Cupra Born

[BertBert]

Going to look at these to get Mrs Bert more range than she gets in her 2017 Zoe.

Looks great to me. Any views to the contrary or supporting?

Cheers
Bert

[BertBert]

Thanks for the thoughts so far. We've got the MG in the list and although it seems to be liked and obviously lower price, reviews do keep mentioning it being a bit cheap and unfinished.

Sounds like the Born is good (we might consider the ID3, but you can't get any new ones for a lifetime). The infotainment could be a problem. Mrs Bert is er rather haphazard and inept with tech and touch screens in particular. So that could be a problem, although it's a problem with all new electric cars for her!!

Also looking to get a pre-ordered one if there is a colour spec available that suits.

We are test driving next Thirsday, so we'll see how we get on.

Bert

[BertBert]

Freakuk said:

Late brake show did a review and an overnight trip in one, probably worth a look

Thanks, watched it, very interesting. For me that has increased my interest, but now even less sure for Mrs Bert.

She won't have a hope with that touch screen - it's almost certainly a deal-breaker which is very sad as I quite like the car!

Also she won't enjoy pootling in a car that attracts boy-racer type attention!

[BertBert]

Shaw Tarse said:

More here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Thanks makes a good read.

[BertBert]

plfrench said:

As I mentioned above, give the voice recognition a good try on your test drive next week. It might be good enough to mean you don't need to use the touch screen

will do!

[BertBert]

craigjm said:

Surely it’s good CarPlay and Auto so you just plug in your phone (or attach wirelessly) and use that as your interface?

So we are talking Mrs Bert, who can barely make a phone call on her phone! I love her dearly, but she is a technical retard!

[BertBert]

annodomini2 said:

Drive it in slow traffic if you can, the first 20% of brake pedal travel is regen only, the mechanical brakes only kick in after this point.

I personally hate this and think it is dangerous as at low speed the regen does not work and it is counter-intuitive that you need to press the brake pedal more to stop at low speeds.

That's a curious feature. So at low speeds the first 20% of the brake pedal travel doesn't do anything?

[BertBert]

HTP99 said:

Already have a ZOE OP, what about the Megane E-Tech, great reviews and decent infotainment; Google powered, doesn't have those awful touch sensitive buttons which can be activated easily without realising, has physical heater controls and is of a far better quality and build inside.

Edited by HTP99 on Friday 23 December 23:31

That's a good point. My wife has a specific journey that she frequently does where she wants a higher range which was the attraction of the Born's 340WLTP rather than the 280 of the Megane (and many others in that "class").

But we do get on very well with the Renault dealer so we should at least go and look. And the sales manager is a proper petrolhead with a Porsche problem like me!

[BertBert]

Pica-Pica said:

That can be re-coded out, surely?
In a similar way, the initial brake pedal travel on an ICE does not generate boost.

Thinking about it this is strange. Brake pedals work by pressure surely, not distance pressed?

[BertBert]

Fastlane said:

I went to look at the Megane at our local Renault dealer. One of the senior sales guys is very familiar with EVs and was embarassed to admit that the winter range was around 160 miles. He thought that at best it would be a 200 mile range car in the Summer.

He said itis a lovely car let down by poor range.

Our Kona, in comparison, will do an easy 250 in Winter and 300 in Summer.

ah, that's a shame then
The Hyundai dealer is very close to me, although they are known as a truly terrible dealer and the only one with a worse reputation locally is the Kia Dealer! I'll check out the Kona and the e-Niro

Edited by BertBert on Saturday 24th December 12:33

[BertBert]

Super, thanks for the info, very helpful! We were booked to go and test drive one this morning, but had to cancel as the entire family has had the flu.

Might try for Saturday if me and Mrs Bert can stop coughing for long enough!

[BertBert]

Quick update here. We went to test drive the Born and liked it a lot. However now that we have to decide, it just seems a lot of money for what we need. So we are having a think about it. Delivery times are about 40 weeks. If I can confirm that we can put a deposit down now and secure a place in the queue, but not have to make the final commitment until build time, I may well do that. Also it feels to me that the market is changing (not unexpectedly). We were in the local VW dealer just to check out what they had. They had a new ID5 that they had had to pre-register (remember those days in the olden times?) and were selling 8k off list! We liked the range, but it's a big car! Far too big for Mrs R. So a good time to wait and see what transpires.

Anyway, we have bought a used polo for the longer journeys that Mrs Bert needs to do and will sell the Zoe if we can get any money for it. WBAC said £1400!!!

So we'll have a break from EVs and see how we get on.

Cheers
Bert

[BertBert]

As we are looking for the V2 long range, there don't appear to be any pre-ordered ones.

Who was the dealer, I'll give them a call. Cheers

[BertBert]

somouk said:

You can usually put a deposit down and then get it back so long as the build hasn't been started. As soon as they allocate a VIN that's usually the time you have to have it and can't get a refund.

Thanks, that's what the sales guy said, so I'll do that.

[BertBert]

Icehanger said:

On the Born fakebook it looks like a lot of dealers have 58kW available but the 77's need factory orders, a few are popping up though

Yes we just missed a 77kwh pre-order at Ciytgate, so it's a long-shot

[BertBert]

dibblecorse said:

Suspect they will all be 58kwh cars, the 77kwh cars are trickling through at the moment they definitely aren't sitting about anywhere and Cupra have been given priority on that battery pack by VAG to help bolster the brand.

It's proving slightly harder than I thought to ask the Q! Didn't get through to anyone yesterday in sales and left a message. No call back 24 hours later!

I'll try again.

[BertBert]

mabosh said:

Urgh, typical Arnold Clark!

I'm sure the showroom car is 77kwh. Not sure if it's actually available though.

I'll try once more before I abandon the task! The odd thing about the 77kwh variant is that the middle seat at the back gets deleted making it a strict 4 seater. Probably not a practical problem, but off-putting nevertheless!

[BertBert]

SWoll said:

Same with the ID3, down to vehicle weight I believe as 3 average rear seat passengers would push it over a certain limit so has to be configured for 2.

I wonder if the platform has a max weight in its type approval?

[BertBert]

Pica-Pica said:

I’ve never seen any car that can comfortably fit 3 people in the back, no matter what size, or age or car seat used.

If that's the case how does anyone drive a family of 5 on holiday?
Not saying that's what I want to do, but for those times when you want to squish 5 in, then you can't.

[BertBert]

So an update. We ordered a 77KHW blue Born (to Mrs Bert's spec) and were settled for a Sept/Oct delivery. However, one has "come into stock" of the right colour and only a slight variation on spec. I assume a cancelled order. So it looks like we will be proud Cupra Born drivers some time around the end of the month!

ETA we need to make sure it's on the new reg from March 1st!