Cupra was born after a week. My wife says she can stay longer

My wife has one of her favorite cars. I’ve been trying to move him to something else for years, but he always finds a reason to go back to his Honda. This time, due to the misfortune of different circumstances, Born became his only means of transportation. And since I spent a week away from home, my wife became my main source of knowledge about this car.

The first thing that surprised him was the width of the interior considering the length of the body. The birth is not very big – it is only 4.3 meters long, but the electric guts made it possible to extend the axles and get a track of about 277 cm. In comparison, the Cupra Leon is 5 cm longer and the track is 8 cm shorter. This means that the passengers of the Born have amazing space to themselves.

My wife appreciated the great adjustment of the driver’s seat – she could raise the seat as high as she liked, adjust the height of the seat and adjust the steering wheel for this position. However, he complained about the lack of memory for the seat settings. By the way, it is a little surprising that the solution that was used in the first brands at the beginning of this century – assigning the settings of the seats, steering wheel and mirrors to the key used to open the door – has not spread to this one. day, when in most cars each driver can create his profile in the car system, or open the door by phone. Why not connect such basic settings to it? Now, with a big difference in height, when changing the back of the wheel, we have to adjust the seats from scratch every time. Yes, it’s a first-world problem, but a car costing more than PLN 200,000 should solve these problems.

To my surprise, my wife didn’t complain at all about the solutions that auto journalists usually complain about. He didn’t care that the shift lever was an extension of the screen behind the steering wheel. He did not bother with the touch panels on the steering wheel – he only said that at first, when turning, he used his thumb to press the volume control and change the volume. Yes, he complained about the slider temperature control under the screen – at first, to change the climate settings after dark, he turned on the light under the ceiling. He then proceeded to click the settings on the screen, and eventually he mastered the voice commands and now changes the temperature on command. But he still thinks that the basic method is being solved incorrectly.

My wife used the car for her daily commute to work downtown. He was pleased with the fact that once he got behind the wheel, he didn’t have to start anything. You get into the car, fasten your seat belt, select D and drive. He liked the Travel Assistant and the Travel Assist traffic jam assistant, thanks to which the car moved almost independently in morning traffic. In fact, the biggest advantage was the ability to use bus routes, thanks to which it was possible to avoid traffic jams completely.

The biggest advantage of Born, like any electric car, is the possibility of free parking in the city’s fee-based zone. In addition, Born turned out to be a very friendly car for parking. A high-definition 360-degree camera system makes parallel parking easier and helps keep the 20-inch rims clean. However, it was rare for the Intelligent Parking Assistant to be able to find enough space in the middle to get a car into it on its own.

However, the Semi-independent Parking Assist System turned out to be an interesting and practical solution. He can remember where to stop and the last 50 meters of his journey. If we save our parking space in its memory, when approaching the car it will inform us about the possibility of taking control and it will guide the car to its destination by itself. It’s a shame that it doesn’t work in the underground garage under the building where my wife works – the satellite signal needed to find the car doesn’t reach there. Recently, during the presentation of the new Tiguan, I asked VW engineers if something could be done about it, because we have many underground parking spaces. It seems they are working hard on it.

Cupra Born – costs of use in the city When driving in the city, the range of the car after charging the battery increases significantly. When I picked up the car in Warsaw, the range was 360 km. Now, after a full charge we usually have 460 km. Cost? With an urban consumption of 18 kWh, this equates to PLN 21 per 100 km when charging from a home socket at a price of PLN 1.15/kWh. If you wanted to charge only with a fast charger, at the Greenway price of PLN 3.15, it would be around PLN 57. But it is reasonable that electric cars are not chosen to use DC fast chargers without having a friendly infrastructure at home or at work. And Greenway is not the only solution provider in the field of public chargers.

For a week under my wife’s feet, the Cupra passed the test with flying colors. It turned out to be a very comfortable ride around Wrocław, with a suspension that coped well with potholes and tram rails, a good drive and practical systems that made everyday travel easier. In addition, according to my wife, it is a car that looks good – and that is also important. We continue with the test.