The Enyaq Coupé vRS is a new type of car for Skoda: an electric coupé SUV with an emphasis on looks and performance. But does it make sense in real-world use?...
The car Skoda Enyaq Coupé iV vRS Run by Allan Muir, managing editor
Why we’re running it To see whether the most stylish and powerful Skoda yet can justify its relatively high price
Needs to Live up to its sporty brief by being great fun to drive while still proving easy to live with and having a generous real-world range
Mileage 878 List price £54,370 Target Price £54,370 Price as tested £54,990 Options fitted 21in Vision alloy wheels (£620) Test range 210 miles Official range 323 miles
17 March 2023 – Green with envy
The term ‘fashionably late’ has a double meaning when it’s applied to the Skoda Enyaq Coupé iV. This swoopy-roofed version of Skoda’s large electric SUV is the most style-conscious model the Czech brand has ever made, sacrificing a little practicality in favour of eye-catching looks.
Skoda is also relatively late to the coupé SUV party, when you consider that the BMW X6 has been around since 2008 and has inspired everything from the small, affordable Volkswagen Taigo to the monstrously powerful and expensive Porsche Cayenne Coupé. Still, that tardiness is understandable from a brand better known for the value for money and practicality of its offerings.
The Enyaq Coupé breaks more new ground by being the first electric Skoda to wear the performance-focused vRS badge; in fact, it was launched in this hot form first. You can now buy Enyaq Coupés with the other, cheaper motor and battery combinations, and there’s a vRS version of the regular Enyaq SUV (which reminds me of the idiosyncratic Volvo 850 T-5R estate from the mid-1990s). But the £54,370 Enyaq Coupé vRS is the most tempting of the lot – and that’s the version I’ve chosen to run.
In the metal, my car is almost as attention-grabbing as a Lamborghini Urus, especially with its Hyper Green paint and optional 21in wheels (up from the standard 20s). Surprisingly, the citrus green paintjob isn’t a pricey option; it’s listed as a special colour but, like most of the metallic hues, isn’t something that will cost you extra to have.
Another feature that’s unashamedly designed to make you look twice is the Crystal Face illuminated front grille that’s standard on the vRS. Okay, I doubt I’d tick that box if it were an option – it strikes me as a gimmick rather than something that actually benefits me or my passengers – but at least the Enyaq Coupé has a more distinctive ‘face’ than most Teslas, for example.
The vRS is powered by two electric motors that produce a total of 295bhp and drive all four wheels. By electric car standards, that isn’t a huge amount of power, and a 0-62mph acceleration time of 6.4sec is nothing to write home about. However, my car still feels fairly brisk, so I doubt I’ll mind that it doesn’t peel my face off every time I floor the accelerator pedal.
Energy is supplied by a sizeable battery with a 77kWh usable capacity. That’s good for an impressive official range of up to 323 miles – fractionally more than that of the less powerful Kia EV6 I ran last year. However, my car isn’t proving all that efficient in cold conditions so far, managing only around 210 miles between top-ups; I’ll be very disappointed if that doesn’t improve markedly as the weather warms up. A peak charging speed of up to 135kW means a 10-80% top-up via a suitably powerful public rapid charger should take around 36 minutes – again, nothing special.
Despite its dramatically curved roofline, the Enyaq Coupé is far from being an impractical car; rear leg and head room are still generous and the boot is huge. In range-topping vRS guise, it’s lavishly equipped, too, with heated sports front seats (electrically adjustable on the driver’s side), leather seat upholstery, a heated steering wheel, keyless entry, an electric tailgate, a full-length panoramic glass roof (which looks black from the outside) and sophisticated Matrix LED headlights to go with the Crystal Face grille.
First impressions are that the Enyaq Coupé vRS feels more like a proper performance car than you might expect (given that previous ‘hot’ Skodas such as the Octavia vRS have tended to be a bit underwhelming). The driving environment is excellent, the relatively meaty steering is quick and precise, and the car feels like it’s clamped to the road, with firm, tightly controlled suspension. This, I can already tell, is a car I’ll actively want to drive just for the sake of it.
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Keyword: Skoda Enyaq Coupé vRS long-term test