Written by Luke Wilkinson and Curtis Moldrich Updated: 18 December 2024

New cars editor for Parkers Ted Welford introduces the Cupra Tavacan to our long-term fleet. Can this electric SUV work as a long-distance EV? We’re running one for six months to find out. Keep checking back for reports to see how we’re getting on. 

Update 1: Welcome to the long-term fleet

Out of all the brands part of the Volkswagen Group, Cupra appears to be the one with the most energy behind it. In the last 12 months it’s revamped all but one car in its line-up, and launched two new models – one of these being the new Tavascan which we’re running for the next six months. 

The Tavascan is the largest and most expensive car from Cupra yet, and only its second electric model after the Born hatchback. It’s based on the same electric car platform that currently underpins every EV from Cupra, Skoda and Volkswagen – as well as various Fords – but the Tavascan arrives as a new coupe-styled electric SUV.

It’s a sibling car to the Skoda Enyaq Coupe, Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback and Volkswagen ID.5, though Cupra has injected some of its bolder design elements into it – namely its fancy lighting, striking front end and the wild ‘central spine’ interior that reminds me of the ‘halo’ that F1 cars have for crash protection. 

Cupra is a brand I’m very familiar with, I’ve previously run a Formentor and electric Born as a long-termer. The former had some significant software issues that lead to it going back to Cupra early but the Born was faultless. It was the first EV I’d ever has a long-termer and slotted into my life far better than I expected. So I was very keen to get my hands on this Tavascan, especially after attending the initial reveal for it back in April 2023. 

My Tavascan is a top-spec VZ2 model, meaning it gets a twin-motor four-wheel drive powertrain, and what Skoda would refer to as a ‘vRS’ on its cars. Putting out 335bhp, it’s able to dispatch 0-62mph in just 5.5 seconds, though even the standard car’s 282bhp is hardly lacking, and can still hit 62mph in 6.8 seconds. 

Every new Tavascan is equipped with a 77kWh battery, giving a maximum claimed range of 353 miles on the entry-level V1 model, but this falls to 299 miles in the case of the dual-motor VZ2 on account of its extra weight and power. 

It’s worth walking through the trim levels, too, to work out just how much equipment the range-topping models come with. 

Even base V1 cars come with lots of equipment, including 19-inch alloy wheels, a huge 15-inch touchscreen, electric boot and adaptive cruise control. The V2 grade brings electric, heated bucket seats, a Seinheiser sound system, head-up display and glass roof. The VZ1 trim is broadly the same but only available on the dual-motor model.

Then at the top of the range, the VZ2 gets striking front  ‘Cup’ bucket seats with ventilation, full leather upholstery and funky 21-inch forged alloy wheels. It certainly looks the part, but so it should as the VZ2 comes in at a steep £60,835, around £130,000 more than the entry-level grade. 

The only option on top of that is the £1,335 Winter Pack, which brings a heated windscreen, heated rear seats and a heat pump that helps to maximise an electric car’s range. Though I can’t help but feel it should be included as standard on an SUV of this price. 

Given I live 130 miles from our office and I’m regularly ping-ponging from north to south up the A1 (and more so than with previous EVs I’ve run), the Tavascan will certainly be getting put to the test. I’m also keen to see if it can live up to such premium pricing or potentially if Cupra has stretched itself too far. Keep reading back to see how we get on with the Tavascan.

Update 2: Breakdowns and recovery trucks. Not a great start

Safe to say my first day of ‘owning’ the Tavascan does not go to plan…

Full disclosure, I didn’t even have time to write that initial introduction report to my Cupra Tavascan before disaster had already struck. 

Yes, on my first drive home after collecting the keys to the Tavascan, every car owner’s worst nightmare took place – a breakdown. My journey home from collecting it is around 130 miles, and all was going swimmingly until about 100 miles in – before this I was even thinking what a good car it was.

When leaving the motorway, though, an error message flashed up on the dashboard. Now, the software in new cars (and particularly those from the Volkswagen Group) is not immune to error messages, and generally speaking, a quick ‘on and off’ removes the issue. I presumed this was the case here, so I carried on further.

But about 10 miles further up the road, a red error message flashed up saying ‘error 12V supply: Stop vehicle safely!, and at the same time, the steering went heavy, strongly suggesting a power issue. It was right next to a McDonald’s with an EV charger in the car park, so I thought I’d park up, put the car on charge, and all would fix itself – as has been the case on other cars I’ve sampled on this platform, including the latest Ford Capri. 

But as soon as the car wouldn’t charge, I knew I was in trouble, with the digital instrument cluster flashing up like Christmas tree lights with about every error message possible (15!). At this time, I knew it was time to call breakdown assistance, allowing me to use the in-built Cupra assistance, activated with a press of a button where you’d normally find the interior light switches. 

The call went straight through, and there was a helpful voice at the other end of the phone. I was asked about my location and the car, giving the call handler the registration number and what vehicle it is. 

‘It’s a Cupra Tavascan,’ I say. ‘Oh no, I think you’ll find it’s a Cupra Born,’ the voice says. We go back and forward a few times until I realise that the car has accidentally been registered incorrectly as a Born. Not a great start, and it’s not very encouraging when I’m asked ‘what’s a Tavascan’. Now, admittedly, this is one of the first of these electric SUVs, but it’s not encouraging if you were a customer ringing Cupra and they don’t know what your car is. 

But after some toing and froing, we get there and I’m told help is on the way. One advantage of breaking down at McDonald’s is at least I can get a chicken select while I wait, and much to my surprise, the AA van (the Volkswagen Group’s breakdown provider) turns up within about 45 minutes. Impressive. 

It is also a familiar face – the man who helped me the previous year when I foolishly managed to lock the keys in an Audi Q8, not my finest hour. 

‘Oh no, not you again,’ he greets me, jokingly I hope. Never a great start when a breakdown driver remembers you, but I assure him it’s not my fault on this occasion. It’s the 12-volt battery that is the root of the problem, and with the bonnet open, his computer is plugged in to try and see and solve the issue. A multitude of error codes are being thrown up, and he even resorts to trying to jumpstart it, but to no avail. It is, at least in this car park, beyond repair. 

No breakdown lorry is available for some hours, and, given I was only about 30 minutes from home, I chose to leave the car there overnight and come back in the morning at an agreed time when I’d be met with a recovery truck.

The electric parking brake would release so we can push it out of the charging space it’s blocking, but with no power steering, it’s a tough ask. A few passers-by help us, though it’s hard work, not least because the car weighs almost 2.3 tonnes. 

I return the following day with the keys for the AA recovery truck driver, as I see my new Cupra being dragged onto a trailer on the back of a pick-up, as off it goes back to head office to be fixed.

It’s really not the start to proceedings you expect for a car with 500 miles, and certainly diluted my confidence in this Cupra. If I were a customer and my new £60,000 car had broken down on its first outing, I’d be looking to reject it and get my money back.

But a few weeks later, I get the call to say it’s been fixed – supposedly all that was needed was a ‘software update’, though I don’t buy this line, I think it was something larger. The Tavascan’s first journey following its return is straight to Heathrow, where it’s going to be sitting for 2.5 weeks while I am on holiday. 

I won’t pretend that it crossed my mind a few times while on holiday if the car would start when I came back to it, but thankfully, a few weeks later, I’m back and it’s functioning fine. And has ever since. Long may it continue. Though it’s unquestionably the worst start to getting a new car I’ve ever had – or, I hope, ever will have. 

Update 3: Time to get a home charger fitted!

I get a new wallbox fitted to see how the process works and if it improves the EV experience

It’s a widespread myth that you need a driveway to run an electric car, and I’ve unintentionally been trying to disprove this myth for the past few months by running the Cupra Tavascan without home charging.

I moved into my first house at the end of last year, and while I deliberately chose a home with off-street parking, there are no sockets near enough to where the car is parked, so it was practically impossible to charge it, even if I dangled a three-pin plug out of a window. I have been managing even while using the Cupra every day by relying on the rapid public EV charger in the town where I live, in the Lidl car park, to be precise. 

It’s about a mile away from where I live, and bizarrely always empty, and I’d got into the routine of charging it for an hour or so while at the gym. But I’ve wanted to have an EV home charger fitted for some time, and that’s what I now have thanks to Ohme.

While you used to be able to get home electric car charging grants to cover the cost, or go towards the cost of a wallbox, most of these have now come to an end, except for renters or flat owners. Some manufacturers, such as Ford at the time of writing, offer a free home charger as part of the car purchase, though Cupra isn’t one to offer such an deal.

While there are lots of makes of home EV chargers these days, Cupra’s partner is with Ohme, and offers customers two options – an Ohme ePod (£925) or Ohme ePod Pro (£975). The only difference between them is that the more expensive one comes with a tethered cable already attached to the charger, whereas with the cheaper one, the device is smaller, as you have to connect your own cable each time. It’s better if you want a more discreet installation, too.

For convenience, I went for the more expensive tethered device. The process was exceedingly simple, with Ohme contacting me to submit rough drawings of my house, parking situation, where I’d ideally like the charger to be fitted and the location of my fusebox, etc. They then quickly got in touch to say I’d be eligible for standard installation, and I was then passed over to an outsourced company to arrange the day of fitting. 

It was all exceedingly simple until the day of fitting, when the company due to fit it didn’t show up despite me asking numerous times on the phone if they would. It was really quite infuriating, though was rearranged for a few weeks later when the charger was quickly and tidily installed to the front of my house. 

Ohme’s USP is that it works with whatever electric car tariff you’re on (or change to when getting the EV) to try and get the cheapest charge possible. In my case, and for convenience as I was already with British Gas, I went for its ‘Electric Drivers Energy Plan’. The pros of moving to a bespoke EV energy tariff are all cost-related, so whereas at normal times the electricity cost is 20p per kWh, between midnight and 5am, it drops to just 4.7p/kWh for off-peak rates. 

I’m still experimenting with this feature, but through the app you can select what time you want the car to be fully charged by and it will work out the best time to charge to make sure the car is fully topped up by then and also at the lowest price. 

Ohme’s chargers can top up a car at 7kW, taking 11 hours to fully charge the Tavascan’s 77kWh battery. Though it’s very rare you’ll ever charge an EV from completely empty to full, it’s useful to know that the car will charge at the cheapest rate for at least five of those hours.

It’s also proving to be considerably cheaper to charge at home. Even if I charge the car at the more expensive 20p/kWh rate, it costs a third of what it would cost me to charge at Lidl and its 62p/kWh – £15.40 at home vs £47.74 at Lidl to fully top up the Tavascan. 

Whereas EV charging using a public charger often makes it more expensive to run an electric car than a petrol or diesel, the tables are turned when it comes to home charging as it can become very cost-effective. That’s especially the case when running an efficient EV, which, I should say, the Tavascan isn’t. 

With lots more learning to be done with home charging and journeys planned with the Tavascan, I look forward to reporting more about my findings.

Update 4: Testing the practicality capabilities of our Cupra Tavascan

As Cupra’s largest SUV, does it impress in the practicality stakes?

Cupra already has a good line-up of SUVs, including the Terramar and Ateca, but the Tavascan is its only electric high-riding model, and as the Spanish firm’s largest car, being useful and spacious is a must in this class. 

Not least because there are plenty of other practical choices in this segment. The Skoda Enyaq is a perennial favourite in this respect and we also rate the Renault Scenic, our 2025 Car of the Year highly in this respect. So over the last month I’ve been testing just how useful (or not) the Tavascan might be to families. 

While most of the time there are never more than two of us in the Tavascan, and there is rarely anyone sat in the rear seats, I do have a need for something with a big boot, and the Cupra more than delivers in this respect. 

While measuring 540 litres, which is slightly less than the Skoda Enyaq on paper, the Tavascan’s boot seems more useful than the number suggests, and that’s even with the sloped ‘coupe’ roofline. You also get a height adjustable floor as standard, which I’ve defaulted to having in the lowest setting to make the most of the full boot as with the floor flat to the loading sill, the room below the parcel shelf is quite shallow. 

I’m an avid golfer (albeit not a good one), so fitting two sets of golf clubs in the boot is a must. It’s surprising just how many cars can’t do this without folding a rear seat down, but thankfully the Tavascan’s usefully shaped and wide boot allows easy access for a few sets of clubs. I’m sure three would be possible without too much hassle with the parcel shelf removed.

The Tavscan has also had a lawnmower in its boot this month, as well as an outside table and chairs and my various car valeting equipment which again can all be put below the parcel shelf. It’s a very useful car indeed, though does lack some of the practical features you can get in a Skoda Enyaq, such as hooks and boot separators. I also think a couple of levers to fold the rear seats from the boot would come in handy. 

Rear space is also impressive, with the Tavascan’s clever design meaning that the sloping roofline doesn’t taper until after the rear seats, meaning there’s loads of headroom, helped further by the full-length glass roof. Rear legroom is also impressive, even for adults. While I absolutely love my VZ2-spec Tavascan’s ‘Cup’ bucket seats for the way they look and the support they offer, they’re hard shell and lack of pockets in the rear of them might not make them the best choice for families. 

While the Tavascan has continued to grow on me after its terrible start (breaking down on me the first day I got it), there are some really irritating niggles. 

The most annoying feature is how heavy the Cupra’s steering is at slow speeds – primarily when parking, when the first bit of lock takes some effort to put on, almost like an old car without power steering. The steering is perfectly fine otherwise, so it’s definitely a glitch, and one I’ve wanted to have looked at but haven’t had the chance. 

Other irritations include the fact the trip computer hardly ever resets the ‘after charging’ page, which is useful for when seeing how many miles I’ve covered from a charge. It means that at one point it was saying I’d done almost 1,000 miles since charging, and there’s no way to manually reset it. Annoying. 

Another thing that winds me up is that, while you can configure the swipe-down on the touchscreen with your preferred shortcuts (lane assist, turning off the speed bonging etc), the car never remembers these after every time the car is turned off. It begs the question as to what on earth the point of creating your own shortcuts is if the car can never remember them. 

But my time is coming to an end with the Tavascan, and one of the final things I’d like to do with it is to properly test the range. I’ve only covered less than 2,000 miles in the car so far, which is hardly anything for the driving which I normally cover. So I’m working to properly test the efficiency and claimed range of the Cupra before it goes back. Come back next month to see how I get on…