Cupra Tavascan long-term test: report 7

The Tavascan is Cupra's first electric SUV, with slightly sportier pretensions than many of its rivals. But will it be satisfying to live with? We're running one to find out...

Published22 September 2025

The car Cupra Tavascan 77kWh V2 Run by Allan Muir, managing editor

Why we’re running it To find out whether Cupra's electric SUV can combine sportiness and practicality in a more convincing way than the Ford and Volkswagen models that share its underpinnings

Needs to Be better to drive than the average electric SUV, as well as being practical and having a long enough real-world range to dismiss any concerns about charging

Mileage 2445 List price £53,845 Best price £42,990 Price as tested £56,175 Test range 265 miles Official range 339 miles

1 September 2025 – Spoilt for voice

Although I can control the lights, audio system and heating in my home via voice commands and often make use of this functionality, I don’t utilise it as much as I should when I’m driving. My natural inclination when I want to adjust any setting in my car is to reach for a physical control, if one exists, or, failing that, use the touch-sensitive equivalent on the infotainment screen.

Nevertheless, while driving my Cupra Tavascan, I’ve made a few attempts to issue voice commands to perform simple functions such as adjusting the interior air temperature. Initially, I didn’t have much joy when activating it via the control on the steering wheel; if I said “Reduce the temperature to 19 degrees” or similar, my request would be repeated on the infotainment screen, but nothing else would happen.

Then, out of the blue during one such attempt, the assistant said something along the lines of “Home temperature set to 19 degrees”. What? I didn’t know I could do that remotely, let alone via my car. But sure enough, when I got back home that evening, the heating had been turned on and set to 19 degrees.

I can only assume that, because I had Android Auto phone mirroring running at the time, Google Assistant was overriding the car’s equivalent and having a stab at responding to my request via the apps to which it had access – including the ones for my Google Nest thermostat and Amazon Alexa. That seemed to tally with the fact that if I activated the voice control by saying “Hey Cupra” instead, the car’s assistant would take charge and make the change I’d been asking for with no hesitation.

Verbal communication isn’t the only way of adjusting the temperature inside my car. You can also use plasticky touch-sensitive sliders on the dashboard – but they’re so inaccurate and unpleasant to touch that I usually avoid them. Pressing the permanently displayed temperature readout tab at the bottom of the touchscreen is a better option; this brings up ‘+’ and ‘-’ controls that are handily placed and easy enough to use, even though you can’t do so without looking away from the road.

I’m not sure I like having so many ways of performing the same function; I’d still prefer a physical knob or switch. But in lieu of that, I really should get used to talking to my car. After all, I don’t mind telling Alexa what to do when I’m at home.

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