing, we discover that the gap between electric and thermal it thinned out. Let’s look at Cupra for example: the 204 HP electric Born also exists in a petrol version (or rather, a plug-in hybrid) and the price is identical to that of the Cupra Leon 1.4 e-HYBRID. Going down, the “pure” petrol with comparable power (it has 190 HP) costs €35,200, around €6,000 less.

With a thousand euros more than the 204 HP Born, keeping the 58 kWh battery, you can buy the 231 HP Cupra Born e-Boost, a price very similar to that of the Cupra Leon with the 245 HP 2.0 TSI. In short, it is clear that on the higher powers, the war between pure electric and “the rest of the engines” has become more heated, and the gap has narrowed because petrol engines cannot reach too high powers, both for the regulations on emissions, you want because if they do it they pay the super stamp, for now not contemplated in the electron world.

Furthermore, even when they have to pay the road tax, the electrics will do so on a nominal power which is different from the maximum (I’ll explain it to you here), and which also does not represent a handicap because on the road you need to have an explosion of power for a few moments , abundantly covered by the performance characteristics of the “electric motor + battery” combination (different on the track).

Therefore, having established that in these segments the electric is absolutely competitive, it would be hypocritical not to recognize that for those who do not need such high powers, the road to go towards battery-powered and accessible small cars is still long, and the gap in terms of prices does exist in the cheapest categories. But here we are talking about Cupra, a brand that focuses on design, performance and sporting sensations…

Having said that let’s see if the performance is in line with the image of this brand. The engine is all there, but it goes without saying because the technical sheet is clear: 310Nm of instant torque and available immediately, with a perfectly linear power that seems drawn with a ruler… and in fact it is, the advantages of electric motors are precisely those of being able to ignore problems that the thermals must solve with an enormously greater level of sophistication .

On the street it means having a really small toy in your hands funalmost brutal in its category, but never excessive or with little intuitive reactions. The merit, on this e-Boost, is not only of the electronics, but also of a different and guessed structure: the slightly raised driving position remains, which many like today, but the height from the ground is not that of an SUV and the damping response is just right, soft but with good support.

Of course, a little body roll still comes at a price, but by taking the DCC variable set-up you can combine the advantages of a suspension group that varies in damping according to the driving mode (the CUPRA is stiffer) with a 15mm lower front and 10mm lower rear compared to the standard MEB that we have known on other models, starting from the ID.3.

We already knew the progressive steering, and it’s what you need to have an easy and maneuverable car in the city and with a steering wheel that stiffens when the pace picks up. The rest of the “dynamic” work is done by a frame with a 50:50 weight balance (with the electric it is easy to achieve), rear-wheel drive and multilink with five arms on the rear.

In short, the MEB in the “tuning” version that you like more than the original set-up and that driving makes the difference in returning a car that remains easy and accessible, but is pleasant and engaging if you want to get all the horsepower it makes available.

To make it perfect in its segment, it would only need to make it slightly sharper and more precise in steering, but that’s already a good way to go for most drivers.

How much does it consume? The declared range for the e-Boost, which has a higher power than the entry-level Born, is 420 km on the 58 kWh or 548 km on the 77 kWh. Before talking about real consumption, however, a little advice dedicated to this model: given the tuning work to make it more engaging and sporty, Born e-Boost should ideally be chosen with the smallest battery if autonomy is not an imperative requirement for you.

First why save 120 kilogramssecond because the weight saving translates into both better shooting (the 58 kWh is almost half a second faster in 0-100), and less aggressive load transfers because the lighter battery gives us an advantage in rapid right-left .

That said, tackling city, highway and extra-urban in a fairly realistic mix around Verona, the electric Born E-Boost averaged 20.3 kWh / 100 km, which translates into a range of 286 real km for the smaller battery and 380 km for the bigger one with 77 kWh net. Not bad given the greater power compared to the 150 kW models and, by sensation, in our test path it should be able to obtain results around 17/18 kWh / 100 km, but we will see as soon as there is an opportunity for a more long.

Good work for the interior: first of all, Cupra listened to user feedback and replaced the touch buttons, the side buttons of the steering wheel that were inadvertently pressed while driving, with physical buttons, along with other small innovations. The interiors are more sporty, the variety of colors and materials gives a modern and captivating decor.

Among the seats, those in Dinamica are certainly the most pleasant, but those with an environmentalist soul can choose the SEAQUAL ones which use plastics recovered from the seas and recycled to create a filament similar to fabric and which does not at all recall the tactile sensations of plastic.

And about aesthetics? Comments, social media and forums show that this is the most apt bodywork among those of the group

TECHNIQUE

• MOTOR: synchronous electric with permanent magnets
• POWER: 170kW (231hp)
• TORQUE: 310Nm
• Rear-wheel Drive
• SUSPENSION: Front McPherson, five-link multi-link, stabilizer bar (front and rear)

DIMENSIONS

• LENGTH: 4,324mm
• WIDTH: 1,809mm
• HEIGHT: 1,549mm
• WHEELBASE: 2,766mm
• BOOT: 385 litres, up to 1,267 litres
• TURNING RADIUS: meters
• WHEELS AND TIRES: 19″ (215/50), 20″ (215/45), 20″ (235/40)
• BRAKES: 2 x 340 mm ventilated front discs, rear drums
• BATTERY: 82 kWh (gross), 77 kWh (net), also available with the 58 kWh net version
• VOLTAGE: 400V
• WEIGHT: curb 1,838 kg (58 kWh), 1,950 kg (77 kWh)

PERFORMANCE

• MAXIMUM SPEED: 160 km/h (electronically limited)
• ACCELERATION 0-100 km/h: 6.6 seconds (58 kWh), 7.0 seconds (77 kWh)
• RANGE: up to 420 km WLTP (58 kWh), up to 548 km WLTP (77 kWh)
• AC CHARGING: 7.4 kW single-phase, 11 kW three-phase
• DC RECHARGE: 120 kW for 58 kWh, 135 kW for 77 kWh (10-80% in about half an hour)
• SUITABLE FOR NEW DRIVERS? Yup

Cupra Born costs €41,100 in the version with 204 HP (150 kW) engine and 58 kWh net battery. Cupra Born e-Boost starts at €42,100 of the 231 HP (170 kW) version with the 58 kWh battery, while €46,350 is needed for the 170 kW with 77 kWh battery.

Born comes standard with 12″ capacitive touch infotainment, 5.3″ instrument screen, 4 USB C (2 front and 2 rear), Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay, network connection and app support, alloy wheels 18″, CUPRA sports suspension, Full LED headlights, COAST-to-COAST LED rear lights, tinted rear windows, electric mirrors (adjustable, heated and foldable), sports seats in SEAQUAL, LED interior lighting, dual-zone automatic climate control, steering wheel in heated leather, keyless, aluminum pedals, front and rear parking sensors, ADAS LVL 2 (pedestrian and cyclist anti-collision, lane keeping, fatigue recognition) and 11 kW AC and 120 kW DC charging.

Born e-Boost adds to the above the CUPRA driving profile, DC charging at 135 kW (on the 77 kWh battery), steering wheel with physical buttons, 19″ Aero alloy wheels and front disc brakes go from 330 mm x 23 mm of the basic version to 340 mm x 27 mm.