► New cheaper Skoda Enyaq model launches
► Enyaq 50 model cuts price of EV by £2k
► Entry car has 52kWh battery, 234-mile range
The starting price of the Skoda Enyaq has tumbled by £2000, as the Czechs launch a new entry-level model of their popular family electric car.
Priced from £36,970, the Enyaq 50 is proof that – slowly but surely – the cost of EVs is reducing to tempt more buyers away from petrol and diesel models. It’s not quite in our list of the cheapest electric cars, but it’s going in the right direction.
Sales started in July 2024 and buyers get a decent 52kWh (net) battery, for a claimed range of 234 miles. The Enyaq 50 replaces the 60 model in the line-up; it’s rear-wheel drive with a single motor, for 0-62mph in 9.1 seconds and a top speed of 99mph. More helpful is charging speed – up to 145kW on DC fast charge.
The arrival of the 50 model ushers in a simplification of the Skoda Enyaq range. Buyers can now choose from the following specs:
- Enyaq 50 Smaller 52kWh battery, priced from £36,970
- Enyaq 85 Larger 77kWh battery, priced from £44,540
Trim levels have also been rationalised, to ease customer confusion:
- Enyaq 50 Choose from 50 or 50 Edition
- Enyaq 85 Choose from 85 Edition, 85x Sportline Plus, 85 L&K and 85 vRS
All Enyaqs come with an eight-year/100,000-mile battery warranty.
Skoda Enyaq vRS: the sportier EV
The larger-battery Enyaq is available in vRS high-performance spec, in line with other quick Skodas. The Enyaq vRS has maximum power of 335bhp, making it the fastest Skoda on sale.
The extra poke means the Enyaq vRS can sprint from 0–62mph in 5.5 seconds, compared to 6.5 seconds for the previous version of the car. The change should add a welcome dash of excitement to the car and make it more of a match for fast electric SUVs such as the Kia EV6 and Tesla Model Y.
The bigger-batteried models have a range of up to 357 miles and can accept faster charging, after some engineering tweaks for the 2024 model year.
Skoda fiddled with the car’s charging technology, increasing the maximum DC speeds it can handle from 135kW to 175kW. Now, the EV can charge from 10–80% capacity in just 28 minutes, which is an improvement of eight minutes.
Skoda’s software engineers have been hard at work, too. The Enyaq vRS’s infotainment system has been overhauled with fresh menu icons, a simpler climate control screen and clearer graphics for the sat-nav system. The car’s digital gauge cluster has received the same treatment.
The latest Enyaqs feature Skoda’s latest ME3 software, which the company says has improved the sat-nav system and head-up display, while also making the climate control menu easier to operate. Recent upgrades also brought over-the-air updates, meaning buyers could apply future software improvements from home via the internet.
From 2023, every Skoda Enyaq came as standard with a three-year subscription to Remote Access (it was option on older versions of the car). This allows buyers to check their car’s battery level, schedule charging and pre-condition their car’s interior using a smartphone application.
What’s the Skoda Enyaq’s interior like?
It’s a bit of a departure from the brand’s combustion-engine cars. There aren’t many buttons, with most of the cabin functions being operated using the enormous infotainment system in the centre of the dashboard. Like most Volkswagen Group EVs, there’s also a tiny digital gauge cluster mounted ahead of the driver.
Buyers have a choice of four upholstery finishes called Loft, Lounge, Suite and EcoSuite. The first option is fitted to the car as standard with the other three adding £1200, £1380 and £1650 to the Enyaq’s price respectively. Loft cars feature fabric seats, Lounge models get a blend of leather and microfibre, Suite variants have synthetic leather seats and EcoSuite cars are trimmed in brown leather which was tanned using a sustainable extract from olive tree branches.
Like most Skodas, the Enyaq promises to be practical. There are loads of clever storage solutions dotted around the cabin, such as an umbrella storage cubby in the driver’s door and folding tray tables for rear-seat passengers.
The boot’s a good size, too, measuring 585 litres with the rear seats in place or 1710 litres with the bench folded flat.
Where does the Enyaq Coupe fit into this?
A lower-slung bodystyle is available, with a more sporting, raked roofline: the Skoda Enyaq Coupe. Yes, the BMW X6 et al have a lot to answer for…
If you go for the Enyaq Coupe bodystyle, you initially had to choose the go-faster vRS (above), but you can now choose any of the bigger-batteried trim levels. Prices start at £46,440 and you can pick from the following specs:
- Enyaq Coupe 85 Edition From £46,440
- Enyaq Coupe 85x SportLine Plus From £50,305
- Enyaq Coupe 85 L&K From £53,240
- Enyaq Coupe 85 vRS From £54,820