Cupra Tavascan vs Kia EV5

The Cupra Tavascan costs £7,995 more than the Kia EV5. For that premium it adds 50 kW more power and a 1.5s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Cupra Tavascan comes out ahead overall.

The Kia EV5 is £7,995 cheaper to buy. The Cupra Tavascan is cheaper to charge, roughly £152 a year versus £184 for the Kia EV5, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Kia EV5 comes out roughly £7,835 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 294 miles for the Cupra Tavascan and 235 miles for the Kia EV5 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Cupra Tavascan goes roughly 58 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 28-31 minutes.

The two are within 14 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 539 mm of total clearance for the Cupra Tavascan and about 525 mm of total clearance for the Kia EV5.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Cupra Tavascan and 89% for the Kia EV5. That gives the Kia EV5 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.