Born to be wild... and eco-friendly: Cupra Born is Seat spin-off's first electric hot hatch costing from £28k - with a cabin made from plastic removed from the sea

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Seat's sporting spin-off Cupra has launched its first all-electric car that bosses say is 'Born to be wild' – while still being green and good to the planet.

As well as hot performance the new Cupra Born is also eco conscious. The zero-emissions hatchback even has seats and interior panels made from recycled plastics cleaned up from land and sea.

The firm, the sibling to Spain’s Seat, says the UK is their third largest market after Germany and its home nation - and hope the £28,000 hot electrified hatch will resonate with Britons.

Closely related to the VW ID.3, the Cupra Born can reach 62mph in 6.6 seconds in its swiftest version or will cover 335 miles on a single charge in its longest range version/

Born to be wild... and good to the planet: This is the new Cupra - the Spanish firm's first electric hot hatch

Wayne Griffiths, the Briton at the reigns of the sporty Spanish brand, says the new Born hatchback is ‘the perfect match between electrification and performance’.

And in a Spanish twist, the new Born’s voice control system is triggered by saying the wake-up words: ‘Hola, Hola’ – Spanish for 'Hello' – or by pressing a button on the steering wheel.

It also features an augmented reality head-up display, dynamic chassis control, and wider tyres for a planted feel.

Priced from around £28,000 after deduction of the government’s taxpayer-funded £2,500 plug-in car grant, four battery variants of the copper-badged Cupra Born are to come to the UK, ranging from 150 horsepower to 231 horsepower. 

Official prices will be announced in autumn with deliveries starting at the beginning of 2022.

As well as traditional showroom sales, the Cupra Born will be offered under subscription contracts with a monthly fee that includes use of the vehicle plus other related services, such as servicing.

Prices will start from around £28,000 when first deliveries arrive next year. Look familiar? It is closely based on the VW ID.3 electric hatch

The Cupra Born will qualify for the government’s taxpayer-funded £2,500 plug-in car grant.  Four battery variants of the copper-badged Cupra Born are to come to the UK, ranging from 150 horsepower to 231 horsepower

As well as traditional showroom sales, the Cupra Born will be offered under subscription contracts with a monthly fee that includes use of the vehicle plus other related services, such as servicing

The most powerful version with a 77kW battery and ‘e-boost’ promises the longest range of 335 miles while still accelerating from rest to 62mph in 7 seconds. 

A similar version with a smaller 58kWh battery will manage the same sprint in 6.6 seconds – making it the fastest accelerating model.

The 150hp 45kWh battery version has a range of 211 miles; a 204hp 58kWh battery version and a 231hp 58kWh battery version with ‘e-Boost’ both have a range of 260 mile.

The battery can be recharged to 80 per cent in 35 minutes on a 125kW fast-charger while a seven minute burst will add 62 miles.

Based on a platform from the parent Volkswagen Group, the new Born is designed and developed in Barcelona, with left-hand drive production beginning n September at Zwickau in eastern Germany which, in the days of the Communist ‘DDR’ in a divided Germany, was the plant at which the infamous compressed Trabant car was made.

Zwickau is also the manufacturing site for the Volkswagen ID.3 hatchback - which looks almost identical to the Cupra, bar the gold accents. 

With its sporty stance, the new Born joins a line-up a that includes petrol-powered and plug-in hybrid variants of the Cupra Leon, Leon Estate, Ateca and Formentor.

The cabin is designed to accommodate all occupants in style and comfort but ‘with an environmentally-friendly twist’. 

The standard bucket seats use a special yarn called ‘Seaqual’ made from recycled plastics cleaned up from the sea and river estuaries, including fishing nets. 

The most powerful version with a 77kW battery and ‘e-boost’ promises the longest range of 335 miles while still accelerating from rest to 62mph in 7 seconds

With its sporty stance, the new Born joins a line-up a that includes petrol-powered and plug-in hybrid variants of the Cupra Leon (back right), Leon Estate (middle) and Formentor SUV (front)

The battery can be recharged to 80 per cent in 35 minutes on a 125kW fast-charger while a seven minute burst will add 62 miles

Optional Dinamica bucket seats are also made from recycled materials including polyester fibres found in t-shirts and clothing, and plastic from bottles. It is available in either Dark Blue or Grey colour finishes.

Extoling its other green credentials, Cupra said it the brand’s first model delivered to customers ‘net CO2 neutral’ with emissions offset by certified environmental and project investments.

The new Born has a high-definition 12-inch ‘floating’ infotainment screen and can be connected by a smart-phone app which allows drivers to remotely activate the air conditioning and heated seats and to search for and send a destination to the vehicle’s navigation system.

An augmented reality head-up display system which projects crucial driving information onto the windscreen, and appears layered over the real world, minimising the need for the driver to look away from the road ahead.

It also has capacitive touch technology and touch sliders – hi-tech elements which have proven fiddly on the Volkswagen Golf.

In a spicy Spanish twist, the new Born’s voice control system is triggered by saying the wake-up words: ‘Hola, Hola’ – Spanish for 'Hello' – or by pressing a button on the steering wheel

Optional Dinamica bucket seats are also made from recycled materials including polyester fibres found in t-shirts and clothing, and plastic from bottles

An augmented reality head-up display system which projects crucial driving information onto the windscreen, and appears layered over the real world, minimising the need for the driver to look away from the road ahead

The Born’s electric motor drives the rear axle using a single-speed transmission.

The lithium-ion battery system sits centrally and low between the axles giving almost perfect 50:50 weight distribution to enhance high-performance driving and driver confidence during cornering. There’s progressive electric power steering and a specific ESC (Electronic Stability Control) Sport button.

Ride comfort and handling is enhanced with optional Dynamic Chassis Control – enabling the driver to tune the damper and shock absorber settings across four modes: Range; Comfort; Individual; or Cupra.

Will it fit in my garage?All-electric Cupra Born

On sale: from Autumn

First deliveries: Early 2022

Price: from around £28,000 (after deducting £2,500 Plug-in Vehicle Grant)

Length: 4,322mm 

Width: 1,809mm 

Height: 1,537mm 

Wheelbase: 2,767mm

Emissions: Zero 

Performance: 150hp - 231hp

Drive: Electric motor 

Battery: 45 to 77kWh

0 to 62mph: Up to 6.6 seconds

Range: Up to 335 miles 

Wheels: 18 inch to 20 inch

Boot capacity: 385 litres

Energy recuperation from braking allows the motor to act a generator to feed energy back into the battery when the ‘B’ drive mode is selected.

Six bespoke alloy wheel designs ranging from 18- to 20-inch include functional aerodynamic inserts and optional machine-finished copper highlights.

A rear spoiler and integrated diffuser adds to its sporty and aerodynamic character.

Clever use of storage maximises interior space and there’s a 385 litre boot.

There is a choice of six colours: Vapor Grey, Glacial White, Geyser Silver, Rayleigh Red, Quasar Grey and the exclusive Aurora Blue.

Safety features include Predictive Adaptive Cruise Control which allows the vehicle to change speed depending on the road layout ahead, including bends, roundabouts, junctions, speed limits and built-up areas, and traffic sign recognition. Travel Assist actively keeps the vehicle in the centre of the lane and adjusts speed to the flow of traffic.

Spain’s Seat was founded 71 years ago and the sporty Seat Cupra derivative – it stands for copper – arrived in 1996. But in 2018 Cupra was launched as a stand-alone brand with its own corporate headquarters and a racing car workshop.

Wayne Griffiths, the British president of both Cupra and Seat said the new Born blends ‘emotional design and instantaneous performance’ noting: ‘The Cupra Born is a game-changer in the electric market and the impulse of the company’s transformation.

‘Through its emotional sportiness, we want the next generation of young challengers to be part of this transformation. That’s why Cupra will use unconventional sales models to reach new people and take the Cupra brand beyond the traditional.’

Werner Tietz, executive vice-president for research and development at Cupra and Seat said the new Born delivers ‘an exhilarating drive’ adding: ‘It proves that electrification and performance are a perfect match, contributing to the reduction in CO2 but without any compromises. It’s environmentally conscious but at the same time dynamic and exciting.'