2021 Skoda Enyaq iV 60 review

Skoda is on the electric wave with the new Enyaq. It’s not available here yet from your local Skoda dealer but examples have started to appear as grey imports. We drive a recent arrival. 

While Volkswagen has its ID range of electric vehicles, over at Czech cousin Skoda, the letters iV denote its battery-powered offerings. The first of these new electric mobiles is the Enyaq, based on Volkswagen Group’s MEB modular electric car platform. So this is the Czech equivalent of the ID. 4 we drove a couple of months back. And, like that machine, this one isn’t available here officially yet either. For this is another UK import from GVI in Auckland. Skoda NZ is still working through the launch timings of the Enayaq here, such is demand in other parts of the world, and supply is limited. This, by the by, is the only MEB product to be made outside of the motherland, being built at Skoda’s HQ in Mlada Boleslav, and on the same line as those old fashioned models with infernal combustion engines. We wonder if that, in a way, influences the design and some of the interior controls of the Enyaq. Because the main difference between this and the VW are its design and interior functions. Where the VW tries hard to be electric, the Enyaq treads a more traditional path. It’s styling is more conventional – it even has a grille, faux of course – while the proportions are more typical as well. We reckon this looks better, the black cladding along the bottom helping break up the visual bulk of the body, with its battery pack incorporated into the floor. The ID. 4 can look a bit fat from some angles. And inside, the Enyaq is more conventional as well. There is the wowing 13-inch screen on the dash, the biggest in a Skoda yet, but there is a familiar centre console with an easy-to-fathom gear selector (miniaturised, but then aren’t they all now?). Even the start button is where it normally is on a Skoda, hidden from sight on the steering column, where you might have inserted a key a decade or so ago. 

Something else we noted was the use of conventional buttons in the cabin, none of them with that have-I-switched-it-on-or-not? vagueness of the new haptic stuff in VWs. Again, that’s probably to do with where it is made. 

The instrument panel seems small by the usual standards, just a five-inch screen buried in the dash to relay the vitals like speed, distance until you need to find a plug etc. And yet that’s all you need. The optional, augmented reality head-up display is probably information overkill. 

There is a vast range of Enyaqs offered in Europe; rear- and all-wheel drive, three battery sizes (55 – 82kWH), five power outputs ranging from 109kW up to 220kW and a maximum range of 510km. This is a middle-of-the-road machine, the Enyaq 60 with a 62kWh battery (58kWh net), a 132kW/310Nm motor and a range of up to 400km. The combined consumption is between 14.6-17.6kWh/100km according to the WLTP test cycle.

These can take up to 125kW of fast charging (so 10 – 80 per cent in about 30 mins), 11kW on AC (a recharge taking six hours, or 53km of range added in an hour) while a wall socket would take 30 hours, adding about 11km of range per hour. 

Skoda has done something a tad different with the Enyaq’s line-up. Instead of the usual trim levels, there are six ‘design selections’ for the interior, this one being the Suite, described as stylish and comfortable with soft, black leather trim, contrast stitching and piping, and black trims for ‘understated luxury’. And then there are 11 option packs to delve through. We suspect when the car lands here eventually, Skoda NZ will have just a few, well specified model grades in mind to reduce the complexity for our small market. 

The Enyaq is a Skoda, so there’s an emphasis on practical space. There’s easy entry into the rear via large doors and high-set seats, the space on offer generous with a flat floor and a comfy bench. 

Enyaq has more metal hanging off the rear than the ID. 4, so the boot is larger, measuring up at 585L, the hold being wide and deep, the tailgate aperture generous too. Split folding the rear seats sees space increase to 1710L. That number is a bit more than it can tow in kilos, but a braked rating of 1400kg is good for an electric. There’s no spare tyre under the boot floor, just a spot for some charge cables. Moreover, there’s no storage up front, the space under the bonnet filled with power electronics and the ventilation units.

There is the same impressive smoothness of the MEB platform’s driveline here though; even for an EV these are exceptionally refined. It’s not super quick, 0-100km/h taking a claimed 8.7sec but the power of this 60 model is certainly adequate, the torque easing it to 50km/h effortlessly, and it zips from 60 to 100 in fine and refined fashion too.

The rear drive set up means no torque steer and a great turning circle of just 9.3m, impossibly tight for such a sizeable vehicle. While there is a lot of it, the weight is centralised and carried low so the dynamics are agreeable. The front turns willingly, though the steering is light and rather numb. With decent contact patches, it holds on well through bends, but you’ll occasionally note the presence of the weight in the rear on the turn. The ride is cushy, although the big 20s can thump over decent bumps. 

A flick of the gear selector initiates a B mode for the regenerative braking; it’s not quite one pedal driving but near enough. However, we preferred the well conceived auto regen function which, by using its sensors and smarts, knows when to coast or add regen to help you keep up with the traffic flow. This model was without steering wheel paddles so there was no way to manipulate the levels of regen otherwise. The brakes work rather well without the usual gooey pedal when transitioning from regen to real stopping.

This example, while quickly snapped up after it landed, was on the market for $79k, just eligible for the rebate. But being deemed a used model, it only gets $3450 off. Skoda NZ will be keen to land the Enyaq under the $80k mark, for it’d be good buying in the electric market at that price, once you claim your rebate.