Cupra has extended its partnership with the Spanish American Formula E team Cupra Kiro, confirming the brand’s ongoing commitment to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. At this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Cupra is also unveiling three major reveals: the new Gen4 Formula E racer, the new CUPRA Leon VZ e-Hybrid Racer, and the new Cupra Raval.
A closer look at the Leon VZ e-Hybrid Racer
Among the Goodwood reveals, the Leon VZ e-Hybrid Racer stands out as one of CUPRA’s most significant statements about the future of electrified touring car racing. Rather than starting from a blank sheet, Cupra has combined proven components from across its range to create something genuinely new.
The racer pairs the electric motor from the new Cupra Raval with the 2.0 litre petrol engine from the Leon VZ, along with battery technology borrowed from the Leon e Hybrid. Together, these elements produce a combined output of 370 kW (500 hp), enough to send the car from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds, with a top speed of 265 km/h.
What makes this project particularly interesting is its purpose. The Leon VZ e-Hybrid Racer is not simply a showcase of raw performance figures. It functions as a testbed for a more accessible motorsport architecture, one where electrification is blended with familiar, well proven technology from traditional circuit racing. In doing so, CUPRA is exploring how hybrid systems can be integrated into touring car racing without abandoning the mechanical character that has defined the category for decades. It is, in many ways, a bridge between the electric ambitions of Formula E and the grassroots accessibility of conventional motorsport.
Formula E enters a new era
Alongside the unveiling of the Leon VZ e-Hybrid Racer, CUPRA confirmed that CUPRA KIRO will continue competing in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship as the series enters its Gen4 era next season.
The new generation of Formula E cars promises to be the fastest and most advanced yet. Power output increases to 600 kW (816 hp), permanent active all wheel drive is introduced, top speed exceeds 335 km/h, and the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h takes just 1.8 seconds.
At Goodwood, the new Gen4 racer made its public debut wearing a special Energy Flow livery, before CUPRA KIRO driver Dan Ticktum demonstrated the car on the legendary Goodwood Hillclimb. The reveal marks the beginning of a new chapter in CUPRA’s electric motorsport programme and reinforces the brand’s ambition to keep pushing the boundaries of electric performance.
Raval brings motorsport DNA to the city car segment
CUPRA is also continuing the rollout of the new Raval, which is currently being introduced across several European markets.
Measuring roughly four metres in length, this electric city car is developed and built in Barcelona on the Volkswagen Group’s new MEB+ platform. It combines up to 440 kilometres of range with an aggressive design language and a driving experience that sets it apart from typical city cars.
Every version of the CUPRA Raval comes equipped with a lowered sport suspension, fine tuned damping, progressive steering, and ESC Sport as standard. The range topping Raval VZ goes further still, offering 226 hp, DCC Sport suspension, an electronic locking differential, Matrix LED headlights, and 19 inch wheels.
A consistent philosophy across the lineup
CUPRA’s presence at the Goodwood Festival of Speed underlines the brand’s ambition to bring together motorsport, electrification, and driving pleasure. From Formula E, through experimental racers like the Leon VZ e-Hybrid Racer, all the way to production models such as the Raval, the goal remains consistent: building cars where electric performance never comes at the expense of emotion behind the wheel.
