Snapshot
- Cupra UrbanRebel unveiled
- Latest concept to inspire production model
- MEB 21 architecture to underpin future small VW and Skoda EVs
The Cupra UrbanRebel EV has been revealed in near production-ready form.
“This is the model that will democratise urban electric mobility,” said Cupra chief Wayne Griffith at an event to reveal new models the brand will launch by 2025.
Though the Spanish brand doesn’t go live in Australia until July, local Cupra director Ben Wilks confirms the UrbanRebel will be added to the line-up, with production of the small EV scheduled to begin in 2025 at a factory in Barcelona.
Last year Cupra presented the UrbanRebel concept at the Munich show. Wearing an oversized rear wing and huge front splitter it was more than a bit outlandish. The second concept is totally realistic.
“This is how the car will look, I promise, even in 2025,” said Cupra R&D chief Werner Tietz at the reveal. And the engineer is aiming to make it a real driver-pleaser.
“This car will drive like a go-kart, I promise you.”
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Tietz says high-performance and long-range versions of the UrbanRebel are being developed.
The first will have a single 166kW electric motor, a 0-100km/h time of 6.9 seconds, and a driving range of around 400km.
For the second, which will have a less powerful motor (numbers still to be confirmed), the aim is a driving range of 440km.
Both will have the larger of the two battery packs. The smaller pack will use a less costly battery chemistry and will go into the most affordable variants in the UrbanRebel line-up, with Tietz saying the EVs will be capable of DC fast-charging at over 120kW.
What’s to come for Cupra
Beyond its significance for Cupra, the UrbanRebel also offers a first glimpse of what to expect from small EVs coming from Volkswagen and Skoda.
Cupra is part of the VW Group. Founded in 2018, the brand is an independent spin-off from VW’s long-established Spanish subsidiary Seat. Now Cupra has been put in charge of the core development of a family of models to be built on the VW Group’s new and purpose-designed platform for small EVs.
Though named ‘MEB 21’, this exclusively front-drive architecture is different from the larger MEB platform which forms the basis for VW’s ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5 as well as Skoda’s Enyaq and Cupra’s own, ID.3-based Born.
“With the UrbanRebel, we are leading the project for the Group,” explained Tietz. The packaging advantages of front-drive for a small EV were impossible to ignore, he said.
It means the electric motor, its inverter, power electronics and the battery-packs on-board charging hardware can be installed as a module. Weight and cost are reduced, and there’s more space for cargo above the motor-less rear axle.
Tietz says the UrbanRebel will have an overall length of a fraction more than 4.0 metres – around the length of the Volkswagen T-Cross – but will have a luggage compartment of around 400 litres.
VW’s MEB 21-based cousin of the UrbanRevel is expected to resemble the ID.Life concept presented at the Munich motor show last September. Skoda’s version is more of a mystery but both will be assembled alongside the UrbanRebel in Spain.
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