Best for: Overall completeness
For a couple of years now, Autocar has conducted an annual test of the best-handling, most fun, ‘affordable’ (it’s relative) electric cars on sale, and the Cupra Born is the reigning champion, beating rivals such as the MG 4 XPower and Abarth 500e.
The Born sits at a compelling nexus of size and usability, weight and power, real-world range and price.
It has enough power to keep you interested but doesn’t seem excessive for the road or to compromise its efficiency in quicker motoring. It has an engaging, balanced, rear-driven chassis and some precision and purpose to its body control, but it also includes four usable seats and a decent boot.
The Born will also cover 220 real-world miles on a charge, which should be enough to get you to and from your favourite road, and it has the personality and poise to make the trip worthwhile.
There’s a completeness to the Born as a package that makes it the ideal affordable EV for interested drivers to take their first steps into zero-emissions motoring. Perhaps not by chance, it feels more like a Volkswagen Golf GTI for the electric age than anything that Volkswagen itself is making right now – and most derivatives benefit from the Electric Car Grant.
Plus, Cupra has also just introduced the Cupra Born VZ, a hot hatch version with 322bhp and 402lb ft. It will hit 0-62mph in 5.7sec, which is faster than the standard Born by more than a second.
