Cupra Urban Rebel Concept: Rally offshoot of the planned e-small car VW ID.2

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Volkswagen is currently unable to deliver, electric small cars are still in short supply. VW promises on its homepage that the e-Up can no longer be ordered with individual equipment, but a limited number of already produced new cars are available. The search on the VW website then returns: nothing. The offshoots of Skoda and Seat, which are identical in construction, have not been available for some time. The only option is to go to the competition and be patient: VW wants to play in the electric small car segment again starting in 2025.

Urban Rebel Concept: Technically independent

Until then, studies will have to do. One of them, and it certainly won't be the last before the production model is presented, comes from Cupra. By its own definition, the brand stands for particularly nippy models in the Volkswagen Group - apart from Porsche. However, the electric rally dwarf Urban Rebel Concept has little to do with the upcoming ID.2 and its derivatives in technical terms. Nevertheless, it is being tested on the Montmelo rallycross track near Barcelona to see how it performs under tougher operating conditions. This is more than just a gimmick, as Cupra emphasizes.

"We used pouch cells here, while the cells in the e-Racer are cylindrical, and the cooling system is also different," explains Xavi Serra, technical director of the Cupra team. "These different projects allow us to gain more knowledge about the thermal management of the electrical components and torque delivery." Insights from which the production model should also benefit one day later.

Twice 125 kW

The platform is not the same as that of the upcoming production vehicle. It uses double wishbones on both axles, an electric motor at the front and another at the rear, enabling a continuous output of 250 kW. The e-motors contribute 125 kW at the front and rear. For a short time, 316 kW and a maximum torque of 510 Nm are available in boost mode. Thus equipped, the Urban Rebel is said to be able to accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h in 3.2 seconds.

In the first few meters, the loud whistling from the prototype's drive system takes you by surprise. Unusual in an electric car, but these noises are quite natural and come from the electric motors and the gear reduction, Serra explains. With the "Brake Bias" driving mode, the driving behavior can be controlled by distributing the drive forces. Then, up to 30 percent of the power goes to the front, the rest to the rear axle. On the track, the Urban Rebel accelerates almost free of any deceleration and, as expected, brutally. No wonder, the up to 316 kW only have to tow 1230 kg.

Prizes: Goodbye to the top

Where the similarly sized series model is headed is unknown more than two years before the production ramp-up. Almost certainly, the battery will be in a window between 40 and 60 kWh energy content and will rely on LFP cells. They have disadvantages in terms of energy density compared with the NMC cells commonly used today, but are considered to be more resistant to cycling and, above all, are cheaper to produce. This will be the decisive key when it comes to selling prices. VW has raised expectations with its announcement that it will offer the ID.3 starting at 30,000 euros, as well as with its announcement that it will launch a small electric car for 20,000 euros.

The customer can say goodbye to both, if not already done. As things stand, the revised VW ID.3 will cost at least just under 44,000 euros, while the ID.2 and its variants from Skoda and Seat will hardly be available for less than 25,000 euros. Although mass production and the associated economies of scale tend to bring prices down, the cost of raw materials and energy for production has risen enormously in the past 18 months. Hardly anyone dares to make a longer-term forecast as to how things will continue in this respect.

Competition from Asia

Especially since Volkswagen is facing stiff competition, primarily from Asia. Companies like Xpeng, BYD or Nio may still seem exotic, but by 2025, they will fill the gap that is currently almost criminally wide open: inexpensive electric cars with a range that covers most everyday requirements - in other words, not the real ones, but the ones that the target group demands.

The potential of battery-electric vehicles like the MG4 should therefore not be underestimated. Because in terms of purchase price, models like the ID.2 and the MG could come pretty close to each other - with a blatantly better price-performance ratio from the Chinese. VW is well aware of the situation. In this environment, no one who wants to achieve certain prices on the market can afford embarrassing breakdown software, margin-optimized interiors or extremely long delivery times.

Software should have priority

Especially when it comes to software, Volkswagen has built up a bad reputation. Oliver Blume has been CEO of Volkswagen since September and has given the issue top priority. One of the first steps was to focus on the essentials; visions such as automated driving at Level 4 or 5 were put on hold, as reported by Handelsblatt. Instead of a completely new software platform, the existing one is to be further spruced up. Progress for which Blume is not yet responsible can already be seen in ID.Buzz. However, that is by no means enough to stand up to competitors like Android Automotiv from Google. Anyone who has tried it out can guess how difficult it will be for Volkswagen to stand up to it.

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(mfz)