2025 Cupra Tavascan review

Cupra is three years into its Australian venture, and you get the sense the Barcelona-based performance brand has reached a critical juncture. With the first generation of primarily ICE cars (think Cupra Leon, Formentor and Ateca) having laid the foundation – and the electric Born giving a taste of what’s to come – Cupra is now moving outside Australia’s state capitals and expanding its portfolio.

The Cupra Tavascan is the next salvo from Cupra’s arsenal, and the first of several new electric propositions arriving by 2030.

Using the same MEB architecture base as its VW Group siblings, the Audi Q4 e-tron and Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5, the Tavascan promises a sportier take and edgier design.

The real-world translation rings true, but the Tavascan’s execution feels a lot like many other mid-size SUVs already on the market – a symptom of EVs in general.

How much does the Cupra Tavascan cost?

The Cupra Tavascan range starts from $60,990 plus on-road costs in Australia for the base Endurance model.

Stepping up to the flagship Tavascan VZ hikes the price to $74,490 plus on-road costs.

For those chasing something in between, Cupra Australia offers a $4500 Interior Package on the Tavascan Endurance. Read on in the equipment section of this review to see full details.

As for rivals, the Cupra finds itself in a stacked mid-size electric SUV segment in Australia.

There’s the obvious candidates, like the Tesla Model Y (from $58,990 plus ORCs) and Kia EV5 (from $56,770), not to mention a slew of Chinese products that have just hit the scene.

Within the Volkswagen ranks, there are other options such as the closely related Volkswagen ID.4 ($59,990 plus ORCs) and Audi Q4 e-tron ($84,900 plus ORCs).

What is the Cupra Tavascan like inside?

Cupra proudly trumpets its edgy design ethos, and it’s here the Tavascan best distinguishes itself from the mainstream SUV crowd.

Much like the swoopy exterior, a sporty theme permeates the entire cabin, with dark interior materials broken up by copper highlights and angular features.

There’s a level of detail here that is missing from many of the Tavascan’s main rivals: think cool lighting features poking through Cupra logo cut-outs in the suede door trims, textured surfaces and ambient lighting dotted throughout the cabin.

The same intricate thinking is lacking around storage, however; the Tavascan doesn’t take advantage of its flat floor space for incidental storage in the same way as other EVs. For example, underneath the centre console resides a bare patch of carpet – missing an easy opportunity for a moulded tray to store odds and ends.

The seats also adhere to the sporty theme, with snug bolstering and decent support across all models. All told, though, we find the base car’s cloth seats the most comfortable of the bunch.

The car’s raked roofline and sporty façade do impose some space compromises on the rear door apertures and head room, but there’s enough room for a couple of adults or child seats alike. ISOFIX attachment points, rear air vents and dedicated USB-C ports reinforce these traits.

The 540-litre boot area offers a flat floor and easy loading height, with access via split-folding seats and an electric tailgate. There’s room for charging cables underneath the floor, but no spare tyre. And unlike many segment rivals, the Tavascan misses out on under-bonnet storage altogether.

Now, the Tavascan’s tech story.

For us, the car’s digital focus isn’t infallible. The five-inch digital instrument cluster is limited in the information it presents, offering a layout more akin to a motorcycle rather than a car loaded with umpteen safety trinkets and features.

Furthermore, the haptic steering wheel buttons that navigate the driver instrument cluster feel clunky in their operation and lack intuition. In short, plain old buttons and switchgear would do a better job.

The main 15-inch screen offers decent practicality, with logical shortcuts to simple commands including recirculated air. The screen is clear in its resolution and angled towards the driver, again reinforcing the vehicle’s focus.

The Tavascan isn’t offered with head-up display in Australia, but oddly, we kept prompting a command to navigate to it by accidently bumping a haptic button on the steering wheel.

What equipment does the Cupra Tavascan come with?

The Cupra Tavascan Endurance comes standard with 19-inch alloy wheels, cloth seats, LED headlights with triangular daytime running lights, keyless entry and start, illuminated front and rear Cupra emblems, three-zone climate control, and an electric tailgate.

On the infotainment front there’s the aforementioned 15-inch centre touchscreen display and separate five-inch digital instrument cluster. There’s also wireless phone charging and the usual wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability.

What does the Cupra Tavascan miss out on? The critical missing features for Australia are no head-up display, no vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality, and no connected services of any kind. Furthermore, the battery and charging capabilities aren’t exactly segment-leading.

Those who purchase the optional $4500 Interior Package add larger 20-inch wheels shod in Continental rubber, microfibre front seats with power adjustment, heating and memory settings, illuminated door sill scuff plates, additional ambient interior lighting, and a magnificent 12-speaker Sennheiser audio system.

Meanwhile, the flagship VZ brings larger 21-inch wheels, Matrix LED headlights with automatic high-beam, and a fixed panoramic sunroof with electric sunblind. There’s also some powertrain and chassis upgrades that we’ll cover in the sections below.

The Cupra Tavascan is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty in Australia, plus a separate eight-year/160,000km warranty on the battery.

According to Cupra, a service will set owners back the flat rate of $485, based on two-year/30,000km intervals.

Buyers also have the option of purchasing six-year ($1310) or 10-year ($2190) servicing packages up front.

Four colours were available at launch. Atacama Desert and White Silver are standard, while Tavascan Blue and Basalt Grey add an $800 premium.

How safe is the Cupra Tavascan?

The Cupra Tavascan is yet to be crash tested in Australia but carries a five-star rating under Euro NCAP protocols (2024).

All the usual safety acronyms are correct and present in ABS and stability control. There’s also adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance, travel assistance, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, turn assistance, side assistance and rear-cross traffic alert, plus front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.

VZ grade (and variants fitted with the Interior Package) add a 360-degree camera to the safety mix.

What powers the Cupra Tavascan?

Built on the Volkswagen Group’s ubiquitous MEB platform, the Cupra Tavascan offers two different powertrains, both drawing energy from a 77kWh (82kWh net) lithium-ion battery.

The base Endurance utilises a rear-mounted motor outputting 210kW and 545Nm, correlating with a 6.8 second 0-100km/h time and a claimed range of 534km (WLTP).

The base car employs passive suspension but shares its variable ratio or progressive steering with the flagship VZ. Thicker-walled Hankook tyres also grace the base car, and as we discovered, provide a superior combination on-road.

Moving up to the VZ adds another motor on the front axle, bringing combined total power to 250kW (torque is rated at 134Nm on the front axle, 545Nm on the rear).

The all-wheel drive underpinnings endow the flagship with a 5.5 second 0-100km/h time but pare back electric range to 499km. The flagship also introduces 15-stage adaptive dampers in place of the regular passive dampers, and braked towing capacity increases from 1000kg to 1200kg.

Across all grades, the Cupra Tavascan offers a maximum DC charging capacity of 135kW, which is well down on segment leaders and even its own VW Group stablemates. Maximum AC charging capacity is 11kW, which is par for the course.

It means the Cupra’s battery won’t replenish with the same expediency as rivals: 10-80 per cent takes a claimed 28 minutes using a DC charger, while 0-100 per cent takes eight hours using an 11kW AC charger (which can be purchased optionally at the point of sale).

What is the Cupra Tavascan like to drive?

The Tavascan takes the Volkswagen Group’s shared MEB platform – a la Audi Q4 and Volkswagen I.D4 – and infuses it with a suitably sporty flavour.

From the outset of our circa 300km drive in South Australia, the Tavascan revealed its sporty side, with accurate steering and well-weighted controls. The exception to the rule is the brake pedal, which features the trademark softness and lengthening commensurate with many EVs.

In regular conveyance the Tavascan controls its circa 2.2-tonne kerb weight quite admirably, but there is an undeniable firmness with the way it handles bumps – and it’s most evident on the flagship VZ.

Whereas the base Endurance offers fluid body movements and adequate compliance on its standard 19-inch wheels and Hankook tyres, higher-spec VZ examples struggle to iron out sharper bumps and uneven sections of country road – a symptom of larger wheels and more advanced adaptive dampers.

Even the base Endurance fitted with a $4500 Interior Package will demonstrate additional stiffness on the road courtesy of its bigger wheel and tyre package.

The trade-off for this firmness would usually materialise through the corners, but even there, our preference tends towards the base car once again. One electric motor (on the rear axle) and the suspension/tyre combination mean the Endurance variant takes better advantage of the chassis, showing superior nimbleness and cornering alacrity.

This experience isn’t isolated, either. Last month, at the national Audi Q4 press launch, we came away with the same impression, preferring the more affordable and slower 45 e-tron variant. In this case, it’s true the all-paw VZ version of the Tavascan offers greater straight-line speed and additional equipment, but it’s not enough to offset the cheaper purchase price, additional range and superior on-road performance of the base Endurance.

As for energy consumption, we hovered around the 17kWh/100km mark during our circa 300km trek – another par score in this segment.    

Open Road’s take on the Cupra Tavascan

Across all models, the Cupra Tavascan offers strong real-world range and a sophisticated cabin environment. It’s a nice, confident drive, but design cues aside, there’s not much to truly distinguish it from the growing EV guard – especially in light of some missing features.

What we liked

• Appealing design and thoughtful use of materials inside and out
• The base car is the best drive, with playfulness and compliance in equal measure
• First impressions suggest genuine 500km real-world range

What could be better?

• No spare wheel and no ‘frunk’ storage space available
• Claimed towing and charging capacities lag behind segment leaders, no connected services or V2L
• Brake pedal action feels spongy and long for what is billed as a quasi-performance offering