New 2021 Skoda Enyaq EV teased again ahead of official reveal

Skoda’s design department has teased the upcoming Enyaq’s front and rear lights before the pure-electric crossover is unveiled next month

Skoda is readying its first purpose built electric vehicle for launch. The Enyaq iV SUV will make its official debut on 1 September – and these latest sketches provide a realistic look at the design of the crossover’s front and rear lamps.

When it goes on sale in 2021, the Enyaq will be Skoda’s first EV based on the Volkswagen Group’s new MEB platform and will act as a sibling to the upcoming Volkswagen ID.4. It will also provide fresh competition for the likes of the Kia e-Niro and Peugeot e-2008.

New 2021 Skoda Enyaq: design and interior

Skoda’s relentless barrage of teaser images confirm that the Enyaq will draw plenty of inspiration from the Vision iV concept, as well as the brand’s existing combustion-engined line-up. For example, EV’s headlamps draw inspiration from both the Kamiq crossover and Octavia hatchback, sharing similar daytime running lights and individual LED reflectors.

The rest of the car’s styling is lifted from the Vision iV concept. Naturally, some of the show car’s details, such its wafer-thin headlights and wing-mounted rear-view cameras, will fall by the wayside for the production car, but the overall shape and dimensions (with a footprint between that of a Karoq and a Kodiaq) will remain familiar.

However, the standard, production-facing Enyaq will ditch the concept’s coupe-like roofline in favour of a more practical, pseudo-estate shape – but we know that a coupe-SUV version of the car is already also the pipeline. The car’s tail-lights are also very similar to those found on the latest Octavia.

Skoda’s interior sketches also reveal that the finished Enyaq’s dashboard will be influenced by the latest Octavia. There’s a small digital instrument binnacle and a two-spoke steering wheel that’s lifted from the hatchback – while a large 13-inch infotainment screen dominates the centre of the dashboard.

Under the central screen, there’ll be a strip of piano-key style buttons and a large centre console with a dinky drive selector. Behind the instrument panel sits a projector for a head-up display with augmented reality features.

Skoda says the main difference between the cabin of the Enyaq and its combustion-engined siblings is the material selection. The EV trim uses more natural, recycled and sustainably produced materials – such as recycled PET bottle plastic for seat coverings, and leathers tanned using extract from olive trees, rather than traditional chemical compounds.

The firm’s interior designer, Norbert Weber, promises that customers will be offered several interior themes using sustainable materials, while Skoda has also claimed a boot size of 585-litres. Skoda has also said that the Enyaq will boast a “generous” amount of cabin space. The company says it’ll have a similarly sized cabin to the Kodiaq SUV, despite being shorter in length than the conventional Octavia hatchback.

New 2021 Skoda Enyaq: batteries and range

Skoda recently released some extra information on the Enyaq’s platform and powertrain. We knew the pure-electric SUV was going to be based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB underpinnings – but Skoda has now confirmed that buyers will have their choice of rear- or four-wheel-drive, along with three battery sizes and five power outputs.

New 2021 Skoda Enyaq: batteries and range

Finally, the Enyaq’s platform will offer support for the latest 125kW DC fast charging technology, which should allow the SUV’s battery pack to recover 125 miles of range in as little as 15 minutes.

New 2021 Skoda Enyaq spied

Over the last few months, our spy photographers have Skoda’s Enyaq development mules undergoing testing – and these images offer a better indication of how the finished SUV will look, both inside and out.

We know the Enyaq will measure 4,648mm long, 1,877mm wide and 1,618mm tall – which makes it around 5cm shorter than the Kodiaq. Our spied mules share a similar nose to the Vision iV concept, but the rest of the car’s styling falls in-line with Skoda’s existing range of combustion-engined vehicles.

So, it’ll receive the same shape grille, a kindred headlight design and comparable bumpers to the Karoq – along with an entirely conventional set of Skoda alloy wheels and familiar panel mouldings for the bonnet.

New 2021 Skoda Enyaq: what comes next?

As the first Skoda model to be based on the MEB platform, the Skoda Enyaq will be a landmark car for the brand. It’s the next step in a Skoda plan to offer 10 electrified models (plug-in hybrid and fully electric) under the iV sub brand by the end of 2022, but it also uses tech that we’ll see in wide use across the VW Group in the coming years.

Skoda estimates that electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will make up 25 percent of its sales by 2025 – and hopes are high that the Enyaq will realise a significant chunk of that total figure by slotting into the ever-popular SUV class. To support the Enyaq’s endeavour, Skoda will also invest €2 billion in electric technology over the next five years.