10,000 Miles with the Cupra Born

[jimjamming]

I got my born in summer of 2023 and have now done 10,000 miles in the car, so I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to give a little review about life with the Born.

Looks
I still absolutely love the design of the Born; it's what drew me to the car over other EVs and I'm happy to say that I still find it really eye catching. Whenever I see another on the road, I think they look great. Interior wise as well, I'm still pretty happy with the way the car looks.

Performance
Pretty decent. I would hesitate to call the car fast, but it's certainly responsive when you need it to be. It has a fair turn of pace when you want to switch lanes to get around something. Off the line, it does take a moment, and it does run out of pull once you hit about 60, but for the most part, I find it to do what I need it to do.

Handling & Comfort
Broadly speaking, I'm happy here. The steering is nicely weighted and has a good feel to it. I tend not to push on too hard in the car, but I have noticed that it does oversteer a bit more than I would expect - I think that could be due to me not being used to a car of this weight though. Nothing major though. The damping irons out potholes and you don't feel changes in road surface too much through the weel. I would say that if you go over bumps you notice how firmly sprung the vehicle is. I would say it's very well damped in order to make sure bumps are minimised, but when you go over an uneven surface, you do notice it in the car.
The seats are very comfortable, so no complaints there, though I find that the alignment of the arm rests is a bit off, so I can't rest my arms and also hold the wheel where I want to. Only really a problem on longer trips, though.
I don't often have passengers, but when I have they have been impressed by the rear seats and the amount of space in the back. I would say I find it very disappointing that there's no HVAC vents in the back, though, and the fact that speakers in the back is an extra (or was when I ordered mine) is absolutely backwards to me, especially given the high level of kit which is otherwise included as standard.

Range
I got this car in the summer and was very happy that I was getting fairly close to the claimed range of the car, at approx. 250 miles per charge. I did option the heat pump to try and reduce the drop off in range in the winter months, but goodness me it really is very different. I'd be lucky to get 200 miles in the winter from a full charge, even less if it's dark/windy/rainy. It's left me a bit disillusioned with the heat pump. How much of a difference is it making? I've no real way of knowing.
I drive pretty gently - I got a lifetime MPG of about 52 on my old petrol Mercedes A Class when I think the average for the car in the UK was low to mid 40s - so it's not a real issue for me that you have to nanny the vehicle in order to see decent range figures. I drive at 65mph on the motorway, unless I'm in a real hurry. In the summer, my average indicated usage was up to 4.4miles/KW. This is well below 4 now, and I imagine will average out at about 4 miles/KW over the course of a year. I don't know how accurate this actually is though; that's just what the car is telling me on the dash.

Charging
I am very thankful that I can charge the car at work. Most of the time this happens without issue, though on two occasions I have come back to the car at the end of the day and the vehicle has decided not to charge, seemigly with no explanation. I've also notcied it a couple of other times when the app has informed me - I went back to the car, unplugged it and plugged it back in, and it started. Weird.
The charging network hasn't let me down yet, though I haven't had to rely on it too much. I have only once seen +100KW/H charging rate which was at an Instavolt when I was down to about 10% battery. The Ionity charger near my house, which claims to charge up to 350KW/h, has never given me more than 70Kw/h, regardless of how low the battery was when I started. This is deeply annoying. Not sure whether this is the car itself, or the charger.

Infortainment
Glitchy.
I would say 1/5 of the time, the screen doesn't show the welcome screen where you confirm your profile for long enough and just goes blank. I have to turn it off and on several times before it keeps that screen in place long enough to select my profile.
It wants to update the user profile all the time. Even if you click no, it'll do it anyway. This resets almost every single one of your settings every single time. I personally detest having the interior lighting on the pre-set orangey-red. It does not make the cabin look welcoming or pleasant in my opinion, so I change it. Every time the car resets the user profile, it changes it back to red. It also changes the climate settings back. What is the point in having a profile if the items that determine your individual profile are overwritten? I also never seem to notice what these user profile updates are actualy changing! What is it doing? Why is it so regular?
On a couple of occasions I've got in the car and set off and then realised that the climate control is not editable - it's blanked out and I can't change anything. This also coincides with the car deciding I need my hands heated up A LOT - again with no option to turn it off. I had to get out, turn the car off and wait for a while for it to decide to reset itself. Thankfully on one occasion the journey was only a short one home so I put up with it, steering with my finger tips to avoid burning myself. No rhyme nor reason as to why this has happened though. Also seems to coincide with it deciding not to recognise road signs - unsure why this might be.
I do not use the infotainment system or the built in sat nav at all. It is painfully slow. I use Android Auto, which, for the most part, is okay. It does occasionally decide it's going to take an age to connect. For the most part it's fine.
I love the head's up display. That's excellent.

Miscellaneous
Occasionally, the rear window driver-side window will decide that the automatic hard-press up or down will not automatically fully open or close the window and you have to leave your finger on that one button until it's opened.
The driver window will very regularly assume that my fingers are in the way of the window and in imminent danger of being chopped off and will open the window almost fully when I've pushed the button to close the window. This is particularly fun when you're on the motorway in the wet.
The breakdown button (looks like a spanner) does not connect you to anything. It fails each and every time I press it. The number given in the app for the breakdown cover is not correct.
There is no spare wheel, or a compressor to pump the tyre up if you have a flat.
The automatic windscreen wipers did not originally work. I had to book in to have the sensor replaced. This was done quickly and professionally by a Seat dealer in Sidcup.
The wipers are too loud and prone to making that horrid noise that wipers do. It's also a bit annoying that they're backwards, as there's quite a large border at the side of the window that collects the dirty, smeary water.
The rear facing camera is absolutely terrible. Positioned low down at the rear, it collects dirt instantly. It's not protected and there's no in-built system to clean it. It's also not the best in the first place - like looking in a spoon.

Things that reviewers complain about
Reviewers always complain about the steering wheel buttons and how you accidentally press them and how they're hard to use. I don't understand. I have never accidentally pressed any of the buttons and they seem relatively easy to use.
Reviewers complain about the temperature and volume controls under the screen. I never use them - if I did, they would bother me, especially at night. I only ever control the volume from the wheel and the temperature through the screen.

Conclusion
No, the car is not perfect. Several gremlins in the electrical system let the car down quite badly, and the range in the winter coupled with slower than expected charging have been annoying. Having said that, I do still love the car. I would say it's one of the nicer cars I've driven in terms of handling and responsiveness. Broadly speaking, it does everything that I need it to do fairly well. Would I have another one? Probably not, but I think that's more me than the car - I always want to try something different. Do I regret getting it is probably a better question, to which my answer would be no.

[Bazzachazza]

Sorry, it’s a long post that I’ll read in interest later.

For comparison I don’t have a heat pump. I use the AC, heated seat and steering nearly all the time. I drive normally, I had a Leon PHEV and compromised a lot to get to and from work on electric so I’m enjoying life. Company has free charging for the moment.

General range if charged to 100% is 280km so about 175miles. Rain and wind at the moment is causing increased resistance so maybe 260km. We are allowed legally do 75 mph on motorways here. So slowing down and not being so warm I reckon I could hit 300 even on coldest days.

[phope]

The rear facing camera is absolutely terrible. Positioned low down at the rear, it collects dirt instantly. It's not protected and there's no in-built system to clean it. It's also not the best in the first place - like looking in a spoon.

Surely a long press on the wiper stalk to activate the rear window washer also activates the rear camera washer at the same time?

[Daveion]

Thanks for your write up Jim jamming.
I think if I had produced a write up after my 20 months of ownership it would be very similar.
I would only add though that the Winter/Summer range is common to all EVs so not directly a critism of the Born. This is the price you pay for a warm cabin from a vehicle that is cool by design as it is so efficient there is little to no wasted heat like there is from an ICE vehicle where wasted heat to atmosphere account's for a huge percentage of the fuel that's burnt. Even with the holy grail solid state batteries they are developing the Winter/Summer range difference will carry over.

[Bazzachazza]

The rear facing camera is absolutely terrible. Positioned low down at the rear, it collects dirt instantly. It's not protected and there's no in-built system to clean it. It's also not the best in the first place - like looking in a spoon.

Surely a long press on the wiper stalk to activate the rear window washer also activates the rear camera washer at the same time?

Yes I can confirm it does clear heavy grime and spray, it won’t clear a film of dirt. You’ll still need you finger to wipe it.

[Bazzachazza]

Thanks for the write up. It’s good to know others have similar issues. Having driven the Leon PHEV for 18 months I’m used to most of the tech gremlins. If you think the born is glitchy you should have driven the Leon PHEV, Christ that was a pain early on.

No rear speakers or vents for an expensive car is maddening. Especially considering the amount of other stuff in the car. I don’t have many people in the back so air vents is no major issue. Bar the Alhambra I never found the rears blowing out much air generally.

I can hear the difference in the lack of speakers in the back.

My pet hates, the ACC, it cuts in too early to slow down on the car in front. I find myself changing lanes way earlier to avoid it slowing me. Sometimes I’d prefer an option to dumb it down. The assisted lane change is useless, pointless and clunky. Steering immediately lightens up and it feels really weird like you are aqua planning.

As for the steering wheel buttons. Absolutely no need to be touch, they do their job but yes it’s easy to either get no response or it’ll change volume by being brushed. There’s no mute button either.

I’d still buy the car again though.

[milkyway55]

There's a software update available from your dealer for those infotainment glitches you mention, especially the New Settings thing which seems to be the cause of the rest of them.

Regarding steering wheel buttons and reviews, earlier cars had "buttons" which needed to be swiped instead of pressed. Later cars can do either.

[phope]

There’s no mute button either.

Tap the on-off symbol on the bottom left of the infotainment for quick mute/unmute

[Bazzachazza]

There’s no mute button either.

Tap the on-off symbol on the bottom left of the infotainment for quick mute/unmute

Thanks that’s what I do. On physical button steering wheels it used to be the volume button push. Now you have to take your eyes off the road, lean over and jab the right spot. In terms of ergonomics it’s retrograde.