Cupra previews EV performance future with UrbanRebel concept

The idea of an urban electric vehicle has been revisited by the Volkswagen Group's performance arm subsidiary Cupra, with the Spanish manufacturer teasing its 'UrbanRebel' concept.

Set to make its public debut at this year's IAA Mobility Show in Munich, the UrbanRebel is a departure from the sedate EVs, which are expected to feature in urban areas of the future, instead adopting an aggressive bodykit with Cupra's signature triangular logo in its headlights.

One of the more distinctive features of the UrbanRebel is its wrap-around window, designed to give the impression of a helmet, while the turbo-fan style wheels, rear wing and diffuser show this is well and truly a machine designed for the track.

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Based on the Volkswagen Group's MEB platform – which also underpins the VW ID.3 and ID.4 as well as the Skoda Enyaq – the UrbanRebel is powered by a single 320kW electric motor on the rear axle, providing 250kW of continuous power to aid its claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.2 seconds.

Cupra's design director, Jorge Diez, said the UrbanRebel is an extreme version of what the firm imagines could be a usable urban vehicle.

“The Cupra UrbanRebel Concept injects a gamification look to the racing car, projecting a radical interpretation of the company’s urban electric car," said Diez.

“Each contoured line and sculpted surface in the design is brought to life by a livery that uses kinetic particles to add movement to the surface as light shifts across it.”

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Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths said the UrbanRebel concept will influence the company's future design language as it targets production of over half a million vehicles per year.

“The Cupra UrbanRebel Concept is a radical interpretation of the company’s urban electric car, due to be launched in 2025. This racing concept gives an idea of the design language of the future street-car and will inspire its creation,” said Griffiths.

“[It] is a key strategic project not only for our company, but also for the Volkswagen Group, as our aim is to produce more than 500,000 urban electric cars per year in Martorell for different Group brands.

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"[It] will democratise and make accessible electromobility to the masses.”

As a company focused on performance and motorsport, Cupra said this is the racing version of the car upon which it will be based, although it's hard to see what kind of racing category the UrbanRebel would fit in to.

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