Range Rover Evoque vs Cupra Formentor

What's the difference?

The Range Rover Evoque is more highly specified and more luxurious than ever, and this plug-in hybrid version makes the most of what’s on offer with its slick but familiar feel from behind the wheel. 

Unfortunately, it does have an eye-watering price tag to go with its classy design and the options list is a bit rude, all things considered, but the core offering is a solid luxury buy for city-slickers, nonetheless. 

What makes the Evoque P300e stand out for me is its impressive EV driving range and excellent charging specs which make it as convenient as possible to make the most of its electrified features.

It’s up to the buyer whether these conveniences and the Range Rover badge are worth swapping into a car a full size down from its luxury plug-in rivals for the same money.

I am stuck in two minds on the Formentor VZe, a car which took me by surprise. It's a bit frustrating as a plug-in hybrid. It has a short real-world electric-only range and takes a while to charge. While this isn't unusual for a small PHEV, I wish it were better on this front. As a hybrid crossover, though, it is intriguing - a rare case of an electrified car being seriously fun to drive and proving that hybrids don't just have to be about saving fuel. If only it didn't cost almost as much as a Golf R...

The Evoque has always been a car all about its sleek, city-slicking design, an iconic piece of modern SUV art from Jaguar Land Rover head of design, Gerry McGovern.

With its shapely proportions, clever descending roofline, and a silhouette which successfully reflects a miniaturised version of the Range Rover, the Evoque is at once classy with a faint suggestion of toughness under the skin.

The blacked-out grille, slimline headlights, and contemporary strip across the tailgate all serve to add intrigue to this SUV, and the extra detailing in the front bumper, shapeliness of the bonnet, and contrast black trims (with extra contrast panels on our test car matching the gloss black wheels) serving to add to its premium appeal.

It’s important to remember, while the Evoque slides into a busy small SUV landscape now, it was one of the first to make a premium car so successfully appealing in this small SUV space way back in 2011 with the first Evoque, following Land Rover’s historic trend of being in front of the SUV curve.

Rival small SUV designs may have caught up in the minds of many with the likes of the Audi Q3, BMW X2, and Volvo XC40 shining in recent years, but few have won as many design accolades as the Evoque.

Range Rover seems to be leaning into a more upper luxury trend, not just with the pricing, but with the vibe of the car’s interiors, too.

The new generation Evoque, for example, took a big jump in the look and feel of its interior appointments when it launched in 2019, and over time has only consolidated its market positioning.

The HSE grade which our P300e hybrid arrives in is lavish on the inside, with lovely suede-like seats, intricate contrasting grey cloth trims in the doors (do I detect an influence from Volvo here?) and a plush-looking dash, all finished in soft-to-the touch materials.

Attention to detail, like the silver bezels which adorn the centre console and media screen, add to the premium flair which lifts the Range Rover badge above the Land Rover one, and I do like the way the additional function screen seamlessly melts into the piano finish and integrated dials. While it’s always a nightmare to keep gloss piano finishes clean, it looks oh-so primo.

It’s a little odd the P300e has analogue dials, which seems to miss the premium edge which a fully digital dash might provide although the 7.0-inch centre dash screen has a great resolution and speed, as well as a mostly well laid out operating system.

I found the R-Dynamic modes, which can sharpen up the accelerator response and steering buried two menus deep, unnecessarily hard to find, as were various EV information screens and other less important functions.

The Formentor looks great. It’s much more a crossover hatch than it is an SUV, and one of the better looking examples on the market, too.

It’s a surprising take on the Volkswagen Group SUV formula, too, given it could have easily been a re-skinned, or worse, re-badged T-Roc. Instead the Formentor brings a quite unique look and feel to what are otherwise commonly shared parts.

The light profile is distinctive, as are the chunky, almost Porsche-style haunches over the rear wheels. The wheels themselves, despite measuring in at just 18-inches appear enormous on this design, and completing its contemporary visage are the contrast grey crossover highlights over the wheels and a contemporary light-bar running across the rear.

This car brings all the elements it needs to stand out and apart from its peers. It’s striking, cool, and aggressive, and with its signature light profile, it looks all the more menacing at night.

The interior is also interesting. The big bucket seats in the front instantly imbue it with a sporty feel, as does the neat steering wheel with a carbon-look finish and the raised centre console elements shared with the Golf 8.

The mix of manual adjust seats, modern fly-by-wire controls, and digital dash set-up makes the Cupra feel like it’s in an unusual, very European trim level, the kind you don’t usually see in Australia, and while all the individual pieces come from across the VW Group - from Skoda to Audi, the way they’ve been mixed and matched in this car gives the Formentor its own distinctive appeal.

This is helped along by a bespoke set of typefaces and designs for this car’s digital elements, on the multimedia screen and dash display. There’s been attention to detail here in setting the Cupra brand apart, and I appreciate the depth of changes this car has compared to, say, a Golf, or a T-Roc.

While it still plays the role of Range Rover’s smallest SUV, the current Evoque is much bigger than the car it replaced in 2019. I would go so far as to say it’s deceptively large on the inside.

Front occupants are treated to a cabin which now feels almost as wide as an actual Range Rover, with plenty of room for elbows on either side, which are, of course, met by lovely soft-touch surfaces.

The raised console helps with the upmarket feel, as does the plush dash. The standard 14-way adjust front seats help to accommodate most passengers, with my only criticism being the large A-pillars and height of the dash can make it feel a little bit claustrophobic compared to some rival luxury SUVs.

Storage is offered through a set of large door pockets, a centre console box, dual bottle holders behind the shift lever, and a healthy nook underneath the climate controls, which also hosts a wireless charging bay.

The rear seats share the same comfortable rim as the front ones, and also have large pockets in the doors. Despite the descending roofline, I had just enough room for my head at 182cm tall although it is notable the space in the PHEV feels smaller with the raised floor needed to accommodate the batteries.

I had a little airspace for my knees behind my own driving position, too. The main drawback for rear passengers is the large transmission tunnel, making it difficult to accommodate an adult in the centre position.

There are adjustable air vents for rear passengers, but it is frustrating Land Rover has chosen to make rear USB-C charging ports an arbitrary $270 option.

The boot is also deceptively large for such a small SUV, measuring in at 472 litres (VDA), it’s above average for the small SUV class and fits the full CarsGuide luggage set, provided you remove the parcel shelf as it's just a smidge too high.

You'll also need to keep your charging cables in the boot, as there's no underfloor storage, the entire space being taken up by a space-saver spare wheel.

The design sells a car which is more individualistic than some of its rivals or relations, and this certainly felt true in my week with this Cupra. The big front seats, for example, are accommodating and supporting, allowing a sporty, low seating position and a good level of adjustability for the steering column.

The doors have a big bottle holder in them, and there are a further two in the raised centre console element. This area is also enhanced with a small bay thanks to the minimalist fly-by-wire controls, good for holding another phone, wallet, or perhaps keys. There is also an adjustable-height centre armrest covering a small storage box.

The area under the screen hosts dual USB-C ports as well as a wireless charger. Although we’ll call out here there’s no mechanical controls for the climate functions, which like all modern VW Group vehicles, need to be managed through some touch elements below the multimedia screen, or, more frustratingly, through the screen itself.

The screen is interesting, because it’s not one of the crazy high resolution ones which appear in some VW Group products, instead being a faster, lower resolution version, which has the benefit of making the touch elements in CarPlay or some of the sub menus large and easy to jab at while on the move.

The software is mostly good, too, with a handful of fairly self-explanatory menus, with some more advanced features buried about two menus deep, best adjusted while parked. There’s a clever little short-cut bar on the left-hand side of the screen, even when CarPlay is running, which lets you skip right to the main menu, car settings, or climate functions.

The digital dash has a welcome variety of views to play with to suit all kinds of preferences, and some bespoke Cupra ones which look neat, too.

In my week with the car, I had some passengers complain that the rear seats feel very claustrophobic with the massive front seat backs blocking the view out the front of the car, and a combination of black headliner and a large transmission tunnel closing in the space further.

I tend to agree, although I (at 182cm) had sufficient airspace for my knees behind my own driving position as well as sufficient headroom, with the only small annoyance being how low the doorline is. If you’re as tall or taller you’ll need to duck low to get in.

Welcome additions to the second row include a large bottle holder in each of the doors, dual USB-C outlets, and the third climate zone with adjustable vents is a real win.

Boot space is 345 litres. Sounds middling for the small SUV segment, and down on the 420 litres offered in the purely combustion variants, but I was pleased to find it could accept the entire CarsGuide luggage set with minimal disruption to the view out the rear window. I did have to remove the luggage cover, however.

There is no under floor storage with a small cutaway for the tyre repair kit, so you will need to store your charging cables in the boot.

Let’s get the price out of the way immediately, because on the face of it, the VZe is a tough sell.

This plug-in hybrid version of the Formentor comes in at a whopping $60,990, before on-road costs (or $66,990 drive-away). There’s no getting around how expensive it is. The bright side is it costs no more than its top-spec alternative, the VZx, which is the same car but with a bigger engine and all-wheel drive. The downside is it’s almost as expensive as a Golf R.

This puts it in a tough place. Performance-wise it can’t quite match a pure combustion rival, and on the electric car front you can have a Tesla Model 3 or Polestar 2 at a similar cost. The Cupra brand itself is even in a strange semi-premium spot, with the most direct rivals to this car being the Mini Countryman PHEV (from $64,000).  

You’d have to be committed to buying a plug-in hybrid then, with everything that entails. Thankfully, the Formentor VZe is not only notable for its drive experience (more on this later), but it’s also well equipped.

Standard gear includes 18-inch alloy wheels, a 10.25-inch digital dash, 12-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless phone charger, built-in navigation, surround parking sensors, bucket seats with cloth trim (these appear to be a similar style to the ones which appear in the Golf R), tri-zone climate control, full LED head and tail lights, with Curpa logo puddle lamps, leatherbound heated steering wheel, keyless entry and push-start ignition, adaptive chassis control, and a progressive steering tune usually reserved for the more upmarket Volkswagen Group products.

It’s a nice set of gear, and if you’re missing high-end seats, they can be optioned with the $2050 ‘Leather Package’ which upgrades the trim, while also adding heating and power adjust with memory.

The only other options are a sunroof ($1800) and premium paint ($475). It’s nice to see Cupra throw in the Type 2 to Type 2 public charging cable at no extra cost.

The Evoque now sports Jaguar Land Rover’s hybridised ‘Ingenium’ engine family across the range, and the set-up which appears in the plug-in hybrid model might be the most interesting.

It consists of a 1.5-litre three-cylinder combustion engine which is said to produce 147kW/280Nm, and an electric motor powering the rear axle producing 80kW, the two of which combine for an impressive quoted total output of 227kW/540Nm, driving all four wheels.

The motor sources its power from a 15kWh lithium-ion battery pack under the floor of the car, which provides a claimed 62km of fully-electric driving range.

Land Rover also replaced the mechanical brake pedal with a drive-by-wire one to allow for improved ‘blended’ regenerative braking.

The Formentor VZe pairs a 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine producing 110kW/250Nm with an electric motor producing 85kW/300Nm. The two can combine using a boost function, for a maximum combined output of 180kW/400Nm.

The front wheels are driven via a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and the electric motor is seated between the transmission and engine.

A 12.8kWh battery pack allows a theoretical purely electric driving range of 58km, although I was seeing more like 40 at best in the real world, with the adjustable regen set to the higher of two available settings.

Claimed energy consumption on the combined WLTP cycle for the Range Rover Evoque P300e is 2.0L/100km. As with all plug-in hybrids though, this will heavily depend on how it is driven.

The 15kWh battery is said to provide a 62km driving range (again, on the WLTP cycle), which seems healthy for a PHEV, and I was pleased to find that my car was reporting about 56km on a full charge, not far off the claim.

Importantly, the Evoque has stellar charging specifications, which make it ideal for a city-slicker with minimal time to conveniently charge.

I was shocked to find a DC charging port when I flipped open the panel, which is capable of charging the tiny battery up in just 20 minutes (at a peak rate of 35kW), while on a slower but easier-to-find AC charger, it can extract 7kW allowing a charge time of around two hours.

This is well above par for a plug-in hybrid, and makes charging quick, painless and convenient, even for those who can’t charge at home.

As a result of this ease-of-charging and therefore minimal time spent in the hold or hybrid modes, my car reported an astounding 1.0/100km of fuel consumption during my week, covering mostly urban kilometres.

The only drawback is the need to fill this small turbo engine with mid-shelf 95RON fuel.

As with most plug-in hybrids, the Formentor VZe has a very good-looking claimed fuel consumption of 1.9L/100km, although this assumes you’ll religiously charge it up. In my week with the car I saw 5.5/100km, with the caveat that I was mostly driving it in the hybrid mode as I was far from places I could charge it up.

Thankfully, the hybrid driving mode is very good, but one of the most annoying things about this car is how long it takes to charge.

The Formentor VZe’s AC inverter offers a maximum rate of just 3.6kW, and from the base level my car informed me it would take almost four hours to charge from a public charger.

Again, like many plug-in hybrids, this car is really only suitable for those able to charge in their home garage. It takes too long to charge this car on a public outlet to make the most out of its electric features.

It also requires mid-shelf 95 RON unleaded fuel for its small turbocharged engine.

The second-gen Evoque is still the lovely, luxury, small SUV it was when it launched in 2019, and this plug-in hybrid version only serves to improve the formula, adding sleek electric driving characteristics to the already-smooth turbo engine and torque converter automatic.

Interestingly, and like its Volvo XC60 rival, the electric motor is located on the rear axle, giving this car the odd characteristic of being rear-wheel drive when driven electrically, or predominantly front-wheel drive when driven in combustion mode.

Speaking of modes, this car does the bulk of the management, with only three driving modes available to the pilot. These include the default ‘hybrid’ mode, which as the name suggests, blends the two power sources with more of an emphasis on electric driving when the battery is charged.

There's also an electric mode, which will only use the rear axle motor until the battery runs out, and a ‘Hold’ mode which will still blend the two sources but predominantly rely on the combustion engine to maintain the car’s state of charge.

You might want to use the last mode if you're travelling long-distance, to maintain the electric range for where it is most efficient - in low-speed stop-start driving.

The regenerative braking is not adjustable, having just a single mild level. It’s far from the single-pedal driving you can experience in a fully electric car, but Land Rover has made the brake pedal fly-by-wire so it can blend increased regen with the mechanical brakes.

It makes for a familiar experience from behind the wheel for those coming straight out of a purely combustion vehicle.

The electrified brake pedal does have the consequence of removing a bit of feel for a keen driver, and the same can be said for the rather slow steering tune in the default settings which makes the Evoque feel more luxurious and less sporty or reactive than it could be.

It’s a shame, because the two power sources combine to make for a thumping amount of power when you stick your boot in, and the all-wheel drive system and nicely balanced suspension keep this little SUV well under control in the corners.

As with my original Evoque range review in 2019, though, it is notable how heavy this SUV feels, particularly compared to some rivals like the Audi Q3.

The heftiness suits the Evoque's expanded dimensions and even more upmarket feel, but despite the power on offer it’s not an agile SUV to be carving corners in.

At least the ride quality and quietness is superb, making the Evoque an ideal SUV for driving around the centre of pothole-stricken Sydney, with a notable amount of poise. At the end of the day, isn’t that what this Range Rover was built for?

The Formentor VZe might be the best plug-in hybrid I’ve driven, certainly at this end of the market. It does something so few hybrids in this class try to, or are even capable of. It’s a lot of fun.

The Formentor manages to pack all the entertaining drive characteristics of something like a Golf GTI into a car which can be driven fully electrically.

It’s a thing of brilliance. The car feels agile, responsive, and lightweight, with some magic at work to hide the weight of its nearly 13kWh of batteries under the floor.

It also blends the instantaneous response of the electric motor in quite nicely with the surge of the 1.4-litre turbocharged engine, the two complementing each other with some grace. On a rare occasion, there is a slight delay between the electric motor waning off and the torque of the combustion engine meeting it, but these instances are few and far between.

With a healthy amount of torque available instantly, it also does away with the need to worry about the occasionally fiddly dual-clutch automatic transmission. 

As to going fast in a straight line, the VZe is capable of combining its two power sources to very easily overwhelm the front wheels. It has a 0-100km/h sprint time of 7.0 seconds, although feels as though it could best this, traction allowing. A peak of 400Nm is an incredible amount of torque for such a small two-wheel drive vehicle, after all.

The electric driving is of course smooth and easy to work with, although the regeneration, even on its highest of two available settings, can be quite mild. When set to hybrid mode, it drives more or less like a Toyota hybrid, limiting the amount of electrical assistance available on the accelerator pedal.

This is good, because some PHEVs will simply drain the electric system first, with the engine only turning on with a solid press of the accelerator, but the Formentor’s combined accelerator approach means you can drive in stop start traffic for nearly 200km before it manages to drain the battery (trust me, I tested it).

It exudes sportiness from behind the wheel, too, with a low-set driving position, neat customisable dash settings which offer plenty of information, and a sporty, thin wheel which offers direct feedback unsurprisingly similar to that of a car like the Golf R.

While it might not be the most competent electric vehicle, then, nor as brilliant as something like a Golf R, it’s an excellent hybrid offering unprecedented levels of driver engagement for a car with this kind of technology. I liked driving it a lot.

The full active safety suite is available across the Formentor range. Active items in this list include freeway-speed auto emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, and side assist which warns you if you’re going to open your door into traffic.

Adaptive cruise control also features, and the Formentor has a comprehensive suite of eight airbags (including a driver’s knee airbag and centre airbag between the front occupants).

There are three top-tether child-seat mounting points on the rear row, and two ISOFIX mounts on the outer seats.

The Formentor has a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating to a 2021 standard, it scored relatively highly in three of four categories.

As of April, 2021 all Land Rover products are finally covered by an industry-standard five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty, matching its key rivals, and beating out BMW which persists with an old three-year warranty promise. Five years of roadside assist is also included for the duration.

When it comes to servicing, the P300e is available to be purchased with a five-year plan ($2650 - $530 annually) which covers 102,000km of visits.

This pack is well worthwhile as Land Rover servicing is generally quite expensive when purchased a-la-carte.

Cupra shares the same five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty as its VW parent, and at the time of writing, includes three years of scheduled servicing for free.

The brand has not settled on how much its servicing plans will cost after that period (again, at the time of writing). While VW Group’s five-year service plans aren’t usually outrageous, proceed with caution.

The Formentor VZe needs to visit the workshop once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.