CUPRA has unveiled the next stage of its evolution at its Exponential Impulse event in Berlin, just ahead of the Formula E weekend. With the brand marking its fifth anniversary this year, it showcased the world premiere of its first all-electric SUV coupé, the CUPRA Tavascan, to be launched in 2024.
CUPRA has also revealed the CUPRA DarkRebel, a virtual sports car designed for a future city that is no longer contained by physical limits, which can be configured by the CUPRA Tribe.
CUPRA also officially goes live with the Metahype, the brand’s experience space in the metaverse.
Finally, the brand launched the Exponential Experience – a unique experience behind the wheel of the CUPRA UrbanRebel Racing Concept, where the physical and the digital worlds meet.
“Today is all about CUPRA’s passion to transform dreams into a reality,” said Wayne Griffiths, CEO of CUPRA. “CUPRA is still a young brand. And yet, in just five years we have hit one record after another at a remarkable pace, thanks to our drive and determination. Since the launch of the brand, CUPRA has sold over 300,000 cars and is the fastest growing brand in Europe. The brand achieved record sales in Q1 2023 with over 46,500 cars sold, driving the profitability of SEAT.”
World premiere of the CUPRA Tavascan
The main highlight of the Exponential Impulse event was the world premiere of the CUPRA Tavascan, the brand’s first all-electric SUV coupé, and its second fully electric model after the CUPRA Born. It embodies CUPRA’s electrified vision and remains faithful to the 2019 concept car, proving that the Tavascan is not a response to change, but a vehicle that creates it.
“Back when we presented the Tavascan concept at the IAA in Frankfurt 2019, it was our dream car – a manifesto for everything we wanted CUPRA to become,” said Wayne Griffiths. “Since then, we’ve kept believing that if we dream it, we can create it. Well, today, that dream comes true.”
The CUPRA Tavascan represents the impulse for a new striking design language: the exterior design delivers athletic and sporty proportions. From the front, the matrix LED with the three-triangle eye signature is instantly recognisable. The interior is a piece of architecture thanks to the characterful central spine together with the slim air vents that are almost invisible.
As an emotional and driving oriented SUV, the CUPRA Tavascan features DCC Sport dynamic chassis technology, sport suspension and progressive steering. These attributes, with the addition of performance tyres mounted on 21” forged alloy wheels deliver a unique sporty driving experience.
Based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, the brand’s first all-electric SUV coupé will be available with two power outputs: 286PS (210kW) and 340PS (250kW); the higher power output version adds dual-motor all-wheel drive, delivering performance with maximum traction. The CUPRA Tavascan VZ can reach 31mph in just 2.4 seconds (0 to 62mph in just 5.6 seconds).
It also provides enough capacity for a range of around 341 miles thanks to the 77kWh net capacity battery pack. The CUPRA Tavascan can add an additional 62 miles of range in as little as seven minutes. The battery can be charged from 10% to 80% in just under half an hour using a 135kW charging point.
The CUPRA Tavascan features a 15” infotainment system – the largest so far in a CUPRA model – with a newly designed and developed Human Machine Interface (HMI). The CUPRA Tavascan also integrates for the first time a high-fidelity 12-speaker audio sound system developed in collaboration with premium audio firm Sennheiser.
Designed and developed in Barcelona, the CUPRA Tavascan will be produced at the Volkswagen Group’s Anhui factory in China, a state-of-the-art innovation hub for e-mobility, and will be launched in 2024, with a yearly target of more than 70,000 cars sold.
CUPRA DarkRebel virtual sports car
The Exponential Impulse event also saw the unveiling of the CUPRA DarkRebel, a fully virtual sports car with unfiltered CUPRA DNA.
The CUPRA DarkRebel brings CUPRA’s DNA to the maximum without any boundaries. It is not a prediction, but rather a provocation, showing that design is a dialogue, not a process, the ultimate interpretation of CUPRA’s vision.
The CUPRA DarkRebel is defined by its sharp lines and the athletic proportion of a sports car combined with a shooting brake architecture.
With the CUPRA DarkRebel, CUPRA goes beyond the constraints of materiality and expands the design into the intangible, intensifying the experience. The potential of the virtual world enhances creativity, boosts imagination, and amplifies the senses.
That’s why CUPRA has created a Hyper Configurator, where the CUPRA tribe can push their creativity without the limitations of the physical feasibility of the material world.
CUPRA’s Hyper Configurator enables the CUPRA Tribe to create their very own versions of the show car and influence the final design of a physical model that will be presented in the near future.
“We have created an entirely new way of collaborating and developing the future of our sports cars,” said Jorge Diez, Director of Design CUPRA. “We are inviting everyone to create their own version of the CUPRA DarkRebel and influence the final design of the car. It is entirely CUPRA style, a complete challenge of the norm.”
The CUPRA DarkRebel can be configured through the Metahype, the brand’s space in the metaverse, or on www.cupraofficial.com
To learn more about the CUPRA DarkRebel, click here.
Metahype
The Exponential Impulse event was also the official launch of CUPRA’s Metahype, an ever-expanding virtual island where brands, creators and communities get together to socialise, collaborate, create, and live emotional experiences.
After much anticipation following Metahype’s announcement last year, in Berlin CUPRA unveiled five unique spaces that make up the CUPRA Metahype District and Experiences:
- CUPRA Plaza: the meeting point for the CUPRA Tribe to connect and socialise
- CUPRA Racing: a place to live the brand’s racing DNA with gamified racing where users driving skills will be challenged in three different games
- CUPRA Metahype City Garage: a place to discover and explore CUPRA’s models, meet CUPRA masters and experience the latest CUPRA Tavascan
- CUPRA Hub: the space where we showcase CUPRA beyond the automotive world – browse the CUPRA Collection Boutique, or take part in Dancing Challenges curated by Primavera Sound
- CUPRA Next: where the users can influence the future design of the CUPRA DarkRebel
Metahype is all about collaboration and that’s why Primavera Sound is one of the first brands to join Metahype from the very beginning; more partners will follow soon. Primavera Sound will offer always-on music related content in the platform and a gamified DJ academy for the next generation of music lovers.
Metahype will be accessible via desktop at Metahype.com and soon also available via mobile. To sign-up and start discovering the island, visit www.metahype.com
To learn more about Metahype, click here.
The Exponential Experience
Finally, CUPRA introduced the Exponential Experience, a unique racing concept merging the virtual and physical worlds. Designed to mix a combination of a virtual reality headset and the CUPRA UrbanRebel Racing concept, it is the first electric racing experience that lies beyond the limits of the physical world.
“The CUPRA Exponential Experience brings to life something most drivers wouldn’t typically experience: the incredible feeling of driving an electric racing car. A unique racing concept merging the virtual and physical worlds. Allowing anyone to feel racing in a different way,” said Xavi Serra, Head of CUPRA Racing.
CUPRA Racing ambassador Adrien Tambay explained the experience on stage, while Jordi Gené stepped into the CUPRA UrbanRebel Racing concept – which delivers up to 320kW (435PS) at its peak – to showcase the experience wearing a high-definition mixed reality headset, driving from Barcelona to Berlin in a dynamic, gamified virtual world.
To learn more about the Exponential Experience, click here.
SOURCE: SEAT
