Cupra has revealed it is secretly developing an all-wheel drive version of its Cupra Raval that bags a pioneering quad-motor all-electric powertrain, which will produce epic power that blows Tesla out of the water.
Primed to be twinned with a white-hot Volkswagen ID. Polo R, the new Cupra Raval Racing will be the quickest and most powerful hot hatch of all time, with Volkswagen's Spanish performance brand leading its development.
Cupra's global product boss Toni Gallego told CarsGuide his brand was pushing ahead to develop the four in-hub motor concept that made its debut on the VW ID. Cross, which is key to unlocking near supercar levels of performance.
Expected to be capable of producing around 100kW, despite weighing around 39kg apiece, the state-of-the-art in-hub motors will see the Raval Racing come with at least 300kW.
Combined with an uprated battery pack, the 4.1m-long Raval Racing should be able to rocket from 0-100km/h in less than 3.0 seconds - much quicker than the 3.8 seconds a BYD Seal Performance or Audi RS 3 takes, and even quicker than the 3.1 seconds a Tesla Model 3 Performance can achieve.
As well quick in a straight line, according to the senior Cupra exec the in-hub units, which package their own power inverter, offers unbeatable torque vectoring and by being able to manage how much force is applied to each wheel on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis can neutralise any understeer or oversteer.
Brake regeneration will also be class-leading with the Raval Racing able to claw back more energy than any of its rivals, boosting efficiency and real-world range.
Traction will be unbeatable over all road surfaces and conditions, while packaging the motors within the wheels means the Raval's large 441-litre boot carries over unchanged.
Aside from adding unsprung weight the biggest disadvantage of the new tech is cost, says Gallego.
"We requested four-wheel drive from the beginning, but it requires a huge investment.
"It's crazy. I cannot say the final figures, but the good thing is we can manage the production mix across our four plants to balance out the high development costs."
The latter is a reference to both the Volkswagen ID. Polo R and potentially faster versions of the VW ID. Cross SUV sharing the same in-hub high-tech quad-motors. Later on, less powerful all-wheel drive VW Group models could also come with a detuned version of the same powertrain.
Gallego was careful not to reveal an exact power figure for the mules already undergoing testing, nor did he provide a timeline for when the faster Raval Racing and ID. Polo R will arrive, but it's thought the pair of fast all-electric hot hatches should land in 2028.
"Some figures cannot be communicated right now. It is a concept [for now] and we are exploring how the performance works. It's a massive investment from the technical centre."
According to Gallego, work has not finished on the core Raval as feedback from media and potential owners have requested some changes that will see both virtual gearshifts and a higher 190km/h top speed (up from 175km/h) rolled out via over-the-air updates once the Cupra small hatch is launched.
