Skoda comes with a second body variant of the electric Enyaq iV and calls it a coupé. We would actually say hatchback, but anyway: in practice it means that the Czechs follow the same route as Volkswagen with the ID.4 and Audi with the Q4 e-tron that are available in comparable variants.
Skoda will present a second body variant for the electric Enyaq iV at the end of this year. In addition to the well-known station wagon-like shape, there will also be a version with a sloping roofline. You could call it a hatchback or a liftback, at Skoda they prefer to speak of a Coupé. This Coupé is not a derivative of the regular Enyaq iV, it is actually the other way around. At the start of the development process, now five years ago, the intention was to come up with the Coupé first. At the time, Skoda saw the EV market as a niche and wanted to approach it that way. However, the electric car became so mainstream that in the course of the process it was decided to first market the high variant. Even though the Coupé was ready earlier, the curtain will not officially go off until December 7, after which the first deliveries will follow in the second quarter of next year.
Well, it’s not that far yet. We have now been able to get acquainted exclusively with a camouflaged pre-series copy.
Tape measure
We praised the regular Enyaq iV for its interior space, including the headroom above the rear seat. The fear of now being stuck with your crown against the ceiling under the sloping Coupé roof, turns out to be unfounded. The Coupé gets a standard glass roof that only ends behind the heads of the rear passengers. According to our tape measure you deliver exactly one centimeter of headroom under that glass roof in the back seat in the Coupé compared to the regular coach with its normal ceiling; it is 98 to 99 centimetres, which means that even with an above-average long back you can still sit comfortably in the back of the Coupé and do not have to bend over under a thick layer of upholstery material. The modified rear also affects the contents of the trunk. You have to surrender 15 liters, leaving a still generous 570 liters for luggage. The only point of criticism is the rear view through the slanted window, which is quite limited.
Skoda will deliver the Coupé as a rear-wheel drive with 179 hp or 204 hp and as a four-wheel drive with 265 hp. The 179 hp version will receive a 58 kWh battery pack, the other two a 77 kWh battery. A more potent RS is also planned for a later moment with a total of 300 hp.
We have our first acquaintances with the rear-wheel drive variant with 204 hp electric motor. Fair is fair: it drives completely according to expectations no different from the version with the already known bodywork that we have discussed earlier on these pages. The engine silently performs its task perfectly, we are not short of anything. Because the front wheels do not have to process any driving forces, there is a pleasant peace of mind in the steering. The low-placed battery pack and the sturdy – but certainly not uncomfortable – tuning of the chassis contribute to the car being nice and stable on the road. The dashboard is also unchanged, which means a minimum of buttons and (too) much functionality tucked away in the infotainment system.
Through the air
There is quite a bit to do about the software, since the modular architecture for electric mid-range cars is being used within the Volkswagen Group. The Volkswagen ID.3 was launched last year with software internally referred to as ME1. It took a lot of updates to get those electronics to work more or less as intended. The Enyaq iV has been equipped with a newer software variant (ME2) from the start that causes fewer problems. The Enyaq iVs that will be built after week 48 of this year (and therefore also the Coupé) will receive an even further improved variant: ME3. All Enyaq iVs already supplied with ME2 can be updated to ME3 at the dealer. A nice thing here is that with ME3 the charging speed on the DC fast charger also increases, at least in cars where the option to charge with 120 or 125 kW has been chosen. This is purely a software thing, the hardware remains the same and can handle it. It is also a prelude to a webshop/sales platform to be rolled out later, where you can upgrade the functionality of your car using software (through the air).
Skoda does not give prices yet, but knows – to get an idea – that Audi for the technically related Q4 e-tron Sportback asks two thousand extra compared to the Q4 e-tron with regular carriage.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl