Cupra Tavascan Review & Prices

The Cupra Tavascan is an electric SUV with a sporty coupe-like roof that slopes down into the boot and attempts to blend the practicality of a high-riding car with the sleek design of a sports car. It’s not huge fun to drive, but it does otherwise succeed in looking good and being comfortable and spacious enough for family life.

Beneath the metal it shares batteries and motors with other electric cars such as the Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron and Skoda Enyaq Coupe. It’s a bit like having different clothes for different occasions – the Skoda is a pair of sensible Skechers, the Audi is like smart dress shoes, while the Cupra is a pair of trendy running shoes with athletic shapes and brightly coloured laces.

There are plenty of other coupe-ish electric SUVs you could also consider, too, including the Ford Mustang Mach-e, Peugeot E-3008, Lexus RZ and BMW iX2.

Each of those cars is stylish in its own way, but the Cupra Tavascan has the most deliberately sporty appearance of the lot, with muscular arches, sculpted body panels and loads of design details that manage to stay just the right side of fussy.

Cupra Tavascan: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 299-352 miles
Efficiency: 3.7-4.1 miles per kWh
Battery size: 77kWh
Max charge speed: 135kW
Charge time AC: 8h, 11kW, 0-100%
Charge time DC: 28mins, 135kW, 10-80%
Charge port location: Right side rear
Power outputs: 286hp, 340hp

Given it shares so much with other Volkswagen Group cars, the Tavascan’s interior is actually striking in just how unique it is. Sure, you get the familiar large infotainment display and instrument screen, but there’s a large divider that spears up between the passengers to each side of the cabin, topped by copper detailing and ambient lighting. It’s anything but dull.

Once you get used to that central divider, the Tavascan is spacious enough in the front, and while there’s plenty of legroom in the back, taller passengers might find headroom a touch limited thanks to the sloping roof, but it shouldn’t be a problem for most.

At 540 litres the boot is a good size and has a useful square shape, so it’s easy to make the most of the space on offer, and when you fold the rear seats you get a flat floor. Its capacity sits around the middle of similar alternatives, though if you want maximum space consider the Peugeot E-3008 or Skoda Enyaq Coupe.

You only have one battery choice, but this is available with a rear-wheel drive motor for maximum range, or four-wheel drive for more power and poor-weather traction. The entry-level model has an official range of up to 352 miles, which again fares well compared with alternatives, though you can get the E-3008 with a 422-mile range, which beats everything else by some distance.

Once out on the road the Cupra Tavascan is a rewarding thing to drive. It’s comfortable over bumps, and the steering is sharp so it feels eager on a twisty road. The only problem is the brakes, which are really difficult to judge; knowing how much pressure to apply to come to a stop feels inconsistent and not far off guesswork.

Still, if you’re willing to put in the effort to get used to stopping smoothly, there’s a lot to like about the Tavascan, with its practical boot and head-turning design. Want one? Check out the latest Cupra Tavascan deals on Carwow. You can also browse new Cupra deals as well as used Cupra models from our network of trusted dealers. When it’s time to sell your current car, Carwow can help with that, too.

The Cupra Tavascan is not cheap, with prices starting around £47,000 and rising above £60,000 for a fully loaded all-wheel drive model.

However, that’s not totally unreasonable among alternatives, sitting on the slightly higher side of average. Entry-level models are around the same price as an equivalent Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback and Peugeot E-3008, while the Skoda Enyaq Coupe is a bit cheaper.

If you want a more prestigious badge, the Lexus RZ and BMW iX2 are a bit more expensive than the Cupra, as is the Ford Mustang Mach-e.

Things are less clear cut at the top of the range, though, with top-spec Tavascans considerably more expensive than similar versions of most alternatives.

Good fun on a twisty road, but the brake pedal is really tricky to get to grips with

In town

The Cupra Tavascan gets all the usual electric car benefits around town, namely smooth yet punchy acceleration and near-silent progress. Where the Tavascan stands out is that it’s a bit more comfortable than most alternatives over bumps. The big negative is the brakes, though, which are perfectly capable of stopping the car, it’s just really difficult to judge how much pressure to use and therefore tricky to come to a steady stop.

Visibility forward is pretty good, but the view over your shoulder isn’t great thanks to the chunky pillars necessitated by that sloping roofline.

You get some useful equipment as standard, such as an intelligent parking system that lets you move the car remotely, or train it to remember the path into a space to take the strain out of any tight manoeuvres you’re regularly faced with. Base models get a rear-view camera but higher trims come with a useful bird’s-eye view .

On the motorway

The Cupra Tavascan is a quiet and comfortable thing to drive on the motorway, with limited wind and road noise. It deals with bumps really well, even on the huge alloy wheels you get with higher-spec trims.

Power is ample enough, particularly from lower speed, so it’s no issue getting up to speed on a slip road. However, you don’t feel the power quite as obviously from higher speeds, so overtakes need a moment’s thought.

Predictive cruise control comes on all versions, which means that not only does it maintain your speed and your distance to the car in front, it can also slow you for corners. This can be a bit too safe sometimes, but it’s nice to have.

On a twisty road

If you’re looking for an electric SUV with a sporty edge, the Cupra Tavascan is a good shout. It doesn’t feel quite as energetically sporty as, say, the Ford Mustang Mach-e, but the Cupra is good and capable on a twisty road. The steering is direct so the front of the car turns in quickly, and because the suspension soaks up bumps nicely, you have plenty of confidence that the car won’t bounce out of its lane when you’re pressing on. Again, though, the weird brakes can be difficult to judge on the approach to a corner.

It’s spacious and practical throughout, but the Cupra Tavascan doesn’t get a front boot

Space up front is decent enough, though the odd divider that runs up from the centre console to beneath the infotainment screen does make it feel a touch less airy than you might expect. Still, you get plenty of adjustment in the wheel and seats so getting a good driving position is easy enough.

There’s plenty of storage too. The door bins are about average but you also get a massive, deep space beneath the armrest, two cup holders, and a wireless phone charger that’s hidden away out of sight.

Space in the back seats

Again, space in the back is largely impressive, with loads of legroom to the seats in front. Despite the sloping roof, headroom in the back should be fine for most, so long as you’re not much over six feet tall. The middle seat is fine, but the cushion is quite firm and you feel a little perched.

Storage is okay with door bins and two cup holders in the arm rest, but the sporty bucket-style seats have no pockets in the back.

Boot space

At 540 litres boot space is more than adequate. Because of the shape of the roof you can’t store large items upright, but the boot has a nice square shape and a large load area. You can fold the rear seats and there’s no ridge, but they don’t lay quite flat.

If you really need maximum space consider the Peugeot E-3008 (588 litres), Skoda Enyaq (570 litres) or the Tesla Model Y, which has a massive 854 litres to offer. Unlike the Tesla, the Cupra doesn’t have a front boot.

Bold design won’t be for everyone, but the infotainment system is super-slick

If you think car interiors are getting boring, the Cupra Tavascan is here to offer you a welcome reprieve. There’s a lot going on, with a sweeping line of copper splitting the dashboard horizontally across the car and running through the doors, with a mixture of dark and light materials either side. The way the centre console shoots up beneath the main screen is like little else, and the striking design is backed up by largely quality materials.

The 15.0-inch infotainment screen is a big improvement on Cupra systems of recent years, with crisp graphics and much-improved processing speed. Navigating between menus is fairly logical, but you get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you don’t need to use the native software for most things. There’s also a small instrument display that’s fairly basic but tells you everything you need it to.

Sporty yet comfortable cloth-upholstered seats come as standard, and you also get a heated steering wheel on all models too. Step up from the entry level model and you also get a useful head-up display, as well as heated front seats with a lovely microfibre cushion.

There’s just the one battery capacity (77kWh) in the Cupra Tavascan, but it’s offered with two different power outputs, that will appeal depending on your needs.

The first is a rear-wheel drive model with 286hp. Being the lower-powered of the two, and only being two-wheel drive, means it’s more efficient, and therefore has the longest range at up to 353 miles in the entry level trim. VZ models get dual motors and all-wheel drive, upping performance to 340hp and dropping the range to 299 miles in the top-spec version.

Go for the long-range version and the Tavascan performs fairly well against alternatives, going further on a charge than the BMW iX2, Lexus RZ and Volkswagen ID5. However, the Ford Mustang Mach-e, Peugeot E-3008 and Skoda Enyaq Coupe all have variants that can go further in official tests.

Fast charging is about average among alternatives too. With a maximum charge speed of 135kW, you can get from 10-80% capacity in under half an hour, though the Kia EV6 demolishes this time.

Being an electric car, the Cupra Tavascan falls into the cheapest band for road tax and company car tax.

The Cupra Tavascan received maximum marks in Euro NCAP safety testing. Its five-star score came courtesy of an 89% rating for adult occupant protection, 86% for child occupant protection, 80% for vulnerable road users and 79% for its safety tech.

All versions get an active bonnet that pops up to soften the blow if a pedestrian is hit, as well as forward collision warning and a system that can help you steer safely away from danger. Top-spec versions get predictive adaptive cruise control.

Being a new model, it’s hard to know exactly how reliable the Tavascan will be. Cupra came 18th out of 32 manufacturers in the latest Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, which is fine if not extraordinary. However, it shares much of its makeup with various other electric Volkswagen Group models, which have proved largely reliable outside of software glitches that appear to be a thing of the past.

Every Cupra comes with a five-year/90,000-mile warranty in the UK, while electric car batteries are covered separately for up to eight years/100,000 miles and will be replaced if they drop below 70% capacity in that time.