Skoda is kicking off a new era with the unveiling of the Elroq, a bold-looking electric crossover that’s poised to steal sales from some of the market’s most popular EVs.
Available to order from 18 October, the Elroq undercuts its most prominent rivals – and many smaller alternatives – by a significant margin, with prices starting from £31,500.
That’s £5825 cheaper than the Kia Niro EV, £14,375 less than the Ford Explorer and even £450 less than the smaller Smart #1.
The Elroq is the first Skoda to adopt the brand’s latest Modern Solid design language. It is most obviously distinguished from older Skodas by the new Tech Deck face, comprising a prominent black bar that spans the width of the front end. It’s fitted with segmented LED daytime-running lights, while the main headlights are on the lower section of the front end.
As well as bringing a new look to the Skoda range, the clean surfaces and sloping roofline introduced with Modern Solid also benefit aerodynamics. Working with a series of active elements – including a cooling flap in the front end that automatically shuts to reduce air resistance – they help the Elroq record a drag coefficient of just 0.26.
The new crossover is underpinned by the Volkswagen Group’s MEB architecture, which is also used by the Audi Q4, Cupra Born and Volkswagen ID 3, among others. Here it has been stretched to 4.49m long, making the Elroq slightly larger than the combustion-engined Karoq (4.39m long) but significantly smaller than the Enyaq (4.65m).
Three powertrains will be offered at launch, labelled 50, 60 and 85. The entry-level 50 gets a 52kWh battery pack and a 168bhp rear-mounted motor, yielding a range of more than 230 miles. The 60 version is boosted to 59kWh and 201bhp, and gives a range of more than 250 miles, while the 85 range-topper gets a significantly larger 77kWh battery and 282bhp, with more than 360 miles per charge. The 50 and 60 can both be charged at up to 145kW, going from 10-80% in 25 minutes, and the bigger 85 pack can take 175kW, completing the same recharge in 28 minutes.
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Has Skoda just killed off the Karoq?
It looks decent, especially for a Skoda. My confusion lies with the pricing. Another article today talks about Skoda hanging on to the ICE. This Elroq is basically a Karoq EV but it's pricing seems to be much more compeditive.
I sold our Karoq last year. It was a great car, almost impossible to fault, but never even looked at replacing it with anouther due to the insane price increases and both trim level and option changes. The recent facelift makes the Karoq even worse value for money IMO.
No word about equipment levels on the UK bound Elroq just yet, but if these base prices are correct, if I were in the market for this size of vehicle, why would I buy a Karoq?
I agree. I think this is one of the better looking cars on sale. Those who feel the need to complain, what cars do they drive? Those who complain about cars all looking the same, what's their solution to creating a family car that has to major on aerodynamics to achieve high economy figures? Or have they invented an engine that runs on fresh air?
The reason I reply is you're not going to select an EX30 due to lack of speedometer? I'm not familiar with the EX30 but I can say 100% that if it doesn't have a speedometer then it's not legal to drive on our roads.
I thought that this was supposed to showcase a new "design language" for Skoda? Its just much more of the same really, and have they already abandoned that 3 dial climate control panel?
Still, it seems its another reduction in price point for this type of vehicle, if thats what you want to buy.