Cupra Born (2022-2024) vs Mercedes-Benz EQA

The Mercedes-Benz EQA costs £9,760 more than the Cupra Born. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Cupra Born comes out ahead overall.

The Cupra Born is £9,760 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £152 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Cupra Born comes out roughly £9,880 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 221 miles for the Cupra Born and 219 miles for the Mercedes-Benz EQA - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV.

The two are within 25 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 591 mm of total clearance for the Cupra Born and about 566 mm of total clearance for the Mercedes-Benz EQA. The Cupra Born also turns in a 1.2 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Cupra Born and 84% for the Mercedes-Benz EQA. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.