Cupra Born A New Zealand Review
The Cupra Born is a sporty electric hatchback from Cupra, which is basically SEAT, which is basically Volkswagen having a mild identity crisis. The surprising bit is the value. For around $60,000 you get a big 82 kWh battery (77 kWh usable) and up to 548 km of WLTP range, or about 460 km in real Kiwi driving once you subtract the usual optimistic marketing maths. Power comes from a rear-mounted motor with 170 kW and 310 Nm driving the back wheels, which makes it properly fun without trying to rip the skin off your face like a hypercar. Inside there’s a 12-inch touchscreen, wireless phone charging, adaptive cruise control, dual-zone climate control, and enough gadgets to keep most tech nerds happy. DC fast charging peaks at around 175 kW, meaning an 8–80% charge stop takes roughly 35–40 minutes, or about the time it takes to drink a coffee and regret ordering a muffin. It is not perfect. Too many controls live in the touchscreen and it cannot tow anything. But as a comfortable, long-range electric hatch with sporty handling and strong value, the Born is suspiciously good.
