Skoda’s going electric

Technically, the new Skoda Enyaq iV is not the Czech company’s first electric vehicle.

In the interests of absolute historical accuracy, we feel duty bound to point out that Skoda — in a former, pre-Volkswagen Group life — actually made its first electric locomotives way back in 1927.

No newcomers to the battery game, these Czechs.

It’s not even Skoda’s first electric car — that would be the sweet, but expensive, little Citigo iV, launched back in 2019.

The Enyaq is the first Skoda electric car to make it to Irish shores, though, and indeed was even tested in prototype form on Irish roads over the past three years to ensure its chassis was up to the demands of truly dreadful roads.

It looks an imposing thing, doesn’t it? The overall shape says ‘SUV’ — that upright grille and squared-off stance — but actually, when you look a little closer, the Enyaq’s long, shallow windscreen and relatively low roofline give the game away. It’s an MPV in disguise, and that’s a very good thing.

Underneath, there’s the same MEB electric car platform that you’ll also find serving under the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 electric models, and the incoming Audi Q4 e-Tron. The whole idea of the MEB platform is that it’s a flexible, adaptable set of electric components, which can be used to create whole families of electric cars.

The basic design is common to all of them — a low-slung battery pack between the wheels (it keeps the centre of gravity low and makes the car more stable), a long wheelbase (the gap between the front and rear wheels) which makes for a spacious interior and an electric motor mounted under the boot floor (with space for another one up the front for an upcoming two-motor, four-wheel drive version).

So, underneath the Skoda Enyaq is basically identical to the VW ID.4, but up top it’s very, very different. The styling is totally different for a start — while the VW looks smoother and more rounded off, the Skoda is more angular, with sharp, crisp lines. The cabins are utterly different, too. The Volkswagen has a minimalist, slightly cold and clinical-looking cabin. The Enyaq’s, especially with the cognac leather option fitted to our test car, looks astonishingly welcoming, and even luxurious.

There’s a huge 13-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash, which is easier and less fiddly to use than you might expect. The instrument screen, relative to the central one, looks tiny, and is tucked away in what looks like a small rabbit-hole in the dash. Skoda does offer an optional heads-up display, which projects your speed, battery status, and navigation instructions onto the windscreen, and it seems like a sensible option to pick, given the tininess of the main instruments.

Thankfully, there are some physical ‘shortcut’ buttons to help you navigate the big screen, but what you mostly take away from the cabin is its sense of space (lots of rear legroom and a massive 585-litre boot) and its quality.

The Enyaq feels closer in its fit and finish to genuine luxury brands. Under the floor, there’s a choice of batteries. The basic Enyaq, the Enyaq 60, comes with a 60kWh battery and a WLTP one-charge range of 412km.

Which is, quite likely, more than enough for most people. Our test car, though, was an Enyaq 80, with an 80kWh battery and a claimed one-charge range of 535km. It’s more expensive, obviously, but Skoda Ireland says it’s the version more people are buying, for the moment.

Certainly, it seems to have plenty of useable range. On our test drive, we started with a 93 per cent charged battery, and more than 440km of available range showing.

Some time later, even after some brisk driving up and down a mountain road or two, and a stint on the motorway, the Enyaq was still showing 80 per cent charge, and more than 350km available. It’s a very efficient electric car.

It also charges quickly — at up to 125kW if you can find a powerful-enough public charging point.

To drive, you’d never guess it was rear-engined (alright, rear-motored) and rear-wheel drive. It feels totally conventional to drive, just like any other mid-range SUV.

It rides very comfortably (although in extremis, you’ll feel that 2,042kg kerb weight compress the suspension to its limits) and is actually a little more enthusiastic in the corners than you might expect.

Not quite fun, perhaps, but sure-footed and quite agile.

Combine all of that with the sheer practicality of its cavernous body, the quality of assembly, the comfort, the refinement (aside from an occasional ‘clonk’ from the suspension, it’s whisper quiet inside, even at motorway speeds) and the Enyaq starts to make a hugely convincing case for itself. If you’ve been thinking, even vaguely, about the possibility of switching to electric power for your next car, I’d urge you to at least take a test drive.

The Enyaq may not be Skoda’s first electric car, but it might just be the best one currently on sale.