Why the Skoda Enyaq is a 5-star What Car? electric SUV

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000
Automotive

The Skoda Enyaq SUV has been given a five-star review by What Car?

Here are all the reasons why Skoda's fully electric stylish spacious SUV and sleek sporty Coupé secured a top score from What Car?

What's the secret formula for a top-tier award-winning car? In the case of the fully electric Skoda Enyaq – which is available as both an SUV and a subtly sleeker coupé – there’s a seemingly simple solution.

It all starts with striking style, impressive range and fast charging, allied to a driving experience that’s refined and engaging in equal measure – meaning you enjoy more smiles and more miles behind the wheel.

Add in a high-quality, spacious, adaptable interior, as well as lots of impressive tech – particularly smart, connected in-car infotainment and advanced driving aids that make fully electric journeys easier, safer and more enjoyable. Then combine it all in a package that offers impressive value for money. There’s your winning formula.

That’s certainly the verdict of our sister title What Car? – which has given the Skoda Enyaq a five-star rating, in addition to the 2022 What Car? Award for Best Electric SUV For Value and third place in the 2022 What Car? Award for Safety.

“We’re big fans of the Skoda Enyaq,” What Car? said. “It’s a fairly big electric family SUV that offers plenty of space and a healthy range between charges. It's comfortable and practical, it gets a reasonable amount of standard kit, and it’s very well priced. In short, it's a sensible choice that's ideally suited to family buyers.”

The Skoda Enyaq SUV and Coupé range offer a simple line-up of different models to fit your need. It starts with the entry-level Skoda Enyaq 60, while the Skoda Enyaq 85 offers more range, greater performance and even faster charging. The Skoda Enyaq 85x adds all-wheel drive capability for even greater driving confidence, while Skoda Enyaq vRS models deliver thrilling performance and even more style.

All of these models have recently been updated to offer even more range, even faster charging, even more performance and enhanced in-car tech that’s even easier to use, there are plenty of reasons why the Skoda Enyaq is a five-star car. And that’s why we’ve decided to focus on the five biggest ones here.

*Take a test drive in the Skoda Enyaq*

*#1 Range & charging*

It all starts with range: Because when it comes to picking your perfect fully electric SUV, we know that range really matters. Having the confidence of a big predicted-range figure that lets you do lots of short daily journeys on one charge from home, while also minimising the need to top-up on longer trips, is absolutely crucial.

That’s where the Skoda Enyaq scores highly. As What Car? highlighted in its five-star review, the Enyaq has long boasted impressive range that stands it in good stead among its electric SUV peers – including rivals like the Tesla Model X and Hyundai Kona Electric. But the recently updated Skoda Enyaq delivers even more.

Thanks to a raft of refinements made to the Skoda Enyaq’s advanced battery and electric powertrain, the Skoda Enyaq 60 now has a range of up to 249 miles as standard, while the Skoda Enyaq 85 Edition SUV delivers up to 348 miles of range and the Skoda Enyaq 85 Coupe boasts up to 353 miles.

“The Skoda Enyaq offers a healthy range between charges,” What Car? said. “If you’re looking for a practical run-around, the Skoda Enyaq 60 is worth considering. But the other models in the Skoda Enyaq range have a clear edge when it comes to range and don’t cost a huge amount more to buy.”

Equally important is the Skoda Enyaq's fast charging capability – letting you enjoy the cost-cutting benefits and convenience of overnight home charging, as well as the ability to pick and choose the best solution from UK’s fast-growing network of ultra-rapid and destination chargers. The result: you can start every morning with a full battery at a low running-cost price, or fit charging seamlessly around your day and budget.

The Skoda Enyaq’s recent updates amp up its already impressive charging capability. The Skoda Enyaq 60 still boasts impressive 120kW charging as standard, while the Skoda Enyaq 85 now delivers 135kW. However, on the Skoda Enyaq 85x Sportline Plus and the performance-focused Skoda Enyaq vRS, you get impressive 175kW charging capability that can boost your battery from 10% to 80% in as little as 28 minutes.

The Skoda Enyaq’s smart connected in-car sat-nav has been optimised for electric driving to help you find the best chargers to suit your journey. Equally, using the MySkoda smartphone app, you can monitor and control your charging and plan journeys in advance while you’re away from your car.

Skoda’s Powerpass app, card and streamlined membership packages also give you seamless hassle-free one-account access to more than 500,000 charging points across Europe from multiple suppliers – including the ultra-rapid IONITY network. So, it has never been easier to find the right charge point for your time and budget, while minimising the hassle of paying for it and managing your receipts.

*#2 Driving comfort and fun*

Think an electric car won’t be enjoyable to drive? Think again. As What Car? points out in its 5-star review, the Skoda Enyaq is more refined and relaxing than key rivals, but also offers the performance to add a bit of pep to your drive when needed.

“The Skoda Enyaq is one of the most comfortable electric cars for the money,” What Car? said. “It does a better job of controlling its movements and cosseting its passengers more than almost every rival, and also dazzles for gaining composure as you gather speed. The ride becomes even smoother on faster roads, where the Enyaq betters the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and the Tesla Model Y. There’s not much road noise, and only the faint whistle of wind around the door mirrors at a steady 70mph.

“The Skoda Enyaq handles tidily and it’s easy and relaxing to drive, which is the overwhelming priority for a car like this. The light but precise steering lets you position the car with confidence. Rear-wheel drive models also have a relatively tight turning circle, which is a boon when you’re parking and manoeuvring.”

When it comes to fully electric horsepower, the Skoda Enyaq boasts plenty of spark under its skin. The rear-wheel drive Skoda Enyaq 60 delivers 179PS and 310Nm of always instantly available fully electric torque, which makes it more sprightly than many petrol or diesel SUVs.

The Skoda Enyaq 85 – with its updated and amped-up powertrain for 2024 – delivers an uprated 286PS and 545Nm of torque for hot-hatch-like 0-62mph acceleration of 6.7s, while the Skoda Enyaq 85x adds a second electric motor to the front wheels for true all-wheel drive confidence-inspiring traction.

Finally, the Skoda Enyaq vRS: Skoda’s first fully electric vRS performance-focused model. It boasts an impressive 340PS and a total 680Nm of torque – split 134Nm for the front wheels and 545Nm for the rear – with lowered adaptive suspension, which can be stiffened up for enhanced handling in Sport mode. As a result, you can sprint from 0-62mph in as little as 5.5s.

“Unsurprisingly, the Skoda Enyaq vRS feels pretty lively when accelerating,” What Car? said. “It goes round corners in a tidy manner, keeping body lean well controlled. It’s the fastest version by a reasonable margin.”

*#3 Space and practicality*

An SUV is typically an all-encompassing workhorse. A jack of many trades, that has to master them all. So, any good electric SUV needs to offer plenty of room for driver and passengers to enjoy long journeys in comfort, as well as lots of luggage space for everyday tasks and big weekends away with friends or family. The Skoda Enyaq SUV delivers all of this by the bucket-load.

“Front, rear, boot: whichever part of the Skoda Enyaq you are looking to use, it’s got all the space you’re ever likely to need,” What Car? said in its five-star review. “You certainly won’t complain about space in the front, even if you’re well over six-foot tall. There’s loads of head room and generous leg room, and the width of the interior means you won’t find yourself rubbing shoulders with your front seat passenger.

“Storage space is excellent, thanks to the sizeable door pockets and an enormous cubby under the centre armrest. You’ll find more stowage at the base of the dashboard and between the seats, including two good-sized cupholders.”

Things are equally impressive for rear passengers. “The Skoda Enyaq is huge in the back,” What Car? said. “There’s easily enough legroom for a couple of six-footers to lounge out, with equally tall folk sitting in the front. Head room is plentiful, too. Other handy features include phone pockets on the back of the front seats. If you add the Clever Package, you’ll get sun blinds for the rear windows, folding tray tables and extra-soft rear headrests that feel like pillows when you lean back for a snooze.”

Last, but certainly not least, when it comes to luggage space, the Skoda Enyaq boasts up to 585 litres as standard, or up to 1710 litres with the 60:40 split rear seats folded down. And there’s only a subtle compromise if you pick the sleeker Skoda Enyaq Coupe, with 570 litres as standard expanding up to 1610 litres.

“The Skoda Enyaq’s main boot compartment is huge, taking up to nine carry-on suitcases under the tonneau cover,” What Car? said. “With the Skoda Enyaq Coupé, there’s a negligible difference in boot capacity, so it will still swallow an impressive eight carry-on suitcases below its parcel shelf.

“The Skoda Enyaq is also easy to load thanks to the wide tailgate opening and reasonably low load lip. The rear seatback splits and folds in a 60:40 arrangement, and if you stump for the reasonably priced Transport Package, you get handy levers on the walls of the boot to make the process easier. You get a ski hatch, letting you carry long slender items without turfing out your rear passengers.

“The Transport Package adds some cargo netting and a height-adjustable floor, which, when raised, smooths out the step when you fold down the rear seats. Go for the Plus package if you want an electric tailgate with gesture control.”

*#4 Safety*

Whether you’re looking after your passengers or looking out for fellow road users, safety matters. So, the fact that the Skoda Enyaq scored five stars in Euro NCAP’s demanding safety tests – with one of the highest occupation protection scores of the year at 94% and a maximum score for child protection – helped it score third place in the 2022 What Car? Award For Safety.

A lot of that also comes down to the Skoda Enyaq’s impressive wealth of safety kit – much of which comes as standard. “The Skoda Enyaq demonstrates just how safe a mainstream electric car can be,” What Car? said. “It’s great at avoiding accidents in the first place. You get lots of driver assistance kit thrown in, including automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance, and you can add more – such as blind spot monitoring – through the option list.”

“The Skoda Enyaq’s AEB system is excellent at spotting pedestrians and cyclists and braking to avoid them. What’s more, its impressive crash protection doesn’t make the Enyaq any more harmful to other vehicles in the event of a collision. There was no excessive deformation to the vehicle it hit in the offset frontal crash test, and that’s impressive for a large heavy SUV.”

*#5 Value for money*

So, there’s clearly lots to love about the Skoda Enyaq. But what about how much it costs. Well, as What Car? explains in its five-star review, you get a lot of car and a lot of kit for your money. And that’s one of the key reasons why the Skoda Enyaq 60 won the Best Value SUV trophy at the 2022 What Car? Awards.

“You might imagine that, with so much to offer, the Skoda Enyaq would be an expensive choice,” What Car? said. “But the opposite is true. It undercuts key rivals and – despite its keen pricing – it gets a reasonable amount of standard kit. Resale values are expected to be strong, and the Enyaq is exceptionally cheap to run if you’re a company car driver, because it’s in a very low benefit-of-kind tax bracket.

And don’t think that compromises quality. “The Skoda Enyaq’s classy well-built interior belies its attractive price tag,” What Car? added. “The quality of the interior is very good for the money. It’s slightly more impressive than the more expensive Ford Mustang Mach-E and Volkswagen ID4, and roughly on-par with the Tesla Model Y.

“The interior feels very well screwed together, using materials that are generally a pleasure to touch – with plenty of squidgy plastic on the dashboard and the insides of the doors, plus piano black and metal highlights to jazz things up.”

So, those are all the reasons why What Car? thinks the Skoda Enyaq is a five-star car. Maybe it’s time to find out what matters most to you.

*Take a test drive in the Skoda Enyaq*