The Skoda Enyaq EV Is Here And A 302bhp vRS Is Confirmed

The ID 3 and the ID 4 now have a new VW Group playmate. It’s from Czech subsidiary Skoda, and it’s called the Enyaq, a name derived from the word ‘enya’, which means ‘source of life’. Sounds awfully pleasant and delicate, right? But already, Skoda has confirmed there’ll be a potent performance version.

The Enyaq RS (badged ‘vRS’ in the UK) will have a dual-motor setup powered by an 82kWh battery pack, giving 302bhp and 339lb ft of (almost) guilt-free shove. The top speed isn’t hugely impressive at a presumably electronically-limited 112mph, but the 0-62mph is respectable at just 6.2 seconds.

We don’t know much else about the RS/vRS just yet, nor do we know what it’ll look like - although someone somewhere is no doubt rectifying that via Photoshop. Its confirmation is interesting, though - VW is yet to announce a performance variant of its ID 3, and R boss Jost Capito told Car Throttle earlier this year that an R-branded EV is some way off.

The vRS won’t be the only brisk Enyaq - the 80x iV will have a slightly less powerful version of the 82kWh, dual-motor powertrain, and the same 286-mile range. Like its quicker sibling, it’s expected to be here around the middle of 2021.

Away from these two models, the Enyaq uses a single, rear-mounted motor, making this the first rear-wheel drive Skoda since the last of the company’s rear-engined vehicles went out of production 30 years ago. The 80 iV looks like the pick of the bunch, meanwhile, with 201bhp and a WLTP range of up to 317 miles.

The iV 60 swaps the 82kWh battery for a 62kWh unit, dropping the range to 260 miles. Thanks to the drop in weight, this 177bhp Enyaq is barely slower than the 201bhp version, hitting 62mph in 8.7 seconds compared to the 80 iV’s 8.5sec sprint. There’s an entry-level 50 iV, although it doesn’t look like this will be coming to the UK.

The Enyaq can be charged at 50kW, with 100kW capability optionally available for the 62kWh battery and 125kW on the 82kWh pack. With the latter, it’ll be possible to juice the cells to 80 per cent in just under 40 minutes, provided you can find a charger with the required output.

The range starts at £30,450 factoring in the government grant, rising to £46,995 for the fully-loaded 80 Founders Edition. The vRS version, then, will likely be Skoda’s most expensive performance car by some margin when it goes on sale.