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Australia has something of an on-again, off-again relationship with the Cupra Born.
The Spanish brand’s all-electric hatchback, which trumpets its Latin design and passion (despite the fact it’s actually made in Germany and its batteries come from China…) and is now discontinued in Australia, has long been acclaimed by Car Expert, and one local customer – just the one –was keen enough to snap up the high-performance VZ variant from a dealer outside Sydney.
A new Born is now, according to . But well, not new-new, but certainly a lot of the latest batteries, motors and tech (and with revised styling on the outside), an upgraded cabin as well as more modern technology.
Hypothetically, this is the case of Born returning to Australia soon after it has been released in Europe as a model year version of 2027 models and possibly leading with the high performance VZ model (the lower 170kW versions are likely to follow the less 140kW variants).
As we are, we popped over to Madrid to see the new 240kW VZ and know whether it’s worth waiting for.
How much does the Cupra Born cost?
The Born VZ was previously – when you could purchase one – at $59,990 pretty stiff for a compact electric hatchback. The 140kW version should cost a whole heap less when/if it comes, though the full-length model is cheaper than its predecessors (although this would be more expensive at the time/when it arrives).
To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our
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What is the Cupra Born like on the inside?
The Born’s cabin architecture hasn’t changed much, but there’s been a distinct lift in quality.
Good Cupra is trumpeting its use of recycled and recyclable materials, but notably those materials look and feel more after they’ve been transformed into the cabin fixtures for Born’s.
There is a real physical change and that’s the new 10 now. It replaces the old 5 with an instrument screen behind the steering wheel, which is 25-inch driver’s instrument and a quarter of its size. 3-inch display, . Certainly it looks better, and has some good graphics and switchable layouts. Adefinite improvement for is it.
There is a head-up for the VZ model too, although it’s annoying when you wear polarised sunglasses and don’t see it.
It is the 12-inch infotainment screen in centre of the dash, which is also known as the main info’neg. Look familiar 9 inches across, looks like a shock but it has been given entirely new software — according to Google Android technology. This makes it much slicker and easier to use than before, and the screen feels far more responsive than it used to be.
However, the touch-sensitive ‘slider’ controls for cabin temperature and stereo volume remain an irritant.
Similarly, proper buttons have returned to the Born’s cabin with a new steering wheel that ditches its annoying haptic touchpads for physical push-buttons and scrollers. It’s a lot better than that, as does the look of four individual buttons for power windows rather than two buttons and – front/rear selector.
As the VZ version, as it is sportily sported, receives a set of beautiful high-backed bucket seats in the front – Cupra calls these ‘CupBuckets’ **** which are extremely comfortable and give just the right amount of supportive.
Then they also have a lot of recycled material, such as ‘Seaqual’ fabric made from recovered ocean plastic and flax-fibre – not carbonfinbre***–* for the hard shell seatbacks.
There’s a lot of storage space – and fast 90-Watt USB-C sockets in the centre console, as well as useful door bins too.
If nothing special, headroom and legroom are fine in the back but taller passengers will have their knees cocked up in air due to high-set floor.
While the centre rear seat is given a seatbelt, the seat itself is too narrow to be of much use; particularly as the rear bench is sculpted into semi-bucket seats for the outer two, it has been shown that the back was made up.
If you get ISOFIX child seat anchors in those outer rear seats, at least you have one in the front passenger seat too.
No one changes it’s boot, and at 385 litres the Born’S boot is far from the largest in class; there are no backups from a ‘frunk’ storage area in the nose. Then, you do at least have an adjustable boot floor, bag hooks and a 12-volt socket.
| Dimensions | Cupra Born VZ |
| — | — |
| Length | 4336mm |
| Width | 1809mm |
| Height | 1543mm |
| Wheelbase | 2766mm |
| Cargo capacity | 385L |
To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our
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What’s under the bonnet?
Well, in fact, the Born’s motors are under the back of it; it’re a rear-wheel drive vehicle with single electric motor for each version.
| Specifications | Cupra Born VZ |
| — | — |
| Drivetrain | Single-motor electric |
| Battery | 79kWh lithium-ion |
| Power | 240kW |
| Torque | 545Nm |
| Drive type | Rear-wheel drive |
| 0-100km/h (claimed) | 5.6 seconds |
| Energy consumption (claimed) | 16kWh/100km |
| Claimed range – WLTP | 631km |
| Max AC charge rate | 11kW |
| Max DC charge rate | 183kW |
To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our
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How does the Cupra Born drive?
If you’re expecting the visceral thrills of a traditional GTI… well, sorry, you’re not going to get that. However, the Born VZ has some delights of its own.
Even with a chunky two-tonne (non-succeeding) kerb weight, there is no step-off performance of ; the Cupra driving mode selected (the others are Range, Comfort and Performance – all chosen via two buttons on the steering wheel), initial torque hit is sudden enough to count as savage.
As with many EVs, when you ask the road to The Born VZ jump up (although acceleration tails off above 100km/h) as does most of the time it is asked for), but this means that while there are several vehicles in which they do not have an accelerator. But when you need it there’s a lot of tip-in torque for boosting, though that isn’t the case at all.
Other fake engine noises, which are almost convincing at first in Cupra mode, soon become too much Captain Kirk-style whooshes. You’d think the optional Sennheiser Contrabass stereo could pipe in a V8 rumble, but no.
The way the Born VZ responds is what matters more than that noise, though. It doesn’t really give a lot of true feedback, but it’s nice and fast; the new tyres – now 235mm wide all-round have plenty of grip.
True, the weight starts to pull you into understeer as a corner continues but torque means you can use the rear of the car to adjust your line slightly (especially on the way out of slow corners). It’s not quite exciting, but the Born VZ has enough entertainment in its bones to be fun.
Its all-round performance is more impressive than . With the adaptive dampers that are standard in the VZ, you can have a very comfortable ride quality when you’re bothered to rush around and then go into cupra mode where you could stiffen everything up when it is possible. If the Born VZ is an enticing dual personality, that trick suspension gives him such a creepy dual role as well.
The least impressive feature is the brakes, which are the most underrated aspect of . The first time in a Born, there’s – the one-pedal driving system for the firsttime that is activated by paddles behind the steering wheel. But you’ll soon deactivate it, because it’s just too aggressive and suddenly.
To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our
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What do you get?
Australian prices and specs aren’t set yet, but here’s what we expect the Born VZ to come with as standard.
2026 Cupra Born VZ equipment highlights:
- Heated front seats
- 20-inch alloy wheels
- Adaptive suspension
- 10.25-inch driver’s instrument screen
- 12.9-inch infotainment screen
- Forward collision alert and automatic braking
- Adaptive cruise control
- Selectable driving modes
- ‘CupBucket’ seats
To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our
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Is the Cupra Born safe?
ANCAP has awarded The Cupra Born an overall five-star rating, including a 93 per cent of adult protection for adults; 90 percent on child occupants (89 per percent), 73 Per cent in the case of road users who are vulnerable and 80 per Cent at its active safety systems.
| Category | Cupra Born |
| — | — |
| Adult occupant protection | 93 per cent |
| Child occupant protection | 89 per cent |
| Vulnerable road user protection | 73 per cent |
| Safety assist | 80 per cent |
Standard safety equipment includes:
- Forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking
- Lane keeping steering
- Adaptive cruise control with speed-limiter
- Speed limit alert
- Blind-spot detection
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Junction cross-traffic alert
- Smart high-beam
To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our
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How much does the Cupra Born cost to run?
While it is a powerful performance, the Born VZ must be very low-budget to run (especially when you are well off of ‘good electricity supply tariffs and charge at home on cheaper night rates’).
| Servicing and Warranty | Cupra Born |
| — | — |
| Warranty | 5 years, unlimited kilometres |
| Roadside assistance | 5 years |
| Service intervals | 24 months or 20,000km (TBC) |
We averaged 16 – on our test drive, lots of time in Cupra mode on twisty mountain stretches and some highway and city driving. Compared to Cupra’s 14-year energy efficiency quoted by cupra, 0kWh/100km. A kWh/100km km is 1kWh, or 100km. This is ace, meaning that you’re unlikely to make the official 631km range claim but it’s important for you to get close to 500km in real-world conditions.
The Born will get the usual Cupra Australia warranty lasting five years and with unlimited kilometres.
To see how the Cupra Born lines up against its rivals, use our
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childcareman.xyz’s Take Cupra Born VZ
The latest version of the Born VZ deserves a place on the boat to Australia.
That’s not the craziest thing that Cupra would think you might think, but it is an impressive combination of comfort, pace and poise. And it’s good looking inside and out, too.’ .
At the very end, it will all be based on price cupra Australia sticks on the Born VZ. That’s the right way to get that, and it could be a winner.
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Thanks for reading 2026 Cupra Born VZ review: Quick drive
