More affordable Cupra Born electric car with smaller battery and shorter range under consideration

A Cupra Born with a smaller battery will reduce the hatchback’s electric driving range but broaden its appeal.

Volkswagen-owned Spanish car brand Cupra is toying with the idea of a more affordable version of the just-released Cupra electric hatchback with a smaller battery pack and shorter driving range.

This comes as the company has forecast the Cupra Born could become the best-selling European-sourced electric vehicle in Australia this year – outselling those from BMW and Mercedes-Benz but trailing EV sales leaders Tesla, BYD and MG.

Although the first batch of Cupra Born electric cars has only just arrived in local showrooms – and customers who formed an orderly queue months ago are only just now getting their keys – Cupra Australia’s head of product and planning Jeff Shafer says the company is already considering ways to broaden the vehicle’s appeal, including the introduction of a model with a smaller battery which is already sold overseas.

“I think there’s interest in looking at other battery types,” said Mr Shafer. “It’s nothing we’re looking at in the short term, but definitely there’s discussions and I think it makes sense to look at the 58kWh battery (offered overseas) as well.”

Asked whether the introduction of another specification hinges on the success of the Cupra Born’s initial uptake in Australia, Mr Shafer said: “Not really. I think it’s something we’re probably looking at regardless, but the launch has been really strong to date and 77kWh is going really well.

“I think there’s a place for the 58kWh (battery pack version of the Cupra Born).”

The executive said the initial 77kWh version “has the attributes that we wanted to launch with” because driving range is “the big topic, and having that over 500km range is an important part of this.”

The 2023 Cupra Born starts from $59,990 before on-road costs. Its 77kWh battery enables a claimed maximum driving range of 511km on a single charge.

Mr Shafer noted the Cupra Born is the only electric vehicle on sale in Australia with such a long driving range at that price point.

“As … the market changes and people understand different types of usage of (electric vehicles) and their own personal usage requirements, then it is something where we’d look at other (smaller) batteries,” said Mr Schafer.

Because the 58kWh battery variant has the same 170kWh/310Nm outputs as the 77kWh version – and the battery is smaller and lighter – it shaves off 122kg off the vehicle’s weight, which promises a brisker 0 to 100km/h time (6.6 seconds for the 58kWh, 7.0 seconds for the 77kWh). However, range would be reduced to a maximum of 422km on a single charge.

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