Barcelona Attitude, Electric Power
There are quite a few small electric cars on the market now. Most of them are perfectly nice. Sensible, economical, easy to drive and, generally speaking, about as exciting as a trip to IKEA on a Tuesday afternoon.
Then there's the CUPRA Raval.
CUPRA has never been particularly interested in doing things quietly, and its new electric hatchback is no exception. Even in relatively humble V1 form, the Raval looks like it's got somewhere to be, somebody to see and possibly a DJ set to get to afterwards.
This is the CUPRA Raval V1 37kWh, with 135PS, 264Nm of instant electric torque and an official range of up to 203 miles. It's compact enough to make city driving easy, but with the sort of styling that makes you wonder whether CUPRA accidentally designed it with the brief for something much more expensive.
And, being a CUPRA, there's a bit of a story behind it.
Meet The Raval
Let's start with the name, because it tells you quite a lot about the car.
The Raval is one of Barcelona's best-known neighbourhoods, sitting alongside the famous La Rambla. It's historically been one of the more colourful parts of the city, shaped by immigration, art, music, nightlife and a mixture of cultures that gives it a character of its own.
In other words, it isn't the sort of place you'd name a car that's designed to blend into the background.
The Raval started life as the UrbanRebel concept, which was a pretty good indication of where CUPRA was heading. The production car is considerably more sensible than that original concept, thankfully, but the spirit of it has survived.
And that's probably the best way to describe the Raval.
Sensible underneath. Not particularly interested in behaving itself on the outside.
It Looks Like A CUPRA
The first thing you notice is the face.
The Raval has the same sort of sharp, slightly menacing expression we've come to expect from CUPRA, with the triangular lighting signature, low nose and prominent copper badge giving it plenty of presence.
Then there are the wheels.
The V1 gets 18-inch Defier alloys, which fill the arches nicely and stop the car looking like it's been designed purely around efficiency.
CUPRA has also added illuminated door handles, LED lighting and plenty of gloss-black detailing, so there's a lot going on for what is, fundamentally, a small hatchback.
It's not trying to look futuristic in the usual "look, I'm electric!" way either.
There are no strange shapes for the sake of being strange. No desperate attempt to make you realise it doesn't have an exhaust.
It just looks like a small CUPRA.
Which is probably exactly what it should do.
And It's Actually Quite Small
The Raval measures just over four metres long, which puts it firmly in small-hatchback territory.
That's good news if you spend your time negotiating supermarket car parks, narrow streets and the increasingly ambitious parking spaces found in British towns.
It also means it's considerably easier to live with than some of the enormous electric SUVs currently roaming our roads.
Yet despite the compact dimensions, CUPRA has managed to find room for five seats and a 441-litre boot.
That's a useful amount of luggage space for a car of this size.
So yes, it'll cope with the school run, the weekly shop and a weekend away.
Whether it will cope with your partner saying "I've only got a few things to put in the boot" is another matter. No manufacturer has quite cracked that particular problem yet.
So, Why This One?
The CUPRA Raval V1 37kWh is probably not the car for somebody who wants to spend their weekends chasing apexes around a circuit.
Thankfully, there are other cars for those people.
This is a small electric hatchback designed for everyday life, but with enough personality that you'll actually enjoy walking back towards it in the car park.
And that matters.
Because we're reaching the point where electric cars aren't really a novelty anymore. There are plenty of them, and manufacturers are having to find new ways of making their cars stand out.
CUPRA's answer is fairly straightforward:
- Make a good little EV.
- Give it decent range.
- Give it plenty of technology.
- Make it practical.
Then give it a face that looks like it has just been told someone has parked in its space.
It's a formula that works.
The Summit Drive Deal
The particular Raval we're looking at here is available through Summit Drive on both Personal Contract Hire & Business Contact Hire with flexibel terms to suit you.
That makes it an interesting proposition if you're after a compact electric car without wanting to spend your life comparing battery chemistry on internet forums.
You get the latest CUPRA styling, 135PS of electric power, up to 203 miles of official range, five seats, a 441-litre boot and a surprisingly generous equipment list.
And, perhaps most importantly, you get something that doesn't look like every other small electric car.
The Raval has a bit of Barcelona about it. It's got the CUPRA attitude, the copper details and just enough mischief to stop it becoming another anonymous EV.
For a brand that's built its reputation on doing things slightly differently, that feels about right.
