Volkswagen ID.3 or Cupra Born: the batteries compared
What the advert doesn’t say: capacity by version, the manufacturer’s warranty, and what a failure would cost.
The essentials
- Battery: the same maximum capacity, 79 kWh.
- Battery warranty: the same terms, 8 years or 100,000 miles.
- Cheapest to charge: Volkswagen ID.3, from £6.14 per 100 miles at home, against £6.31 (Cupra Born).
- Module-by-module repair: feasible on each of these models.
Side by side
| Criterion | Volkswagen ID.3 | Cupra Born |
|---|---|---|
| On sale | since 2020 | since 2021 |
| Battery capacity | 45 · 52 · 58 · 59 · 77 · 79 kWh | 45 · 58 · 59 · 77 · 79 kWh |
| Chemistry | NMC | NMC |
| Battery warranty | 8 years or 100,000 miles guaranteed capacity: 70% | 8 years or 100,000 miles guaranteed capacity: 70% |
| Repairable module by module | Yes | Yes |
| Replacing one module | €700 – €2,000 | €700 – €2,000 |
| New pack, order of magnitude | ≈ €13,000 | Not recorded |
| WLTP consumption | 3.7 – 4.3 miles/kWh | 3.5 – 4.2 miles/kWh |
| Home charging, per 100 miles | £6.14 – £8.95 | £6.31 – £9.48 |
| Battery lease | Never | Never |
| Going further |
Capacity: every version sold under that name. Warranty: terms recorded for the UK, by year of first registration. Prices: orders of magnitude recorded in France, in euros, never quotes. Charging: from the most frugal version on the cheapest tariff to the thirstiest in real-world use.
Before you choose
A table compares models; you buy a car. Capacity depends on the version, the warranty on the date of first registration, and the state of health on the life the battery has had. The checker answers for one specific car: remaining warranty, expected state of health, cost of a failure.