Cupra Tavascan Electric SUV Mule Caught Testing At The Nurburgring

Cupra has yet again been caught testing the Tavascan all-electric SUV. This time, though, the Spanish brand’s test mule was seen being put through its paces at the fearsome Nürburgring.

Still wearing Volkswagen ID.4 body panels, camouflage on the front and rear may hide areas where the VW body would be inconvenient. Whatever’s hiding under the wrap, we have every reason to believe that the SUV will look quite different from the ID.4.

Cupra unveiled the Tavascan Concept in 2019 as an aggressively-styled crossover coupe that looked quite different from the VW, despite being based on the MEB platform. The brand’s CEO, meanwhile, said that the production car will look “very, very near to the show car,” so fear not if you were disappointed by the car’s appearance here.

What these spy photos do reveal is that Cupra is taking its role as a performance brand seriously, testing the Tavascan at the Nürburgring. The brand is trying to carve a sporty niche for itself in the marketplace and since revealing the Tavascan Concept, has been racing the Cupra Tavascan Extreme-E Concept, in an effort to establish the SUV’s performance bona fides.

Based on the MEB platform, however, the Tavascan Concept was said to be powered by two motors that combined to deliver 302 hp (225 kW/306 PS) and a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 6.5 seconds. It also got a 77 kWh lithium-ion batter pack, which allowed it to go 280 miles (450 km) on a single charge, as measured by the WLTP cycle.

Indeed, those are all pretty familiar performance figures for the MEB platform. The ID.4 and ID.5 GTX both get roughly similar amounts of power from two motors, though the more recent SUVs now get up to 311 miles (500 km) of range.

Unfortunately, we are likely to have to wait a bit before we see the production car, which is expected to hit the road in 2024.