Skoda has been a popular brand for Irish motorists since they launched here in 1993 with the popular Octavia. Skoda is a favourite among urban and rural drivers alike and many of the latter still favour diesel. Indeed, Skoda is one of the few brands who seem to be proud of their diesel heritage.
The Skoda brand was established in 1895 as a manufacturer of bicycles with headquarters in Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic; they switched to making motor cars in 1905. Skoda became state owned in 1948 and after the Velvet Revolution it was gradually privatised, eventually becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the VW Group in 2000.
The Octavia is still popular with Irish drivers and other popular cars from the Skoda stable which you will see on Irish roads include: Elroq, Fabia, Kamiq, Karoq, Kodiaq and the spacious Superb. Then, six years ago, Skoda choose Ireland as the venue for the launch of their first electric car, the Enyaq, with the name derived from Eithne or Enya.
However, a few weeks after the Enyaq launch we had another visitor, this time the unwelcome COVID-19. It certainly didn’t help the roll-out of electric car charging points on our green island and neither did it help sales of the Enyaq.
Now, a revamped version of the Enyaq is here, with a few minor improvements. The front grille now looks smarter and instead of the Skoda logo the name Skoda is printed on the bonnet.
The range has also improved, and the claimed range is now around 560km. You will find it difficult to get that many kilometres, but if this fine weather holds up you could get around 540km with a full charge. And if you find a fast ESB super charger the 82kWh battery charges very quickly.
Inside, the décor is bright thanks to a full-length sun-roof. As usual with most new cars the dash is dominated by an infotainment screen, in this case a fairly neat 13-inches.
There are very few manual buttons, but the slave controls on the steering wheel make for safe driving. And of course, you get Skoda’s famous windscreen clip on the driver’s side, where you put your parking ticket, the one you pay for in advance. In the early days Skoda also used to provide a small umbrella that fitted into a side panel; the brollies are gone, but the weather is improving.
There is ample leg and head room for five adults. You get a huge boot, officially 585 litres, but no Frunk and no spare wheel. Only item missing, in my opinion, is a heads-up display.
The starting price for the Enyaq 85 version, which I drove, after all grants are applied, is €48,223. The is also a fancier 130 edition.
I have always been impressed with everything that has come out of the Skoda factory and the recent changes/improvements, have I think, helped the Enyaq to compete with other large fully electric cars.
In the summer we are due to see the first version of Skoda’s new seven-seater Peaq, underlining its position at the top of Skoda’s model portfolio.
No doubt you will hear radio ads for the Peaq very soon. Some radio ads can be annoying, but not the ads for Skoda cars. They are beautiful and come from the dulcet tones of a former Brighton goalkeeper named Brian de Salvo, who has been living and working in Ireland a long time.
