2021 Skoda Enyaq iV electric SUV revealed: price, specs and release date
The Skoda's Enyaq iV is the Czech brand's first bespoke electric car. As the first pictures are released, here’s everything you need to know about it...

Price from £33,450 (before £3000 gov’t grant)

Skoda’s success has been built on producing sensible cars for sensible people, and given that sales of both SUVs and electric cars are booming right now, its decision to build an electric SUV looks inherently... well... sensible.
Called the Skoda Enyaq iV, the new model takes its name from the Irish word enya (which means ‘source of life’), with the Czech brand saying this carries on a tradition of using ‘rugged corners of the Earth’ as inspiration when naming its SUVs.

Another tradition is to add the letter ‘Q’ to the end of their names – think Kamiq, Karoq and Kodiaq – while the iV suffix is reserved for its electrified models.
These include the dinky Citigo-e iV – Skoda’s first fully electric vehicle, unless you count the Puck sit-on child’s toy, which it introduced way back in 1941. However, while the Citigo is based on an existing petrol-engined car, the Enyaq shares its underpinnings with Volkswagen’s ID.3 hatchback and was designed from the start to be electric.

2021 Skoda Enyaq power, range and charging
Two rear-wheel-drive Enyaq variants are available at launch: the 60, which uses a 62kWh battery, produces 177bhp and has a range of 260 miles in official WLTP tests; and the 80 with an 82kWh battery, 201bhp and a 310-mile range.
A cheaper 50 model, with a 55kWh battery will follow later, as will pricier four-wheel drive 82kWh Enyaqs: the 262bhp 80X and a sporty vRS model, with 302bhp.
All Enyaq’s are capable of charging at the 50kW rate that the majority of UK rapid chargers allow, but buyers can specify faster 100kW (for the 60 model) and 125kW (for the 80) maximum charging rates, with the latter able to get the battery from 10-80% in 40 minutes.
Alternatively, if you charge at home using a 7kW wallbox, the same task takes six to eight hours, depending on battery size.

2021 Skoda Enyaq standard equipment

The battery you choose determines the level of standard equipment, with the £33,450 60 model featuring 19in alloy wheels, a 13in touchscreen infotainment system, ambient interior lighting, rear parking sensors, dual-zone climate control, keyless go and artificial leather upholstery.
In addition to its bigger battery, spending the £5550 needed to upgrade to the 80 brings front parking sensors, a rear-view camera, sat-nav, a heated steering wheel and multiple driving modes designed to let you change the character of the car.
There’s also a Founders Edition Enyaq, which uses the same 82kWh battery, but includes the 125kWh rapid charging ability, an illuminated front grille, Matrix LED headlights and a unique black leather interior, although this variant costs almost £50,000.

2021 Skoda Enyaq ride, handling and performance

So, what is the Enyaq like to drive? Well, earlier this year we tried the 80 model in a prototype form said to be about 70% finished, and this was mostly on the money for a car of its size (the Enyaq is just 5cm shorter than Skoda’s biggest SUV, the seven-seater Kodiaq).
Indeed, it felt similarly agile to the class-leading Kia e-Niro, and proved better to thread around bends than the smaller Hyundai Kona Electric. Accurate steering helped here, although the weighting was a bit inconsistent, with Skoda claiming this was one of the things that was still being fettled.

Likewise, the ride was still a work in progress, but it was already pretty comfortable, levelling all but the nastiest bumps reasonably well. Instead, a bigger issue was some fidget and sway over undulations; we tried a few different cars and some were better than others.
It’s tricky getting the brakes smooth on electric cars because the energy recuperation system, which puts energy back into the battery as you slow down, makes them less predictable. And sure enough the pedal was a bit snatchy on the prototypes (again, Skoda claims the finished car will be better).
Read More https://www.whatcar.com/news/2021-sko...

Video Source: quickcarreview.com/

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