Skoda has launched its new Elroq electric compact SUV, a smaller brother to the Enyaq. While the market for electric vehicles in Ireland is currently shrinking – EV sales fell by another 30 per cent in September, with only slightly more than 1,000 new electric cars registered – Skoda is hoping that the launch of new, more affordable models will help to put EVs back on Irish buyers’ radars.
The Elroq will come with a choice of different battery capacities, with the biggest 82kWh pack stretching to a claimed range of 560km. The entry-level Elroq 50 won’t do that, but it still packs a reasonable 370km range, so it will be suitable for those who don’t undertake many long-haul journeys in their normal week.
The mid-spec Elroq 60 gets a slightly larger battery and a more usable range of 440km for a price of €38,416 while for the big-battery Elroq 85 you’ll have to spend €42,315. All models are currently rear-wheel drive, with a four-wheel drive Elroq 85x model planned for the latter half of next year.
If you’ve gone for the big-battery model, then it can charge at up to 175kW from a DC fast charging station, meaning a 10-80 per cent charge takes 28 mins. For the smaller battery versions, that falls to 25 minutes.
As with most Skoda models, the Elroq will be a practical car, with a 470-litre boot, while the big touchscreen in the centre of the dash stretches to a whopping 13-inches as standard. There is also a combined total of 48-litres of storage space dotted around the cabin, and a special storage net under the dashboard where you can tuck the Elroq’s charging cable, to stop it taking up space in the boot.
In spite of its tallish SUV shape, the Elroq boasts a slippery aerodynamic drag coefficient of just 0.26Cd, but its styling – the much anticipated switchover in Skoda’s ‘design language’ to a more technical look, seems rather unambitious and rather plain. Perhaps it will looks sharper when we actually see Elroqs out on the road. For those that want to, Skoda Ireland’s order books open on October 7th.
Klaus Zellmer, chief executive of Skoda Auto, said at the car’s reveal: “The Skoda Elroq is our first BEV model in the compact SUV class, the fastest-growing and most popular subsegment in Europe. The Elroq stands out as our first model to adopt the ‘Modern Solid’ design language, defined by robustness, functionality and new visual accents such as the black ‘Tech Deck’ face”.
John Donegan, Skoda Ireland brand director, added: “The Skoda Elroq represents a significant breakthrough in the Irish EV market. Until now, Irish customers have predominantly been limited to larger, more expensive EV SUV options, with electric models typically priced higher than their ICE counterparts. That dynamic is finally starting to change.
“The Skoda Elroq EV will be more competitively priced and better specified than the similarly sized, petrol and diesel powered Skoda Karoq. In 2025, for the first time, Skoda SUV customers will enjoy the unique choice of two equally attractive, similarly sized, and comparably priced vehicles – one powered by electricity, the other by combustion. I know which one I’d choose.”
