Seat Getting ReBORN With Compact Electric Hatch That’s Due In 2020

After testing the waters with the eMii, a zero-emission version of the city car, Seat is now said to be working on an electric compact hatchback.

Believed to be called Born, Born-E, or E-Born, and inspired by the El Born district in Barcelona, says AutoExpress, it is expected to arrive in two years’ time.

The vehicle will be underpinned by the versatile MEB platform developed by the Group, which will be shared with different Volkswagen ID EVs in the future, and will be “more the size of the Leon“, according to Matthias Rabe, Seat’s VP for R&D.

“The first [Seat] MEB car will be smaller than our big SUV that’s coming soon. It will be more the size of the Leon – very close, in fact, in length. But the interior space will be much greater because of the packaging advantages of MEB.”

Rabe’s statement tells us indirectly that the Seat ‘Born’ (name unconfirmed) will basically be the Spanish brand’s rebadged version of the ID Hatch, a zero-emission compact car that will be approximately the same size of the next-gen Golf, that’s due next year.

In terms of pricing, the electric vehicle is said to cost about the same as a well-equipped diesel-powered Golf, some £25,000 ($35,565) in the United Kingdom. The price probably refers to the entry-level model, as Seat appears to plot two power outputs for it.

Additionally, the car marque will also offer over-the-air subscriptions and updates: “If, for example, we already installed heated seats on 90 percent of our cars, as an option, then we could add in the extra 10 percent, and offer buyers the chance to subscribe to having heated seats in the winter”, Rabe said.

“However, if you only have those seats on 10 percent of your cars, there’s no business case. Either way, I think we’ll end up offering over-the-air items in weekly, monthly, or permanent upgrades. And additional performance is one option”, the R&D chief added.

The car’s footprint is still being decided, but “95 percent of it is finished”, according to Rabe. “It’s a really good-looking car, because it looks distinctive, and yet it’s clearly a Seat.”

Note: Current Seat Leon pictured