2026 Cupra Raval VZ Extreme | UK Review
Another 225hp electric hot hatch joins the fray to do battle with Alpine, Mini, Peugeot and Vauxhall...
Will we miss SEAT? It’s a question that feels pertinent, Britain’s oldest car magazine feeling pretty confident that Volkswagen’s Future Plan 2030 really will nail the coffin of its original Spanish brand shut. As PHers, the reality of that won’t prove earth-shattering – the cars we care about were emancipated by Cupra years ago. However perky a base SEAT Ibiza petrol still feels with a manual ‘box to snick around (it’s a solid recommendation if you need a cheap, simple supermini), the more premium brand is now unequivocally the enthusiast one, too. Yet with the memory of day-glo Ibiza hot hatches, Repsol Cordoba rally cars and those scintillating laps of the Nürburgring that led to the Leon Cupra Sub8 edition still in relatively recent history, you’d forgive us a few moments of contemplation about what we’re set to lose.
Good news is delivered within the squat, four-by-two frame of this Cupra Raval. New-age Cupra never came good on its teased Ibiza concept (way back in 2018!), though with the platform of this Raval shared with the new VW ID.Polo GTI, this heated-up VZ version is effectively a modern-day, purely plug-in Ibiza Cupra.
With appropriately perky performance. Ravals start below £25k if you don’t mind modest power and an urban range figure, but you can snare one with over 200hp for under £30k, while the range-topping VZ starts at £33,495 (after the government’s £1,500 Electric Car Grant) and offers the full 225hp, an e-diff and DCC damping. This is a bona fide Alpine A290, Mini JCW Electric and Vauxhall Corsa GSE rival from the off.
Its weight is on par, too, Cupra quoting 1.6 tonnes for this VZ Extreme and a 6.8-second dash to 62mph – about as quick as the last-gen Ibiza Cupra could muster. The top speed is a much meeker 109mph, though the more important number to behold is its 238 miles of claimed range. Slightly further than its key rivals currently claim – and not bad for a dinky and thus easy to charge 52kWh battery. It’s roomier, too, occupying a similar footprint to the Mini yet comfortably accommodating adults in the back with twice its boot capacity at 441 litres. Which is more than a Cupra Leon, too. PH can verify its versatility following an especially ambitious trip to B&Q.
The Raval looks the part. It’s easy to argue it’s a bit fussy – inside and out – but it’s a welcome alternative to the handsomely inoffensive Polo. Its 19-inch wheels look frankly enormous for such a compact car yet the adaptive dampers ensure it still rides with reasonable aplomb. First impressions are of a mature, meticulously developed car, and its key touchpoints and functions exactly mirror those of the bigger, pricier Born VZ. It potters along quietly and effortlessly and it’ll even cruise on the motorway with little fuss or wind noise.
Crucially, it’s a car that encourages you to forge a more interesting path. The steering wheel is big but feels eager in your hands, and it flicks the car through direction changes with a pleasing economy of movement. You'll know immediately that it’s a front-driven car, with a flash of the ESP light (though only a hint of actual wheelspin) accompanying eager acceleration in the wet and a cornering attitude that needs teasing out of it like hot hatches of yore. While the rear-driven Born offers a slice of genuine oversteer, here you bung the car into a turn to sense it pivot around rather than basking in the full picture. Even in ESC Sport it's fairly strict.
Yet the Raval still feels up and at ‘em, and you can have a pretty satisfying time within the limits prescribed by its ECU. A pleasing electronic warble accompanies your acceleration in sportier modes and it feels blooming quick; right on the money for its class and a strong signifier that those in lower-rung Ravals won’t suffer too much FOMO. And while it stops short of truly expressive, there’s a tight-knuckled way to the Raval rides and handles, with fun to had toggling through its 15 stages of damping. However much you’re likely to dwell in the middle third of those on a bumpy British backroad.
We scored 3.7mi/kWh amid a mix of urban driving, rapid motorway miles and enthusiastic cornering. Let’s call it 150 miles of real-world range to leave plenty of safety margin for any charging mishaps. It won’t be circling the NC500 without a robust plan, then, but it should liven up the everyday without much effort. Its fabulous Cup Bucket seats – trimmed in vegan leather in VZ trim, or natty ‘3D knit’ textile in this VZ Extreme – make long distances a cinch too. They feel fabulously OTT in such a small car and, like the chairs in the Corsa GSE, really set the stall for enthusiasts taking a small EV seriously.
The interior itself is a matter of taste. There’s a lot going on in here, with colour daubed across it liberally, a 3D printed sculpture laced across the dashboard and some bold projections that lean more into ‘art installation’ than ‘ambient lighting’. The design team’s had a ball here and you’d need to go full humbug to not appreciate their efforts.
There are annoyances, of course, and they're all predictably of the moment. I’ve failed to forge a smooth relationship with the retractable door handles. The voice command system always seems to be lurking in the background, interrupting your conversations or – ahem – your singing along to the radio. The anti-crash beep is shrill and quick to make a meal out of a safely executed manoeuvre around a line of parked cars. Its adaptive brake regen system, which the car defaults into even if you’ve been using the paddles, blows hot and cold in its usefulness.
Overall, though, it’s a success. You shouldn’t buy a Raval solely as a performance car, because amusing as it is on a good road, it can’t match the petrol hot hatches we adore from recent history. Yet if you buy (or more likely lease) one as well-appointed, affordably priced EV that can serve up a little fun on the side, it’s quite a convincing little package. At a decisive time for the wider Volkswagen Group it proves to us that savvy engineering and inspired design still roll on beneath the scary headlines. SEAT may soon leave our sphere, but the ongoing form of Cupra ought to swiftly mop up our tears.
SPECIFICATION | 2026 CUPRA RAVAL VZ EXTREME
Engine: permanent magnet electric motor, 52kWh usable battery
Transmission: single-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 225
Torque (lb ft): 214
0-62mph: 6.8 seconds
Top speed: 109mph
Weight: 1,615kg
Efficiency: 3.9 miles/kWh
Electric range: 238 miles (WLTP), 105kW charging
Price: £34,810 (after ECG), £37,080 as tested (after ECG, including £1,600 Manganese Green Matte paint, £580 panoramic sunroof and £90 spare physical key)
As much as i try - these EV's don't do it for me.
Had a look at some driving videos of the Corsa GSE the other day and there just isn't that much hot hatchiness in there...
Point and shoot and mash the accelerator. Although you could say the same thing about some of these modern ICE hyper hatches with 4WD and auto boxes too...
Be good to see someone attempt to build a proper hot hatch for less than 30k, in visually more attractive packaging.
Perhaps by 2035 something half decent will become available that matches the typical 2010 hot hatch for weight range performance and looks.
Here's a brief...275 hp, less than 1400kg and 350-400 on a charge,
Progress is still being made but will need another one or 2 generations of ev to get back to where we were 15 years ago,
Worryingly this have to come from Asia as I cannot see much future for the European can market until the politicians wake up and realise that they have killed the golden goose...
As much as i try - these EV's don't do it for me.
Had a look at some driving videos of the Corsa GSE the other day and there just isn't that much hot hatchiness in there...
Point and shoot and mash the accelerator. Although you could say the same thing about some of these modern ICE hyper hatches with 4WD and auto boxes too...
Even the new R5 is so fat and oversized it s outgrown the hatchback label and become a mini SUV.
I get the manufacturers have to accommodate the battery packs but is this really the best they can come up with?
Look at the Tesla Model 3 and how much boot and frunk space that has, then look at the European manufacturers - why can t they mirror that design in terms of smaller size and less height?
Most of the R5 s are going to be driven by women, which is proving true when I see them out on the road; I can’t see women opting for this as it’s a bit too aggressive looking but not enough to tempt peteolhead blokes..
The magazines are all proclaiming these to be hot hatches but a hot hatch isn t this size, this weight or this ugly (unless it s a new BMW 1 series)
Raval looks great, and between that, the Polo, and the Epiq, they should sell plenty.
Looking at this and the Terramar, they seem to have found their interior 'look'. The Born and Formentor look like a different generation, although the Formemtor was basically the Leon inside.
They need to sort the colours out though.
Even the new R5 is so fat and oversized it s outgrown the hatchback label and become a mini SUV.
I get the manufacturers have to accommodate the battery packs but is this really the best they can come up with?
Look at the Tesla Model 3 and how much boot and frunk space that has, then look at the European manufacturers - why can t they mirror that design in terms of smaller size and less height?
Most of the R5 s are going to be driven by women, which is proving true when I see them out on the road; I can t see women opting for this as it s a bit too aggressive looking but not enough to tempt peteolhead blokes..
The magazines are all proclaiming these to be hot hatches but a hot hatch isn t this size, this weight or this ugly (unless it s a new BMW 1 series)
However the interiors are awful and almost come across cartoonish. Whatever materials they are using just really cheapens the car. Layout wise it’s actually great so it’s such a pity.
Really hope VAG group can sort it out as their current offerings are really poor.
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