Cupra Raval to kick off VW’s small EV production in Spain in late 2025

As an aside in a press release about the king of Spain visiting the Martorell production facility, Seat has announced that the Cupra Raval will become the first of the VW Group’s small EVs to be produced at the renewed factory. Production will kick off in late 2025 and will be supplied directly by the new battery assembly plant next door.

Seat’s Martorell production facility, near Barcelona in Catalunya, Spain, is set to become one of the most important pillars in the VW Group’s electrification strategy. It will produce all of the group’s small EV’s, aimed at Europe’s most popular B segment and with a starting price of around €25,000.

Raval first, ID.2 second

Now, it appears that the Cupra Raval will have the honor of being launched first. The Raval, prefigured by the UrbanRebel concept car, is a compact hatchback with a sporty look on VW’s MEB-Small platform, which focuses on affordability and is based around a front-wheel-drive architecture.

By 2026, the Raval will be followed by the Volkswagen ID.2. The SUV variant of the ID.2 (which does not have a name yet) and the Skoda Epiq, meanwhile, will be built in the Pamplona factory in the Navarra region of Spain. The latter was announced last month and will take the shape of a small but practical SUV.

Battery plant feeds directly into the vehicle production lines

To build these compact EVs, Seat not only renovated the factory, which currently produces the Ibiza and Arona but also added a €300 million battery assembly plant to the Martorell site. This will be located directly across from the production lines, with a conveyor system transporting up to 1,400 battery packs a day to the vehicle assembly plant. The cells themselves come from Volkswagen’s PowerCo battery factory in Sagunt, Valencia.

With the press release of King Felipe VI visiting the construction site of the battery assembly plant, Seat & Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths again urged the Spanish government and the EU to back the manufacturer in its efforts to electrify the local auto industry:

“Three years ago, we made a big promise: to electrify SEAT S.A. and put Spain on electric wheels. During this time, we have worked hard to make that goal a reality, and the new battery assembly plant is the best proof we’re on the right track,” Griffiths explained.

“We are delivering on our investments, including the creation of new electric cars and the redevelopment of the factories. Our commitment to electrification and decarbonization is clear, and now we need the same commitment from the Spanish Government,’ he urged.