There is a persistent assumption that choosing a car for the city – for tight streets, school runs, packed car parks, long weeks of short trips – requires a degree of resignation. You accept something smaller, duller and less exciting than the car you actually want, in exchange for the dimensions and dependability that urban family life demands. The new CUPRA Raval rejects that trade-off entirely.
This is a car that is thrilling to look at, to sit in and to drive. In this article we’ll look at why it is equally, and just as deliberately, one of the most capable and considered small EVs you can currently buy – without a single concession on what makes it a CUPRA.
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Made for the city that inspired it
The Raval takes its name from El Raval, the most defiantly creative neighbourhood in Barcelona – dense, unpredictable and full of energy. At 4046mm long and 1518mm tall, the Raval is compact enough to slot into spaces that drivers of larger cars approach with apprehension, yet it wears its footprint with a confidence that makes it look bigger on the road than it is on paper.
A 2600mm wheelbase ensures that interior space is not sacrificed for nimbleness, while a 10.3-metre turning circle makes the U-turns, tight multi-storey ramps and on-street squeezes that define city driving feel effortless.
An EV powertrain amplifies the advantage. In stop-start urban traffic, where a petrol engine is constantly cutting in and out, the Raval's instant, seamless torque and one-pedal braking make dense city driving feel smoother and more intuitive. The city is not a challenge for the Raval. It is what the car was built for.
More practical than it has any right to be
You certainly wouldn't expect a car of the Raval's dimensions to offer 441 litres of boot space, that’s for sure. But it does, because CUPRA made a specific engineering decision: make the Raval front-wheel drive, not rear, so the motor can be moved away from the rear of the car to free up the entire boot floor for luggage. The result is a load area that comfortably swallows a buggy, a weekly shop and the assorted chaos of family life simultaneously. A double boot floor adds hidden storage underneath for charging cables and valuables.
In the cabin, five seats, dual-zone Climatronic air conditioning, a wealth of deep storage cubbies and 90 watts of USB-C charging – split between front and rear sockets – round out what is, by any measure, a genuinely family-grade interior in a B-segment body.
