New powertrain for electric Skoda Enyaq

Laurin & Klement, L&K for short, is the name referring to the founders of the brand that Skoda often sticks to expensive top versions. At first glance, the introduction of a Skoda Enyaq L&K seems only the addition of an extra luxury version for a small audience, but it brings much more important news. For the time being, Skoda provides the Skoda Enyaq L&K exclusively with a new powertrain, the 85 or 85x.

That number traditionally stands for the rounded capacity of the battery in kWh. For example, the existing Enyaq 80 has a gross capacity of 82 kWh. At the time of writing, Skoda is not yet communicating a specific capacity for the 85 versions, but you can count on the battery being larger. This is also evident from the promised range: despite its large wheels, the Skoda Enyaq 85 L&K can travel up to 570 kilometers on a full battery. For comparison: now an Enyaq travels 544 kilometers at best. The four-wheel drive 85x travels 550 kilometers and that is also further than an Enyaq 80 with four-wheel drive.

At the same time, the Enyaq also gets more power. Skoda speaks of 210 kW, or 286 hp. Right: the power of the completely new electric motor announced earlier this year. It is narrowly less than the Enyaq RS (299 hp), but more than the 80 (204 hp). Interesting: that 286 hp applies to both the rear-wheel drive Enyaq 85 and the four-wheel drive 85x, which therefore gets the same value from two electric motors. The latter sprints from 0 to 100 in 6.6 seconds, the rear-wheel drive in 6.7. Both are therefore considerably faster than the 80, which does the job as a rear-wheel drive in 8.7 seconds. Fast charging also seems to be improving. Again we don’t have an exact value, but ‘from 10 to 80 percent in less than half an hour’ is faster than what an Enyaq can do right now. What may also contribute to this is that the electric Skoda can now preheat its battery.

Also interesting: Skoda does not explicitly mention that this powertrain replaces the 80, but it does call the 80 ‘previous’ somewhere. So it looks very similar, but of course we ask. What applies to an Enyaq is almost guaranteed to also apply to sister models Volkswagen ID4 and ID5 and Audi Q4 E-Tron, followed by the new Cupra Tavascan. More ‘big news’: the Skoda Enyaq is now officially called Skoda Enyaq, and therefore no longer ‘Skoda Enyaq iV’. Handy, because we secretly ignored that anyway.

De Laurin&Klement

We are so full of that new powertrain that we would almost forget that the L&K version is also new. The car is recognizable from the outside by its extra silver accents, combined with unique bumpers that closely resemble those of the Sportline. The interior is standardly graced by beige leather, but black is also possible. Things like seat heating and seat ventilation make life on board more pleasant. Skoda takes the opportunity to tighten up the infotainment, including a new menu structure. Of course that also comes to other versions of the Skoda Enyaq. The Skoda Enyaq L&K will be available as a regular crossover and as a ‘Coupé’, the version with a steeper sloping roofline.

Prices are just as lacking as further technical details, but that will undoubtedly change in the near future. If that happens, you will of course find it right here.