People are accustomed to defining the target users of electric vehicles as the trendy real estate class in big cities. That's sure to change soon, like the Skoda Enyaq, which is trying to make itself an ordinary family electric vehicle. Can this really be done?
Let's not talk about the ultimate electric mobility, but return to the real world, and then ask the following questions: What kind of electric vehicle is suitable for ordinary people? It should be such a car, first, it should have enough space for a family to ride; second, it should be able to meet most of the daily use scenarios; again, it should be skinny enough that it does not need to be delivered to the garage for three days; and finally, its price should be acceptable to the average working class. The Enyaq iV50 should be a good choice for €24,230 after deducting subsidies.
By the way, the Enyaq is not an electric Kodiak, although its size and body shape do have similarities with the Kodiak. In fact, this Skoda tram is more related to the Volkswagen ID.4 and is also equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor that delivers electricity to the rear axle. The tested Enyaq iV80 is the top model in this series, with a power output of about 204 horsepower and a price of at least 34 380 euros after deducting subsidies. Of course, if you also want to be able to have some extra configuration that makes it more compatible with the SUV or make it more aesthetically pleasing, the price will also fluctuate upwards, for example, the comfort option kit used in the test car, including leather seats, will cost an additional 1500 euros.
The capacity of the battery is almost 80 kilowatts. The full power range is basically between 443 km (ideal) and 294 km (real state). Energy consumption is between 17.9 kWh and 26.8 kWh per 100 km. The charging time is as follows: 7.1 hours with a 22 kW wall-mounted charging case, as The Enyaq can only accept 11 kW of AC charging power, or 1 hour with a minimum of 125 kW CCS universal DC charging pile. Of course, this is provided that you pay an extra 500 euros to upgrade the vehicle's charging port, which comes standard at 50 kilowatts.
For an additional €1,150, a heat pump can be fitted. Manufacturers say it can extend the cruising range by up to 30% below 0°C. Add all of the above options, then Enyaq's radius of activity and expectations as a family daily scooter should be met. This, of course, includes space: male and female owners and children, as well as their various belongings, can be tucked in, and although the rear seat backrests can be folded in two parts, the variability of space is not ideal. Plus, even if you have bulk items to dispose of at home, that's no problem, as Enyaq's optional tow hook can pull a trailer weighing up to 1 ton.
Next to the practicality, there is an umbrella under the door on the driver's side, a pen holder inside the glove box, and a small scraper for snow removal and frost removal on the glass of the car, which can also be used to measure the depth of the tire pattern. These small benefits are better than nothing, and they really increase the favorability of Skoda products. Of course, Skoda has also added something new to the electric version: a charging cable cleaner, which is a good idea. However, this soft lying box with two sponges is really not very easy to use. This thing, like the charging cable and some small parts, can be placed under the bottom plate of the luggage compartment.
It is best to use an adjustable luggage compartment floor (included in the €300 optional package) so that after lowering the rear seat backrest, you can get a flat luggage compartment loading surface. Although it does not reach the exaggerated luggage space of Kodiak (2065 liters), the maximum volume of 1710 liters is also quite large.
lamplight? Keys instead of knobs
Inside the Skoda car, there is a practical storage space with family characteristics, and the central armrest box is huge, and there are partitions that can be removed. Tapping your finger on the top of the center control reveals that soft plastic is used in a lot of applications, while hard plastic is used below, such as the compartment with a straight frame on the door. The traditional volkswagen family light control knob has disappeared, replaced by the installation of buttons in familiar locations to control the switches of different lights.
Vehicle information is displayed on two screens. The screen behind the steering wheel is surprisingly small, so it can only display some information that is particularly important but does not require detail, such as speed, mileage and navigation arrows. The latter can also be resized via buttons on the multifunction steering wheel. The farthest screen is the car machine system, if only it could be faster at startup. To our satisfaction, the system did not go down or crash, and its software structure is similar to the system used on Volkswagen ID.3, which can be said to be quite amazing. Although we also wanted to test the head-up display with augmented reality (AR) technology integrated, unfortunately, the test car was not equipped with this device.
There's a lot more to explore than that. When you first get the car, you need to spend more time studying the big screen above the console until you can familiarize yourself with and master the human-machine system. A few buttons that protrude slightly can help you quickly switch between various functions, but the temperature of the air conditioner needs to be set on the screen, and the wind direction adjustment must also go into the corresponding menu to change. Of course, there is also a way to control it through voice. Unfortunately, this voice system is not yet so mature that it cannot understand all voice commands.
If you want to try out online services, you have to create a Skoda user account. Once you enjoy an online service, it is equivalent to having agreed to provide vehicle driving information and personal information about the driver and co-pilot to a service provider, such as Google. If you don't want to provide personal information, you'll need to unshare your personal information within the car system.
Once personal information sharing is turned off, the option remains off after each launch, and with the exception of lane keeping, this feature can be quite frustrating in the intricate construction of the road. To turn it off, you can only change the settings by going to the menu options via the touch screen, which is difficult to do while driving, because you have to spend a long time shifting your attention from the road surface to the operation menu.
Another annoyance is the inability to turn off the auto-zoom feature of the navigation map. If you have set the desired scale size, when you encounter an intersection or enter a village, the system will discard the previous scale, and the screen will display a panoramic map, if you want to see the details, you need to keep your fingers to zoom. Another point is that there is no return key under many sub-options, and you can only return directly to the main interface and then re-operate. If you want to find some support for your palms while the screen is operating, it's easy to stumble on a few very sensitive sliders below, and the result is that if you're playing music, the volume will be mishandled. In addition to this, the driving mode is automatically adjusted to "Normal" every time you start the vehicle, and if you have adapted to the "Comfort" or "Custom" mode, you will need to re-select it each time.
The 2.1-ton body is fitted with 20-inch wheels
An optional package worth 900 euros (Enhanced Sport Mode Kit) can't be bypassed when we talk about adaptive shock absorbers. With the kit, the 2.1-ton body can easily cope with some bad roads even on 20-inch wheels. When passing through the manhole cover and speed reduction belt, it is nothing more than making some crisp sounds.
If ride comfort is more important, using the standard 19-inch wheels will not only save 610 euros, but also better meet the requirements. The width of the tires is also 255 cm, but it may be slightly inferior in straight-line acceleration, especially the shape of the side of the car leads to a larger windward area.
The enyaq SUV's high body shape is not useless, and the lower mounting position of the battery module provides a stable center of gravity when cornering. Enyaq's performance on national roads is quite flexible and makes people feel very reliable. If you pay more attention to the chassis, you will find that the rear wheel drive is very expressive when accelerating out of the corner, and even has a tendency to drift. However, the steering system will remain robust at all times, and the activity of the rear wheels will not cause trouble.
On the highway, Skoda's wind noise control is generally excellent, and the driving is quiet, which gives us a good experience. Of course, the premise is that the speed is controlled within the range where wind noise can be suppressed, and if the speed exceeds 160 km / h, the noise will be greatly increased. Not only that, but the drum brakes on the rear wheels are also less effective at high speeds.
Plain
The brake test results were pretty good, just like The Enyaq did throughout the dynamic driving session, with few flaws. However, when accelerating at full throttle, we actually have higher expectations for 310 Nm of torque, because we are still familiar with the performance of the electric motor in the initial stage.
Skoda did not want to make this car a flashy decoration, but put more emphasis on efficiency, more attention to batteries and green environmental protection. Enyaq doesn't want to be an influencer on Twitter, but wants to be successful in the real world: it just wants to be a car that satisfies the modest demands of making the middle class affordable and having enough space. At this point alone, even a T-brand tram from Silicon Valley should be able to learn something from the low-key and unassuming Czechs. If that's exactly what you want, then give this counter-trender some work he should do!