• SKODA ENYAQ IV SPORTLINE 80 MAX
• Base price: $97,990 (RightCar estimated Clean Car Programme fee/rebate: zero band)
• Powertrain and economy: Rear-mounted electric motor with 77kWh battery, 150kW/310Nm, single-speed transmission, RWD, combined economy 16.2kWh/100km, 532km range (source: Skoda)
• Vital statistics: 4653mm long, 1879mm wide, 1605mm high, 2767mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 585 litres, 20-inch alloy wheels.
• Safety: Five stars (Source: EuroNCAP)
• We like: Styling, standard equipment, great ride
• We don’t like: Price-to-performance ratio a bit off…

Skoda’s first electric vehicle has landed in New Zealand, also representing the Volkswagen Group’s first EV in the country, beating out VW’s own ID.4 and ID.5, both due later this year. Called the Enyaq, the electric SUV is quite anticipated and is available in two trim levels, Sportline and Sportline Max. We’ve got the latter on test, and it represents a bit of a change of pace for Skoda.

OUTSIDE

First off, the Enyaq is quite a bit bigger than it looks in photos. It’s chunky, with a stubby nose housing angry headlights, a big, purposeful grille, and black square brackets framing the lower half of the front end.

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Large 20-inch wheels (21-inchers are optional) pushed to the edges of the car to maximise interior space, while the profile boasts three distinct character creases. The rear end gets slim Kodiaq-esque lights and a bootlid spoiler.

The gently sloping roofline houses an optional panoramic glass window, while special exterior bits for the Sportline Max include the ‘Crystal Face’ illuminated grille and a heated windscreen.

It’s a pretty spectacular-looking thing, with an assertive yet restrained road presence. I really like the front end, particularly at night with the light-up grille. There’s also a Coupe version coming, which will get the glass roof as standard to maintain rear-seat headroom. It arguably looks even better…

INSIDE

The cabin is pretty standard Skoda fare, with black leather accents sitting nicely with carbon fibre strips in the dash. There’s a leather-wrapped sports steering wheel with mounted recuperation paddles, a large 13-inch infotainment screen with Apple Carplay and Android Auto support, wireless device charging, ambient LED lighting, and heated seats as standard.

Opting for the Max gets you electric seats with memory for the front seats and massage for the driver, heated seats for both rows, a 360-degree camera, a head-up display and a grunty 12-speaker Canton audio system. I haven’t tested the base audio system yet but if it’s similar to the system in other Volkswagen Group vehicles, it’d be one to avoid.

By contrast, the Canton system here is brilliant. It’s plenty loud with great bass… loud enough to reveal a rather annoying rattle somewhere in the passenger door. Probably just something loose in this particular car.

There’s also a rather small digital dash behind the steering wheel. It functions perfectly fine but in this world of massive screens, it does seem a bit behind the times.

A black strip sits between the screen and where the head-up display projects from, which seems like it could have been used for a minimal digital readout for essential information, like speed and charge levels. And maybe it was intended for that, but things like Covid and the semiconductor shortage put a stop to those plans.

UNDER THE BONNET

Both Enyaq models get the same powertrain, comprising a rear-mounted 150kW/310Nm motor fed by an 80kWh (77kWh useable) battery. Skoda reckons you’ll get up to 532km between charges, which isn’t actually all that far from the truth. This car was reading about 480km with a full charge when I picked it up, and the number will change depending on how you drive it, just like a combustion car.

It’s not the gruntiest option out there, especially for the price (which we’ll get to soon), propelling the Enyaq to 100kph in 8.6 seconds. It doesn’t feel particularly slow though, with that instant torque helping a lot.

The lower output does mean efficiency goes up, with the claimed 16.2kWh/100km figure not far from the truth. I saw mid-to-low 17s during my time with the Enyaq, which is among the lowest of the EVs we’ve tested.

ON THE ROAD

Another Sportline Max bonus is Dynamic Chassis Control, or Volkswagen-speak for adaptive dampers. This lets the suspension adjust how firm or soft the ride is depending on which mode is selected, and it works superbly well.

Cornering is nicely level in Sport mode, made more impressive by the fact the Enyaq weighs around 2100kg, while Normal offers a remarkably pliant ride for about-town driving and commuting.

Acoustic glass reduces external noises by quite a bit resulting in a quiet cabin, helped by the obvious factor of the silent motor.

The rear-mounted motor provides an entertaining level of shove from the back, good fun when changing direction on a bendy road. Steering is good too, typical Volkswagen accuracy and weight.

Paired with the DCC system, the Enyaq is a genuinely fun car to drive, particularly at lower speeds where the instant torque is more obvious.

VERDICT

So, when it’s all said and done, is the Enyaq good enough to earn your dollars? It’s a potent question, because Skoda is asking for quite a few of them.

The Sportline Max here starts at $97,990, well above the Clean Car rebate limit of $80,000, and in line with a lot of strong competition. There’s the Tesla Model Y, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, and the BMW iX1 all sitting around the $90-100k mark, not to mention the inbound Audi Q4 e-tron and Ford Mustang Mach-E.

All of those offer more power than the Skoda and broadly equal levels of kit for a similar price. You’ve also got lots of options below the $80,000 mark, in that price-to-performance slot that Skoda typically occupies.

Bear in mind, there will be cheaper Enyaq models in the future. The current line-up is likely a result of New Zealand being the first market outside of Europe/America to get the Enyaq, and with all the various factors choking supply, it’s probably a ‘get-what-you’re-given’ situation with the factory.

But, all that said, if power isn’t at the top of your list for a new EV, the Enyaq is a genuinely good option. The range is great, it looks superb, the cabin is quality, there’s a decent gob of tech included, and it’s the only option from the Volkswagen group until VW’s own ID.4 and ID.5 arrive in a month or two, followed by the Cupra Born later in the year.