Škoda Enyaq iV emerges as a credible EV with understated contemporary style

Aside from its midcentury science fiction nomenclature, the Škoda Enyaq iV is about as mainstream as a modern EV can get. As part of the VW Group, Škoda is following a well-signposted path of ever-evolving platforms, batteries, and drivetrains. As a result, you can spot distinct familial likenesses between cars in the group. The Enyaq iV shares a platform with Audi’s Q4 E-tron and Volkswagen’s ID 4, the Volkswagen Group’s Modular Electrification Toolkit (MEB).

Slightly less physically substantial than the first wave of electrified SUVs (like the Mercedes EQC or Audi e-tron), the Enyaq iV is what passes for mid-sized in this era of escalation. Can it deliver the goods?

Škoda Enyaq iV

Buyers seem to think so, snapping up about 45,000 Enyaqs last year, its first on sale. Ever since it made the transition from tragic Eastern Bloc punchline to credible Czech contender, Škoda’s target market has been families. VW Group ownership has opened up a world of high-quality parts and platforms, not to mention the skills of a vast network of designers.

Škoda makes excellent use of its resources, pitching itself as a more affordable but roughly equivalent brand to Audi.

The Enyaq is a good example of a coherent, well-proportioned contemporary cross-over, albeit with surfacing that uses every trick in the book to disguise the car’s scale.

The pinched crease along the flank just above the door handles bleeds into the rear lights, above which a slight bulge references the flared wheel arches of a more sporting machine, while the tapering glasshouse and elongated roofline help the overall composition.

There’s something quietly disruptive about Škoda’s design language. It doesn’t have the inoffensive middle-of-the-road tastefulness of Volkswagen, or the pumped-up muscularity of Audi. Instead, it’s somewhere between the two, existing in a hinterland of commonplace tropes that somehow coalesce into a car that’s traditionally handsome, if not classically beautiful.

It’s as if Škoda’s designers have slashed and cut at the more rounded form of the VW ID4 to make a bolder, more chiselled machine. Which in a way, is exactly what they did.

The two cars share much of the same interior architecture as well. This is both good and bad: generally speaking, the VW Group UX is one of the better in-car systems. There are frustrating oddities common to both cars, such as the ribbon-strip volume control beneath the central info screen.

Overall, it’s clean and user-friendly, making Audi’s Q4 e-tron interior look a bit fussier in comparison. Respect is due to Škoda, too, for being a bit different in its colour choices, offering up a tan colour launch trim rather than the ubiquitous black. New for 2022 is a wool-based fabric that incorporates recycled plastic bottles.

The Enyaq iV settles into the middle tier of the distance charts, with a maximum range of 331 miles from its largest 77kWh battery.

Performance is decent, not earth-shattering, and the options list includes a head-up display, and this fancy ‘crystal grille’ (above) that makes a stylistic virtue out of a feature that isn’t strictly necessary.

There’s obviously more to come from Škoda’s electric stable. Just as the Q4 E-tron and ID4 went on to spawn slightly sleeker ‘coupé’ variants, so it is with Škoda, with the imminent arrival of the Enyaq Coupé iV. Ironically, less functionality means slightly more efficiency, as the tapering body shape means marginally improved aerodynamics, one of the all-important factors when it comes to maximising every last inch of range.

By 2025, Škoda promises to have six pure EVs on the market. The Enyaq iV is a very promising start.

INFORMATION

Škoda ENYAQ iV 80 EcoSuite, as tested £47,100

skoda.co.uk