It sure as shooting isn’t that Cupra is not providing for a diverse range of buyers, and it certainly isn’t price, as the – awesome – full-fat Formentor crossover represents one of the best value-for-money vehicles on the market and demonstrating legendary performance at the same time.
Now there is a PHEV version which, while it is somewhat subdued in its performance, makes up for that in its reduced fuel and CO2 figures.
It – like its petrol-powered stablemate – is excellent buying in terms of specification versus spondoolies (dollars, but I wanted the alliteration) and the copper-bottomed Cupras will blow your mind when it comes to being a true driver’s car and yet, Cupra fails to fire on fleet radars.
Well, not entirely, a few very intelligent super beings have company Cupras – looking at you, CARPRN – and NZ Company Vehicle salutes your bravery for buying outside the box.
We were holding out hope that as the fleet wheel rolls and more users turn out to be choosers, Cupra sales were going to accelerate like the brand’s performance-oriented vehicles, and why?
Because cars as good as this deserve to succeed.
A Cupra – any Cupra – is a driver’s car in the truest sense of the word. There’s a sense of comfortable satisfaction when sitting in our inner-city parking lot/motorways which becomes deliciously visceral when out on the open road, where the Cupra Formentor especially, excels.
The V E-Hybrid does not pack the power punch of the turbo petrol VZ, so if you drive that lovely monster first, be prepared for a more sedate ride in the electrically equipped model.
You lose maybe three seconds in the zero to 100km/h dash, but the e-hybrid is focused on fuel saving and eco-friendly-ness so three seconds off a sprint for seven or so litres per 100km of fuel 160gm/km of CO2 less than the VZ is a pretty good argument to make for a fleet/business buy.
There is no lack of features: the Formentor V E-hybrid forms an even quarter of the Formentor range and it snuggles up closer to the top-end VZ model, lacking a couple of speakers, some dark logo work the OMG-watch-my-taillights-vanish satellite buttons on the steering wheel, a couple of exhaust pipes and the top view camera.
On the what-it-does-have list is Travel Assist, which combines adaptive cruise control and lane assist for a relaxing drive experience, dynamic chassis control with Cupra sport suspension, bucket seats with electric adjustment and memory function for the driver’s side separating the e-Hybrid and the VZ from the other two Formentors in the line-up.
And the line-up is comprehensively equipped with the XDS electronic diff lock complementing the traction and stability control systems for handling, while driver fatigue detection, tyre pressure monitoring, front assist, city emergency braking, blind spot detection with rear cross-traffic alert, lane assist and more covers occupant and other road user’s safety.
Inside, there’s a 12-inch colour touchscreen allowing interaction with the Full Link wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as navigation, voice control, wireless phone charging which works, and a few more surprise and delight features. Now you’ll have to go and see for yourself.
But there is something the Formentor e-Hybrid can do something which the other three Formentors can’t – it can run with no fuel use at all for around 53kms thanks to its 85kW/330Nm electric motor and battery unit.
And there your Honours, the case for the Formentor e-Hybrid rests. We invite the jury to challenge societal norms when it comes to what have traditionally been fleet-appropriate vehicles and get behind the wheel of a Cupra.
You can thank us now…because the Formentor crossovers have seen nothing but praise from launch and the green and clean hybrid version continues the tradition.
By Sean Wilmot
