How is an electric car made? We unveil the Cupra Born

Before we officially wrap up this longer-than-usual test, we’re taking a moment to look at the Cupra Born’s design to see how the platform it’s built on differs from the rest of the hot car platforms. The Born was built on the common electric vehicle (MEB) platform developed by Volkswagen. If we were to remove the body and interior, Our Born would look like this:

At first glance, it looks similar to the usual models of combustion and independent body, but it becomes more interesting when we remove another layer. Then we will see this:

As in the solution with a traditional car, Born has an engine, a chassis, a two-wheel drive and a “fuel tank”, which in this case is a battery. Only the arrangement of the individual elements is different, because here the “fuel tank” is a structural element.

The lithium-ion battery pack is part of the vehicle floor. More precisely, the box that houses the cell modules is designed to reinforce and strengthen the chassis structure. This is the largest, heaviest and yet most expensive component of every electric vehicle. The battery installed with the housing and protection comprises approximately 1/3 of the vehicle’s weight. Therefore, to get the best driving properties, it must be as low as possible – then it has a positive effect on the position of the center of gravity of the car. Usually, the battery pack is placed on the floor, and the whole platform resembles something like a skateboard. This design affects the height of the car – there are 14 centimeters of extra “metal” under the passenger. Thanks to the use of a box filled with batteries, the entire structure of the car becomes more complex. And the heavy weight and low center of gravity make the car less likely to overturn, for example.

The electric engine takes up much less space than in cars with combustion engines, which allows more efficient planning of space in the cabin. It also does not require elaborate equipment such as a radiator, starter, alternator, etc. Most electric cars do not use gearboxes with a large number of gear ratios. The birth is equipped with a single-stage balance gear. When Volkswagen presented the first version of the engine for models built on the MEB platform, it insisted that it was so small that it could fit into a sports bag. In Borna, it is located near the rear axle and drives the rear wheels, so there is no risk that it will move into the cabin during a collision, as it sometimes happens in normal cars.

The advantage of the electric engine compared to the combustion engine is the fact that 90 percent of the electrical energy going to the engine translates into motion energy. Almost nothing was lost. In the case of combustion units, it is more than 40%. Moreover, such an engine does not use energy very efficiently, but it can also generate it, becoming an energy generator during braking. For example, turning the shaft of the combustion unit cannot increase the amount of fuel in the tank. In the case of an electric car – when braking, the electricity in the battery actually increases.

In the floor of our Born there is a box with 288 lithium-ion cells, ie 12 modules of 24 cells each, which provide a total capacity of 77 kWh (82 kWh total). In the case of this more powerful version, the box is 182 cm long, 145 cm wide and 14 cm high. The cells are protected by a set of mechanisms that protect their life – a heating and cooling system, a solution that prevents “overcharging” and excessive discharge of cells. All this to ensure that the battery lasts longer than the 8-year warranty.

Yes, the batteries are well protected, and the Born achieved a maximum rating of 5 stars in EuroNCAP crash tests and moderately high scores in all categories. When discussing the safety of electric vehicles, the issue of fire hazard often arises. We gave different material to him.

All this means that every driver who gets into this car can feel safe and hit the road with the confidence that he is driving a very high technology car. We had to say goodbye to “our” Cupra, soon it will be time to summarize the test.