2025 Cupra Tavascan VZ1 | UK Review

The all-electric, 340hp Tavascan fills another gap in Cupra's lineup - is that enough?

Cupra, it might be said, is on a roll. Its lineup currently boasts seven distinct models, which, if you discount the soon-to-be-extinct Focus and all the Transit derivatives, is the same number of passenger cars that Ford currently offers. That’s some boast for a brand that didn’t become a standalone entity until 2018 - and didn’t offer a properly differentiated product until 2020. Ford has been building cars in Europe since 1911. By that measure, Cupra's progress up to this point seems extraordinary.

Where precisely it is rolling to, though, a punter would be hard-pressed to say. Upmarket of where SEAT used to be seems the vague answer - and on the basis that it has already surpassed the milestone of one million vehicles produced, not to mention set a new record for cars delivered in the first nine months of this year, Cupra can reasonably decree that strategy a success. But it has reached sufficient scale now to experience familiar headwinds. Revenue this year already exceeds £10bn. Its profit so far? £16m. Return on sales is a measly 0.1 per cent.

The new Tavascan, an EV that slots in above the smaller Born, is not helping. Or rather, it is not contributing in the way Cupra hoped it might. That’s because while the crossover shares its MEB platform with numerous other VW Group products, it is actually assembled in China. And while there were doubtless reasoned arguments in favour of doing this when the firm made the decision, they have since been dashed against the rock that is protectionist EU tariffs. D’oh.

Theoretically, we’re spared from such machinations, though as with so much about our departure from the EU, it doesn’t seem to be doing us many favours. In entry-level, single-motor, rear-drive V1 format, with a 77kWh battery and 286hp, the Tavascan is priced from £48,685 - which, incredibly, makes it more than £10k pricier than an entry-level, single-motor, rear-drive Ford Capri. Granted, the latter only boasts 170hp and a 52kWh battery - but even with its own 77kWh battery and 286hp applied, the mid-tier Capri manages to be nearly £5k cheaper to buy.

Of course, we wouldn’t recommend you buy either. While 286hp might be plenty in, say, a petrol-powered Leon, it is likely to wilt in the face of the V1’s 2,178kg kerb weight. We can venture this educated guess because the Tavascan is not exactly straining at the metaphorical leash in 2,267kg VZ1 costume, despite the introduction of an additional motor on the front axle supplying it with all-wheel drive and up to 340hp. On paper, Cupra says you’ll arrive at 62mph in 5.5 seconds, yet it does not feel particularly rapid.

This impression potentially says less about the Tavascan’s straight-line speed than it does the tedium surrounding it. Probably we’d have no issue with how promptly the car arrived at the next corner if it was capable of jinking around it in a lively fashion - but, not unlike the rest of its extended family tree, Cupra’s latest effort is to sportiness what a dead fish is to cross-channel swimming. Its lethargy when changing direction is not a function of balance or adhesion or control (there are more than sufficient quantities of each), the car just never casts off the overriding impression that it is wearing a greatcoat made of wet sandbags.

Certainly, it does not help that the steering and brake pedal feel are benign to the point of numb, or that there isn’t really enough power to rouse the predominately rear-driven chassis from its plodding sense of purpose - mostly there’s just quietness, businesslike proficiency and what feels like a two-tonne padlock on levity. Mercifully, it rides adequately well on adaptive dampers despite its lower ride height and 21-inch wheels, and, once the most annoying safety features have been disabled, does little to actively trigger you.

Nevertheless, the idea that Cupra might still be interested in becoming the Latin equivalent of Alpine, with the best interests of enthusiasts at its gooey centre, is again undermined here. The Tavascan, much like the Born before it, simply isn’t interesting enough to drive. And if Cupra is expecting flamboyant design to make up the difference, it may want to encourage its designers to take a beat. Even allowing for the overly busy styling that tends to mark out the electric crossover segment, the Tavascan has drastically too much going on. Distancing it from the entirely forgettable VW ID4 is good; lapsing into interminable flicks and gimmicks is not.

Much the same could be said for the inside, where Cupra has gone flourish-mad, indulging all manner of swoops and slats and LED-coloured showiness. Again, the instinct to wholly reject VW’s dreary approach to interior design is laudable, and the Tavascan certainly makes an impression. But it too obviously favours form over function: the natty fusion of dash and centre console seems meaningless if all it delivers is a single hazard warning light switch. Once you’re done admiring it, you spend all the rest of your time staring at (and prodding) a large touchscreen, ultimately making the user experience little different from any other MEB model.

As you might expect, there is little variance on the efficiency front either. Cupra claims 323 miles for the dual-motor VZ1 (for the single-motor, it’s 353 miles), though you’ll likely see closer to 250 miles in real-world use. Probably that’s sufficient for what is effectively a by-the-numbers family crossover - if it isn’t, you might want to consider an alternative based on its 135kW charging capacity, which is sufficiently prompt in ideal conditions to get the Tavascan’s battery from 10 to 80 per cent in 28 minutes, but falls short of the speeds offered by the likes of Hyundai or Polestar.

It is serviceable, at any rate, which is a sentiment that encompasses not only the Tavascan generally, but Cupra also. For all its success in gaining a toehold in the wider market, the firm’s pursuit of genuine scale has come at a predictable cost: it is too often guilty of delivering cars of middling, covers-all-bases quality. The Terramar and Formentor, both with the conspicuous added benefit of petrol engines, have proved respectable enough this year, and even the Tavascan is basically fine if you’re content not to ask much of it. But the memory of genuinely exciting Cupra products, those with R badges on their tailgates and a little fire in their belly, is becoming increasingly distant by the day. A more subjective barometer of success than shifting a million cars, we’ll grant you - but a pertinent one if the brand ever plans on cultivating an enthusiast following. Or making a healthy profit.

SPECIFICATION | CUPRA TAVASCAN VZ1

Engine: Lithium-ion battery, 77kWh usable capacity
Transmission: Dual electric motors
Power (hp): 340
Torque (lb ft): 402
0-62mph: 5.5 seconds
Top speed: 112mph
Weight: 2,267kg (EU)
MPG: 332 miles
CO2: 0g/km
Price: £54,945 (as tested, £56,940)

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