Currently reading: New Cupra UrbanRebel concept previews 2025 urban EV

Race car concept will reach production in four years as an electric hatch using new MEB Entry platform

Cupra has unveiled the UrbanRebel Concept, a bold racing-inspired machine that previews the firm's forthcoming entry-level electric crossover due in 2025.

The new machine has been shown for the first time publicly at the Munich motor show, giving the first glimpse of a model created for the Volkswagen Group's crucial new MEB Entry platform that will underpin a range of small cars. Also starring at the show was Volkswagen's ID Life concept, which will use the same platform but adopt a more SUV-inspired silhouette. 

Cupra boss Wayne Griffiths said the UrbanRebel is "a radical interpretation of the company's urban electric car" that will be launched in 2025. The firm chose to showcase it as a motorsport concept to highlight that "racing is at the core of Cupra's DNA".

Griffiths added that the machine "gives an idea of the design language of the future street car and will inspire its creation."

The production version of the UrbanRebel will join the long-awaited Volkswagen ID 2 – which is also tipped to shortly be previewed in concept form – and models from Skoda and Audi that will also be built on the VW Group's MEB Entry platform for affordable entry-level cars. The firm is aiming for the most basic versions of those cars to be priced from £17,000.

It is significant that Cupra, a stand-alone Seat brand, is the firm chosen to preview a car based on the new platform, given the VW Group's aim to build MEB Entry models at the company's Martorell plant in Spain. The VW Group is currently negotiating with the Spanish government to secure backing for the project.

Griffiths said: "The urban electric car 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."

Cupra urbanrebel concept 07 hq

Cupra says the UrbanRebel showcases a shift towards a more progressive aesthetic look for the brand, although it retains features seen on the Tavascan concept and Born electric hatch. Cupra design boss Jorge Diez said the exterior is intended to "inject a gamification look" to the firm's design language.

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Cupra's 'shark nose' front has been created out of a negative surface and is pared with new triangular headlights. The window design is intended to evoke the visual effect of a helmet in a similar fashion to the Tavascan's.

The concept has a three-door bodyshell, with sharp styling lines that run the length of the car. The rear features a large rear wing, to reflect the concept's motorsport links, and it wraps into a full-length rear light bar that's broken only by the Cupra logo. There is also a distinctive rear diffuser design.

The UrbanRebel is 4080mm long, 1795mm wide and 1444mm tall, making it similar in size to the petrol-engined Seat Arona crossover.

Although Cupra has not given full details of the electric powertrain layout, it says the machine offers 335bhp of continuous power, with a peak output of 429bhp in certain situations, and has a claimed 0-62mph time of 3.2sec. It is likely that the eventual production version of the UrbanRebel will be susbstantially less powerful. As with the ID 3 and Cupra Born hatches, it is likely to use a single electric motor driving the rear axle.

The VW Group originally aimed for the first MEB Entry models to go on sale in 2023, although this was pushed back two years due to the challenges of achieving the £17,000 target price with current EV technology.

The group is working on a unified battery cell design for the bulk of future EVs, with differing types of car using different cell technology. The entry-level models are likely to use lithium-iron-phosphate technology, which, estimates suggest, will be around 50% cheaper to make than current battery cells. While it does have limitations in range and charging times, this will be less of an issue with the likely usage of electric city cars. It is expected that differing battery sizes will offer ranges of around 120 and 180 miles.

READ MORE

Seat previews small, £17,000 electric crossover for 2025​

New 2022 Cupra Born: hot hatch is Spanish brand's first EV​

Cupra considers more powerful and 4WD versions of Born​

James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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MisterMR44 2 September 2021

I like it... but we all know it won't look anything remotely like that when it's launched. They'll reduce that wing (obviously) to a boot lip spoiler and the wheel sizes will drop by two inches at least.

Peter Cavellini 1 September 2021

Snappy name, that's all, gets folk interested,obviously in its concept looks it's totally impractical for the Road, remember the Nissan Juke with a GTR underneath the body?, well, this is in the same vein, I like it.

Andrew1 1 September 2021
How can it be a racing and urban car at the same time? Is racing on public roads allowed?