Inside Cupra’s concept designed for gamers with controller-style steering wheel

THERE’S me thinking I’m Cupra’s target customer.

I like stylish sporty cars. I like speed. And I can afford one.

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But it’s actually my spotty teenager they’re going after.

He can’t even get a driving licence for another three years.

He spends every waking hour upstairs on the PlayStation.

So to him the steering wheel on this small EV will look all very familiar — and that’s a deliberate attempt on Cupra’s part to hook in a new generation of car buyers before they turn 17.

Hop inside the UrbanRebel concept — our best look yet at the 2025 road car — and it feels much like a simulator.

It has a boost button. Press it and two small green screens pop out from either side of the driver’s binnacle, showing speed and power levels.

As well as providing maximum oomph under your right foot, of course.

It has a full-width head-up display. Chevron arrows run across the lower part of the windscreen, showing the best line for a corner, or when to turn left or right.

And for reasons I don’t understand, kids like to watch other people play games on platforms like Twitch these days.

This car will record your drive for you to share videos online later. Essentially, what we’re talking about here is the gamification of cars.

Design chief Jorge Diez said: “For us, retro companies doing things like the Fiat 500e is a nice present because it’s sentimental, you have something from the past. But we don’t look to the past. We look to the future.

“We imagine how cities will be in 2030 and beyond. How the new generation will be.

‘TRANSFORMING INTO A NEW ANIMAL’

“This is why we don’t base things on people maybe 30 years old, we investigate people of 14 years old. Because these people will be our customers in the future.

“They spend hours on their mobile, they have a lot of media players, 80 per cent are playing video games.

“So the question is, ‘How will these people engage with the automobile industry?’

“You can see our steering wheel is more connected with this generation. The functions are in the same place. We use the system of gamification to learn the best path. You can interact with another person driving a car like you.

“You can personalise. You can put your picture inside. You have a camera to share your driving. You press the boost button and twin screens come out. So the car is transforming into a new animal. The new generation, sometimes they are more interested in their device now, to have the perfect mobile, than maybe cars.

“This is why we want to use these kind of systems to engage them back.”

Whether all that tech ends up in the 2025 road car remains to be seen.

But what we do know is, UrbanRebel looks cool, is dinky at just four metres long, and is stuffed with recycled materials and 3D printed parts.

It’s also front-wheel drive, powered by a 58kWh battery, and you’ll be able to pick from two versions: Performance or Long Range.

The hot version is 226hp and sprints from 0-62mph in 6.9 seconds. The other will do 273 miles. Price? I reckon we’re talking £28k.

Cupra will also build urban EVs for Volkswagen and Skoda. But they’ll be cheaper and far more sensible.

Not for 14-year-olds.

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