► Cupra is working on a sportier Born VZ
► Only a slight power increase over current car
► Facelifted model will follow closely behind
Cupra boss Wayne Griffths has confirmed his team is developing a faster version of the Born, called the VZ. It’ll hit showrooms at the end of 2024, sporting a 237bhp electric motor and a few chassis improvements. It’ll also form part of Cupra’s goal to attract keen drivers to its electric cars.
We quizzed Griffiths about the future of the Cupra Born at the 2023 Munich Motor Show and he told us (rather candidly): ‘we’ve got the performance version, you know. Yeah, it comes next year [with] 240 horsepower (237bhp). It’s more powerful version.’
We’ll admit, we found the VZ’s promised power output rather disappointing because it isn’t a great of a leap over the 227bhp you get in the current fastest Born. However, Griffiths argued that fast cars need to change. He doesn’t see the worth in chasing horsepower figures with an EV, which suggests Cupra won’t create a Born that’s powerful enough to rival the 429bhp MG 4 XPower.
‘Performance in an electric era is changing,’ he said. ‘In the past, it was horsepower and it was five-cylinder and it was Akrapovič exhaust and different suspension. But in an electric world, perhaps we’re moving away from performance and more to emotions.
‘How do you get emotions into electric cars? Not by going another second faster. I mean electric cars can do 0–100km/h in two seconds if you want them to. All of them could. Would that be good? No – you’d be sick. At some point you’ll get sick with this.’
Griffiths believes that performance electric cars need to focus more on the ‘emotional experience of driving’ – the feel of the steering, the weight of the brakes and so on. He stressed that cars like Born VZ will aim to deliver these sensations in the hope of attracting driving enthusiasts to his brand.
He isn’t interested in autonomous cars, either. ‘We’re not going to have the car that drives itself and the steering wheel disappears,’ he said. ‘So Cupra will always have a steering wheel. We do cars for car drivers who love driving cars.’
Is there an updated version of the Cupra Born coming?
We’ve known for a while now that Cupra is planning to facelift the Born. Our spy photographers have snapped a development mule pottering around the Nürburgring’s access roads, sporting a camouflage wrap on its front end. The photos suggest Cupra’s changes will be minimal.
The changes will pull the Born’s styling language into step with the recently revealed Cupra Raval supermini and the Cupra Tavascan SUV. Don’t expect it to be a carbon copy, though – the company’s head designer Jorge Diez says he wants to avoid a ‘Russian doll’ styling language for Cupra. He said: ‘We believe that every car should have its own personality.’
Although this this prototype looks close to being finished, Cupra won’t release the facelifted version of the Born alongside its sporty new VZ specification. Griffiths told us: ‘the [re]design comes after. The car’s still quite new and the car’s been limited – was very limited – in its first year because we didn’t get the semiconductors.’
There’s one odd thing about this prototype, though. About a year ago, Cupra revealed a Born with the same triple triangle headlight design signature as the Tavascan SUV. However, it hasn’t transferred feature onto this car. Cupra might have done this on purpose to save the new lights for the big reveal – or it might have ditched the idea altogether for cost reasons.
Tell me more about the current Cupra Born
The Cupra Born is an electric family hatchback based on the same MEB platform as the Volkswagen ID.3. However, it gains a few sporty styling tweaks and some fancy adaptive suspension in an effort to distance it from its chassis sibling.
Even so, the Born still looks very much like an ID.3. Its shape and design are almost identical. The biggest changes for the Spanish car are a more shark-ish front end, madder wheels and loads of copper accents.
It’s the same story inside. The Born shares its basic layout with the ID.3, but Cupra has added some extras. So, the touchscreen measures 12.0 inches (compared to the ID.3’s 10.0), the steering wheel features unique Cupra drive mode buttons and the centre console rises to meet the dashboard instead of falling away like in Volkswagen’s MEB cars.
Cupra also offers two upholstery options for the bucket seats. There’s a microfibre cloth and a yarn from eco-friendly outfit Seaqual. The latter option is made from plastic waste that’s been trawled in from the oceans. You can also spec an augmented-reality head-up display.
What about its powertrains?
Because it’s a sporty brand, Cupra only uses the MEB platform’s sportiest powertrains. For now, there are just two options – but, as we mentioned above, there’ll be a third motor joining the ranks at the end of 2024.
The entry-level Born has a 201bhp electric motor that can shove the hatch from 0–62mph in 7.3 seconds. It’s paired with a 58kWh battery pack, which offers a maximum official range of up to 265 miles. In our testing, we found that figure to be more like 200 miles.
Currently, the quickest version of the Born has a 227bhp electric motor, which trims its 0–62mph time down to 6.6 seconds. The motor is paired with the same 58kWh battery as standard, but you can have a bigger 77kWh unit as an optional extra which bumps the EV’s maximum official range up to 343 miles. In real world conditions, you might crack 300 on a good day.
Luke Wilkinson is a Senior Staff Writer for the Bauer Automotive Hub. He writes news, reviews and features for CAR magazine and our sister site, Parkers.co.uk.