Photo: Stefan Baldauf / Guido ten Brink
Touted as the next revolution after the Beetle and Golf, the ID.3 is the very first VW electric vehicle based on the MEB platform. The question is, when is the Wolfsburg-based automaker going to revisit the supermini and city-car segments? The Cupra marque says 2025, and the UrbanRebel Concept offers a glimpse into the next-gen small electric vehicle lineup.
A radical design study that flaunts a ridiculously huge rear wing, an outrageous aerodynamic diffuser, an exaggerated fascia up front, and Cupra shields on both doors, the UrbanRebel Concept is no racecar. The four lug nuts per wheel give away the cost-cutting measures of the production EVs, and the oversized arches look pretty cartoonish in this application.
A two-door affair with an unfinished interior, the one-off show car measures 4,080 millimeters (160.6 inches) in length and 1,795 millimeters (70.6 inches) in width. To better understand how those figures stack up against the Volkswagen e-up! and ID.3 hatchbacks, Cupra’s insane concept is much closer to the latter. As a matter of fact, it’s suspiciously close to the Mk6 Polo’s 4,053 millimeters (159.5 inches) and 1,751 millimeters (68.9 inches).
Volkswagen is understood to phase out the Polo in favor of the ID.2, and the ID.1 would serve as the replacement for the e-up! urban dweller. It all starts to make sense now, doesn’t it? Looking at the bigger picture, the German company has to dismiss a few internal combustion-engined models from the lineup to free up capacity for the new family of electric vehicles.
Wayne Griffiths, the chief executive officer of Cupra, let it slip that “our aim is to produce more than 500,000 urban electric cars per year in Martorell for different group brands.” Located some 30 kilometers from Barcelona, the facility is expected to switch over to all-electric vehicle production in the near future according to Volkswagen AG big kahuna Herbert Diess.
Designated the MEB short platform, the underpinnings of the UrbanRebel Concept further include a drivetrain that flexes 250 kW (make that 335 horsepower) of continuous power and 320 kW (429 horsepower) at its peak. Cupra doesn’t mention if we’re dealing with a dual-motor arrangement, but those numbers certainly suggest AWD. The acceleration from zero to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in 3.2 seconds cements my guess.
A two-door affair with an unfinished interior, the one-off show car measures 4,080 millimeters (160.6 inches) in length and 1,795 millimeters (70.6 inches) in width. To better understand how those figures stack up against the Volkswagen e-up! and ID.3 hatchbacks, Cupra’s insane concept is much closer to the latter. As a matter of fact, it’s suspiciously close to the Mk6 Polo’s 4,053 millimeters (159.5 inches) and 1,751 millimeters (68.9 inches).
Volkswagen is understood to phase out the Polo in favor of the ID.2, and the ID.1 would serve as the replacement for the e-up! urban dweller. It all starts to make sense now, doesn’t it? Looking at the bigger picture, the German company has to dismiss a few internal combustion-engined models from the lineup to free up capacity for the new family of electric vehicles.
Wayne Griffiths, the chief executive officer of Cupra, let it slip that “our aim is to produce more than 500,000 urban electric cars per year in Martorell for different group brands.” Located some 30 kilometers from Barcelona, the facility is expected to switch over to all-electric vehicle production in the near future according to Volkswagen AG big kahuna Herbert Diess.
Designated the MEB short platform, the underpinnings of the UrbanRebel Concept further include a drivetrain that flexes 250 kW (make that 335 horsepower) of continuous power and 320 kW (429 horsepower) at its peak. Cupra doesn’t mention if we’re dealing with a dual-motor arrangement, but those numbers certainly suggest AWD. The acceleration from zero to 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour) in 3.2 seconds cements my guess.
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