Cupra Dark Rebel electric concept car unveiled at Munich motor show overnight

Volkswagen’s Spanish performance offshoot Cupra has unveiled its first electric sports-car, albeit in concept form: a two-seater rival to the Nissan Z.

Volkswagen’s emerging and edgy Spanish brand Cupra has unveiled yet another concept car that aims to create a new niche or stretch boundaries.

The Cupra Dark Rebel concept vehicle unveiled at the Munich motor show overnight is an electric two-seater sports car similar in size to – and possibly a rival for – the new Nissan Z.

However, the rear of the vehicle borrows wagon design cues – similar to the Volkswagen Scirocco – to aid the vehicle’s flexibility and practicality.

The interior, which is dominated by large digital screens and futuristic design themes, is said to be inspired by the “gaming” generation.

Cupra executive, Sven Schuwirth, said as a new brand the company was free to experiment with new designs and new ideas.

“We need to challenge the status-quo and target a different audience,” said Mr Schuwirth.

“Close to a billion of the members of Generation Z are interested in motorsport. But three or four times more people are interested in gaming.

“Why not bring both worlds together?”

This explains why the Cupra Dark Rebel has artificial intelligence-style graphics in the instrument cluster and across the dash.

And the driver’s seating position is similar to a gaming console for racing simulators.

While it is a flight of fancy for now, it does show where Cupra’s thinking is at.

Other innovations – which may or may not eventually make it into production – include the headlights which are not visible when switched off, but appear through the paintwork when activated.

Although it is difficult to distinguish in these photos, the Cupra Dark Rebel is similar in size to the Nissan Z coupe.

The company says the concept car measures 4.5 metres in length, 2.2 metres in width, and 1.3 metres in height, though when the ‘scissor’ doors are open the height is 2.2 metres (taller than a Toyota Hiace van).

Will the Dark Rebel go into production? Not like this.

Will the showroom version still be fun? Fingers crossed.

Will tech geeks approve? Only time will tell.