Should you buy the Cupra Raval? I’m living with one for six months to find out

After six months driving the BYD Seal 6 Touring, a big hybrid estate car, I’ve decided it’s time for a change. This is my new Cupra Raval, and it’s the polar opposite to what I had before.

It’s a small electric hot hatch with peppy performance and a tempting price tag, but is it a car worthy of your cash? That’s what I want to find out over the next six months. I’ll be using this car to get to video shoots, for ferrying my family around and taking it on the odd B-road blast.

Living with a Cupra Raval: the key stats

Let’s start by getting to know my new Cupra Raval. Prices start from £25,500 with the government’s electric car grant applied, and this gets you 203 miles of range and 135hp.

My car, however, is the top-spec VZ Extreme model. It’s the hottest Raval you can buy, and it’s an alternative to cars like the Alpine A290 GTS and the Vauxhall Corsa GSE. It starts from £34,800 with the grant, but with its matte green paint my car costs £36,410. That’s about £1,000 more than a top-spec Alpine A290 with special paint, and a Vauxhall Corsa GSE costs £2,000 less.

That’s if you don’t shop around before buying, because right now through Carwow you can save up to £4,675 on a Cupra Raval VZ Extreme.

The Corsa has an advantage on power as well. My Cupra has a 225hp electric motor driving the front wheels, and 0-60mph takes 6.8 seconds. Here’s a table comparing it to the Vauxhall and the Alpine.

So it’s more expensive and slower than the Vauxhall, but the Raval does have better range. According to official tests, the Cupra can do up to 239 miles on a charge. That’s around 20 miles more than the Vauxhall, and it’s 15 miles more than the Alpine.

That’s on paper, anyway. I’ll see over the next six months how close the Raval gets to its claimed figure in reality.

Why have I picked the Cupra Raval?

There are a few reasons I’ve gone for the Cupra Raval over its alternatives. For starters, I love the interior. It’s a close race between the Raval and the A290 on the interior front, but I think the green details and deep bucket seats in my Raval elevate it above the rest. The Cupra also has cupholders – something the Alpine does without.

I also think it’s a great-looking little hatchback, especially in this matte green paint. It’ll be interesting to see how easy this is to keep clean, though.

The Raval’s interior is way more roomy than the Alpine or the Vauxhall as well, which is crucial for me because I have a one-year-old to ferry around in a bulky child seat. Fitting it was pretty straightforward, but I do worry about scratching the silver plastic seat backs when getting him in and out of the car.

First impressions of the Cupra have been pretty good. It’s good fun to drive on a twisty road, it’s decent on the motorway and the 441-litre boot is really impressive in a car this small. I wish there was storage under the bonnet for the charging cables, but there’s a massive area under the boot floor to make up for this.

It’s not the most comfortable car around town though, because it feels a bit stiff over bumps. My initial efficiency figure of 3.5 miles per kWh also points to a real-world range of around 180 miles, which is some way off the claimed figure.

Hopefully that’ll improve as I settle into my time with the Cupra Raval. Stay tuned for updates on what it’s like to live with.

Car change? Carwow!

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