CUPRA continues its success in the Automotive Brand Contest, claiming first place in the international design competition’s Concepts category for the CUPRA Tavascan Electric Concept, the brand’s vision for reinvented sportiness in an all-electric world and first shown at the IAA Frankfurt International Motor Show in 2019.
CUPRA has already achieved great success in the competition with wins for the CUPRA e-Racer Concept in 2018 and the CUPRA Formentor Concept last year.
The award, run by the German Design Council, honours the best automotive brand and design achievements in the industry and is held in high regard throughout the industry. The prestigious award is judged by a panel of experts with backgrounds in the media, design and communications, along with those from universities, adding to the significance of the achievement.
“Winning the top award in the concept category for the third time in a row highlights the tremendous work, dedication and effort the whole CUPRA team put into crafting the CUPRA Tavascan Electric Concept,” said Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, Design Director at CUPRA. “With each vehicle that we work on, we aim to communicate the fundamental essence of CUPRA, and this accolade is proof that we are achieving our goals.”
The Automotive Brand Contest is the only international design competition for automobile brands and has emerged as one of the most important events in the sector, making the victory – CUPRA’s third in succession – even more exceptional.
Exterior angles and interior calm
The CUPRA Tavascan Electric Concept marries sophisticated liquid metal paint that emphasises and accentuates its exterior design, with tone-on-tone carbon fibre and delicate copper details stress its expressive look. The vehicle’s exterior brings muscularity and dynamism to the segment, but linked to the ability to reduce its environmental impact.
The front design emphasises its electric personality with a low sitting illuminated CUPRA logo. Each vent delivers efficiency, allowing air to flow smoothly over the body, or internally to cool the battery pack. Its muscular wheel arches house 22” turbine alloy wheels, focused on shifting air cleanly, minimising resistance.
At the rear the diffuser provides functional aerodynamics, while also creating an emotional performance, heightened by the elegant, coast-to-coast rear light, that spans the width of the vehicle, and incorporates the CUPRA logo. Inside, the cabin mixes material and technological concepts that create a space that provides the perfect balance between driver orientation and passenger comfort. Contrasting colours, structural carbon and dynamic approaches to technology and design provide a high-end, lightweight cabin.
Diffused LED ambient lighting, contrasting leather, carbon and Alcantara®, sculptural bucket seats, a floating dashboard, 12.3” digital instrument cluster and 13” infotainment display mix to offer form, function, comfort and security.
Reinventing performance
The CUPRA Tavascan Concept provides a unique vision of high-performance; the vehicle’s arresting design conceals an advanced all-electric powertrain that provides the thrill every CUPRA driver desires, with the celebrated quietness and efficiency the technology offers.
Two motors – one integrated on the front axle, the second at the rear – provide a combined 225kW (306PS) of power to all four wheels, delivering performance, allowing the CUPRA Tavascan Electric Concept to reach 100km/h in less than 6.5 seconds.
But that’s only part of the story. A 77kWh lithium-ion battery pack stores enough energy to keep the vehicle moving for up to 450km – a figure based on the stringent WLTP test cycle. The vehicle is based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform and because the battery pack is housed in the floor, its centre of gravity is low, making it a truly dynamic drive.
