Skoda ElroqSkoda ElroqRemember when new electric cars were all huge, had a motor each end and bristled with more complexity than you could shake a stick at?Well, the Skoda Elroq, our favourite electric car on today's market, is emphatically not that and is all the better for it.Of course, the version we've chosen does have the bigger '85' battery and the meatiest, albeit single, 282bhp motor to drive its rear wheels, which pushes the price closer to £40,000 than the £32,000 where the base model starts.AdvertisementAdvertisementBut there's a pleasant simplicity about the whole car that goes with it being based on the Volkswagen Group's now well-developed MEB EV platform, just like the Volkswagen ID 3 and Cupra Born.That big battery means you get a cool 350 miles of range and normal driving means 300-320 of this is honest-to-God available - at this time of the year, at least.The Elroq 85 can turn a 0-62mph acceleration run in 6.3sec, which makes it fast in 4.5m-long crossover terms. If you're the type who gets into impromptu roundabout or motorway on-ramp jousts (we don't recommend it), you will find you have a strong hand, its quick response being just as useful as its ability to gather speed.Yet it's the Elroq's cosseting ride and quiet cruising that is its strongest suit. This is a thoroughly enjoyable car to drive calmly. The suspension is supple and just about perfectly damped. It absorbs ripples that would annoy in other cars, yet its body remains mostly unruffled in all but the most lumpy conditions. Try hard and you can induce a bit of body roll, but it's a fool's errand.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe car is composed and the steering and accelerator response make it unfailingly easy to drive. This is one of those subtle EV mile-eaters: quiet, smooth, effective.Skoda took quite a bit of time to launch a decent array of EVs, preferring to learn from others who wanted to rush to market. There could hardly be a better advert for the patient approach than the perfectly positioned, everyday-life-enabling Elroq.]]>
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