The all-new all-electric Cupra - this is how a car is Born

Published on 30 May, 2021

Overview

The spirit is beginning to lift. In little over a month we will be on the road to Connemara to stay in the Cashel House Hotel – which Roslyn Dee recommended recently in this paper as her top dog-friendly place.

We have stayed there before. Then it was with Sam, our beautiful lab/collie cross; now it will be Ziggy and Dooey joining us. I can’t wait to load the car and do some really good driving.

As is the case for many people, it will be a year since we were last away. That was to Rathmullan, which is totally booked up this year. 

(Funnily enough, Google Maps predicts exactly the same time – 3hr 16min – for the journey to there and Cashel House both, from Phibsborough. Maps is normally pretty accurate – but stopping to give the dogs a break means another equation.)

When researching for our five days away it was amazing to see how few hotels are dog-friendly. It would be nice if the upsurge in dog ownership during the pandemic was reflected in more places willing to take pets with their owners.

North of the border they seem a bit better, and we had a great pre-pandemic break in the Salty Dog on the waterfront in Bangor. Two places in the North – Paws 4 Tea in Dundrum, Co Down, and Tilly’s in Portrush, Co Antrim – featured among the top 10 of the UK’s most dog-friendly cafes.

I can’t wait for Doyle’s to open on the corner in Phibsborough again, so we can take the dogs down with us and sit in our favourite window seat for a pint and a meal. It will be bliss when that sort of normality returns.

Meanwhile the business of selling cars goes on. There seems to be strong demand for second-hand vehicles, so you should do well on trade-ins if buying new. UK statistics also indicate a considerable rise in second-hand prices there.

Last week I mentioned some of the many new electric vehicles being launched at the moment.  Last Tuesday, the all-new and all-electrified Cupra Born was launched through a YouTube presentation. The week before, the legendary Opel Manta returned in full electrified form. And in the first week of June, the much-anticipated Skoda Enyaq iV will be presented to journalists here.

In light of the question I was trying to answer last week from a reader, on whether it was the right time to buy an EV, I received an illuminating real-life experience recounted by another reader.

Eddie wrote: “Hi Campbell, I read your reply to the question ‘is now the time to go electric?’ with some interest. As an EV driver these past two years, I’ve seen a great increase in the availability of chargers in the workplace and in hotels.

“As a result, I’ve rarely (and not at all in the last year), had to use the public network. About 90pc-plus of my charging is at home. As a self-employed person, I’ve worked in multiple locations and all have had charge points.

“Finally, my wife and I have been lucky enough to stay in hotels in Killarney, Cork and Mulranny – where charging was provided at no cost! And thankfully the Hyundai Kona easily took us everywhere we went, without the need to stop.

“I agree with most of your other points. And I do understand that an EV isn’t for everyone (such as apartment owners) and is often an expensive option. We’ve a bit to go, but I do think the rapidly improving landscape for EVs and their environmental benefits should be promoted to the maximum. All the best.”

The YouTube presentation for the Cupra Born was unconventional, in that it linked the unveiling of the brand’s first all-electric model to the Primavera Sound music festival in Barcelona. (The event announced its line up for June 2022 to include Lorde, The Strokes, Tame Impala, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dua Lipa, and our own Fontaines DC.)

Cupra, which sees itself as an unconventional premium brand challenger, makes much of its Barcelona heritage for the Born. However, naysayers may see it as little more than a Volkswagen ID.3 given a dose of Catalan style.

In the presentation Wayne Griffiths, the Manchester-born president of Cupra and its SEAT mothership, is seen sharing an unsocially-distant coffee with local-born actor Daniel Bruhl before driving with him to the company’s Barcelona showroom and HQ. They then bump fists before looking forward to meeting up in Berlin where Daniel has a bar.

Wayne Griffiths, in his interesting mix of Northern English, German and Spanish accent, says that “the Cupra Born is a game-changer in the electric market and the impulse of the company’s transformation. Delivering stimulating design and instantaneous performance, it offers an all-electric range of more than 500km.

“Through its emotional sportiness, we want the next generation of young challengers to be part of this transformation. That’s why Cupra will use unconventional sales models to reach new people and take the Cupra brand beyond the traditional.”

I am very taken with the Cupra brand since it was hived off from SEAT. The Formentor I had earlier this year might have been plagued with a small system problem, but it certainly made an impact as a very stylish and fast SUV.

More recently I tested the Cupra Leon e-hybrid, which was a very well-specced hatchback with a 1.4 litre turbocharged petrol engine linked to a 13kWh battery.

There is a much faster fully petrol model, but this 245hp model still made it up to 100kmph in 6.7 seconds and was a lot of fun at speed, while still being relatively composed around town.

I rather liked it, though the 59km estimate for pure battery range is wildly optimistic.

As with all Cupras, the Leon is very good-looking. Aneta, at the Navan Road Insomnia, thought there were elements of both a Porsche and the new Opel Corsa about its looks. An observation which will no doubt please Cupra’s ultimate German bosses.

It starts at €46,210 but with options you can hit €50k in a few shakes of a flamenco wrist. You do get a very high quality cabin, with a lot of stylish cues which make a real difference. However unless you get the maximum use out of the battery, fuel consumption will be very high.

Maybe it’s all this talk of Barcelona that has turned my head. If it is July in Connemara, can a trip to the Catalan capital be far behind?