The production version of the Cupra UrbanRebel EV will be named the Cupra Raval.
As previously reported exclusively by Autocar, the nameplate references a province in Barcelona.
The Cupra UrbanRebel – revealed at last year's Munich motor show as a racy supermini with an outlandish, touring car-style aero package – has evolved into an ultra-compact urban SUV for production.
The Raval will be the firm's third all-electric production car, following the existing Volkswagen ID 3-based Cupra Born hatchback and dramatically styled 2024 Cupra Tavascan crossover into dealerships in 2025, and with similarly aggressive design cues that nod to Cupra's extant billing as the Volkswagen Group's accessible performance brand.
However, while the original concept highlighted that "racing is at the core of Cupra's DNA", the model revealed here is a much closer preview of the car that will go on sale in three years.
The Raval is the first of three technically identical entry-level EVs due from the VW Group, with closely related but differently styled siblings on the way from Volkswagen and Skoda. Together, the three cars essentially replace the Volkswagen E-Up, Skoda Citigo-e iV and Seat Mii Electric at the entry point into their respective manufacturers' growing EV line-ups.
The trio have long been promised to start from around the €20,000 (£17,000) mark, which would make them among the cheapest mainstream EVs on sale. But Cupra has confirmed that in line with its more upmarket brand positioning, the Raval will command a premium over its Volkswagen and Skoda siblings - potentially to the tune of roughly £25,000 when it lands.
All three will be built at a dedicated new factory in Martorell, Spain, and sit atop a specially adapted version of the MEB EV platform currently used by the majority of bespoke VW Group EVs (save for the J1-based Audi E-tron GT and Porsche Taycan). The chief differentiator over that familiar architecture is that the ‘Small MEB’, as it is called, is much shorter; as deployed here under the UrbanRebel, it gives a wheelbase of just 2600mm – roughly equidistant between that of the ID 3 and e-Up – with a view to enticing city-dwelling EV buyers and keeping costs down, while still giving room for four occupants.
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I'm not keen on these silly, plastickyraised centre consoles Seat are going for on this and the Gaviscon, they look flimsy and just, well, in the way.
The copper and purple interior sounds very tasteful, though.
A good price point for a new EV, an indicator that the tech is becoming ubiquitous.
The design is pretty good, though too fussy for me.