Chasing Cars was present for the Barcelona reveal of the Cupra Tavascan this morning, with the midsize electric SUV confirmed for an Australian release in 2025 – in around three years’ time.
Set to enter production in mid-2024, the Tavascan will launch in Europe late in that year – meaning the midsize coupe-roofline crossover has been revealed unusually early.
The Tavascan was penned by Cupra’s design studio in Barcelona and sports a narrow glasshouse and an angular side profile design in a two-tone finish that successfully reduces the visual mass of this full battery electric vehicle.
The Tavascan wears Cupra’s new fascia, replete with a triple-triangle headlight signature
Likely sitting at the more compact end of the midsize SUV segment, the Tavascan will sit between Cupra’s soon-to-launch Formentor crossover and circa-2024 Terramar medium SUV when it launches in the middle of the decade.
Inside, the Tavascan adopts a radically different centre console format to Volkswagen’s ID SUVs. While the core infotainment is shared – and appears to include the new Volkswagen Group operating system – the central ‘spine’ of the interior is unique to Cupra.
Sharing much of its componentry with the Volkswagen ID4 and ID5 midsize SUVs that sit on the same MEB electric car platform as the Tavascan, the new model will provide a larger Cupra-badged battery electric car than the marque’s Born hatchback.
The structure of the Tavascan’s cabin is remarkably different to that of Volkswagen’s ID4 and ID5
Around the time it launches the Tavascan, Cupra will also release a production version of its Urban Rebel light electric hatch, as well as its final combustion car – the Terramar midsize SUV.
Cupra has confirmed that the Tavascan will be available with a choice of rear-wheel drive single motor, or dual-motor AWD layouts – much like the ID4 and ID5.
It is also likely that a shorter- and longer-range battery choice will be available. Currently, these batteries measure 58kWh and 77kWh, but it is reasonably foreseeable that there will be changes in chemistry and capacity before the market launch of the Tavascan.
Cupra chief executive Wayne Griffiths unveiled the Tavascan in Barcelona in June 2022
As with the Cupra Born, the Tavascan will receive a full Cupra-specific dynamic tune, including reworking of the suspension, steering and stability control.
Speaking with Chasing Cars, Werner Tietz, Cupra’s head of research and development, said the Tavascan range would include “high performance versions” – implying the SUV will receive an optional powertrain similar in position to the 225kW ID4 GTX – if not more powerful again.
Two production facilities remain under consideration for the Tavascan. Its Volkswagen ID4 and ID5 cousins are produced in Zwickau, Germany, and Chattanooga, USA.