Video Summary
The car has aggressive Cupra styling for those who remember the Nova GTI/SRI days, but it is intended as a family car. The bonnet creases add a “get out of my way” flair. The three triangles on the headlights are a nice visual detail. It has a coupésque style that hides its proportions on camera. It is a little longer than the ID4/5, but not as long as the Tesla Model Y.Door entry is decent, and the doors are fairly heavy. The handles are useable, and not poppy-outy ones. The plastic arches are fashionable, but might scratch easily. The sloping coupe line looks fine, but gives an SUVish appearance. An SUV cannot look this good.
The rear tries to hide its proportions well; no rear wiper is present. A light bar runs across the back, and the copper badging is concave.
The interior is very different from its stablemates.
Steering wheel feels okay, and has the VW haptic buttons, with a drive button to switch between driving modes. Usual buttons are present on the door. Interior texturing is relatively hard. Copper highlights run throughout the dash and the central screen is large, maybe too much so.
The dashboard binnacle is much better than previous generations of vehicles. On the test car, The base model had an optional winter pack including a heat pump and heated windscreen.
Its size allows easy child seat fitting.
Overall, the ride is quiet for an EV.
The accelerator pedal has an odd response, and is not linear. The brakes are grabby. With its 77kWh battery the range is around 230-260 miles.
It does have flappy paddles for regen, which is a plus.
It has 135kW CCS charging which is just enough.
A larger 150 kW battery would have been preferred.
In summary:
The tested version had a good price point for its offering. A panoramic roof and 19" wheels are preferable.
The reviewer would opt for it over the ID4/5, the Tesla Model Y, and some other brands’ similar EV models. The interior stands out from the competition, however the EV 6 with larger 800 Volt battery is comparable.
With an unreliable throttle response, the car is "sportier", but not truly "sporty."
The tested base trim version ticks the boxes, and was deemed an above-average car.
The range is sufficient, but just barely so. The paddle regen is a big plus.
A deal breaker was the “grabby” nature of the brakes with the lack of a good friction between them and the Regen function.
The bottom line: Definitely test drive the car, if in the price range!
