John B drives a CUPRA Born V1 58kWh 2022.
This is John’s first electric car, he’s owned the CUPRA Born from new and drives 5,000-10,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 1,000-5,000 miles and he achieves 210 miles from a full charge.
Why did you choose the CUPRA Born?
It’s availability. It was a stock car and had most of the spec I was looking for, I could pick it up straight away.
Positives – List 3 or more reasons why you love this electric car
- The look of the car is amazingly cool
- the interior is a very nice place to be
- the way it drives is very smooth and pretty quick.
Negatives – List 3 or more things that you really don’t like about this electric car
- The initial sign-up and connection to the car with the app can be overly complex if you try to do it yourself
- the car’s infotainment has issues – mainly quirks and glitches (not deal breaking but mildly annoying)
- there are some common faults, usually down to parts that were initially subpar but now VW have fixed. Can usually be fixed for free via the car’s warranty if they come up.
Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?
I had the common HV Heating Matrix failed (A/C Heating). It was rectified very quickly (a couple of days in my case). Some others have reported it taking a very long time to fix because of parts availability.
What are the standout technological features of the car?
I really like the regen braking system (B-Mode), first time experiencing it and I really like it. I also like the ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) it works really nicely for me. Both I find have calmed my driving style and made me a safer driver in my opinion. If the infotainment system had the glitches/quirks fixed it would be pretty good I think too. Hopefully included in a later OTA update.
Surprise us! Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car
It has some very bright puddle lights on the door which I didn’t know about and they look really cool. Shows a big CUPRA logo on the ground. The rear light bar and cluster look very cool a night, with the little BORN name badge inside the light itself. I don’t have it but would like to get the second floor for the boot. You can buy it separately later and fit it yourself relatively easily.
What electric car(s) are you interested in next and why?
MG4 seems like a great value car with plenty of tech and features at a much cheaper price than most of it’s competitors.
Hyundai Niro EV looks cool too. Maybe in the future a second-hand one. They look good and are tech heavy too. Just a bit too expensive at the moment.
Do you charge your electric car from home?
No
What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?
- InstaVolt – they seem reliable and easy to use whenever I’ve used them
- Osprey – again, the new units are super easy to use and generally very reliable
- bp pulse and GRIDSERVE are good when they’re working but they do have reliability issues in my opinion.
Any network with a free app is good in case the card readers aren’t working properly. Instavolt and Osprey are great for this. It’s a particular shortcoming of the GRIDSERVE network at the moment.
Insurer – outline both positive & negative elements
Up to now they’ve been fine, cheaper than my last diesel car insurance in fact. The CUPRA Born I have came with two years of roadside assistance via SEAT Assistance as well; they use AA primarily. There is also an in-car SOS button to call assistance too.
Please itemise (in detail) where you’re saving money owning & running an electric car
For me currently I’m saving on Road tax (none currently but it will be introduced in 2025), no MOT, servicing is in 2 yearly intervals & insurance is lower than my previous car. Rapid charging is currently similar to petrol/diesel but initially it was cheaper for a few months. Hopefully it becomes cheaper again in the near future. Home charging if I use a 3 pin plug is cheaper but it’s very slow.
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