I don’t watch much breakfast television on a Monday morning. But last week while waiting for the electric version of the Skoda Enyaq at the Automotive headquarters in Sandyford the television in the corner of the room caught my eye as Euro News had an item about batteries for electric cars.
The programme featured a French company called Verkor based in Grenoble, who have developed an ‘Ecole de la Batterie’ or Battery School. By 2030 over 8,000 people will be trained in battery professions and that should be enough to meet the needs of French companies who make electric cars.
We have a School of Motoring to learn how to drive, a Battery School to learn how to make batteries and surely next up must be a Charging School. I say that, as problems with charging electric cars seems to be the most popular topic when motor writers meet in Sandyford every Monday.
Thankfully I had no problem with my Enyaq, as Skoda provide a Powerpass charging card which works on all ESB, Ionity and public chargers.
The Skoda brand has become very popular with Irish motorists in recent years and the Czech company, who are part of the VW group, responded to their popularity in our Emerald Isle by giving their first electric car an Irish sounding name, Enyaq. The name is derived from the Irish name Enya.
The Coupe version naturally has a sloped roof. There is plenty of leg and head room inside and the boot is massive, but no room for a spare wheel due to the demands of electric technology.
My test car was silver with gorgeous tan-coloured leather seats, which really looked class. That tan effect is replicated on the doors and dash to give the car a really look very posh look. And the sunroof comes as standard. The dash has a curvature trim to it and it’s dominated by a 13-inch touchscreen.
Most electric cars are very dull at the front with no grille just a boxy effect. But the Enyaq reverts to the traditional grille-look with a ‘Crystal face’ illuminated grille, which naturally looks great at night. It’s only available in the version I had with the 77k battery.
When the Skoda brand was introduced to Ireland they used to have an umbrella in the side pocket and a clip on the windscreen to hold your parking meter ticket. The umbrella is gone, but the clip on screen is still there; a simple but brilliant idea.
The Czech company have proved very popular with Irish motorists, who want cars that are reliable and have a big boot. Their electric Enyaq lives up to those Irish demands.
With the big 77kWh battery you should get close to 500km with a full charge and when you find a charger where there is no queue of taxi drivers, it will charge very quickly.
A beautiful car to drive and travel in. Proof once again that Skoda is one of the best brands around.
Prices start at €54,710 for the 58 kWh battery version, while my IV80 version with 77 kWh battery starts at €60,685. There were a lot of extras on the press car which brought the total price to €72,225. But I always say you don’t have to opt for all those extras, which in this case included €2k for a tyre and maintenance plan. Road tax is €120.
Skoda Auto is accelerating its e-campaign and will grow its electric line-up to a total of six models by 2026 and by 2027 they will have invested a total of 5.6 billion euros in e-mobility.
