Just as we left to attend the launch of the new Skoda Elroq, the Czech brand’s second all-electric model, news came in that Irish electric car sales had finally, in November, taken an upward tick. After months and months of decline and doom-saying in the Irish electric car market, things were finally looking up.
Well, partially so. A lot of the bump in November sales came courtesy of Tesla, which traditionally delivers a large number of cars in that month thanks to its global shipping schedules, but other EVs — notably Toyota’s bz4X — also performed well. You can make your own political decisions about whether it’s desirable to currently buy a Tesla and continue to line Elon Musk’s pockets…
At least the upturn in sales was a bright spot in what has been a depressing year for Irish EV fans. Sales have spiralled down by 24 per cent compared to 2023, and one theory goes that buyers — especially the broader core of the car buying public — are waiting for more affordable electric models to arrive before taking the plunge.
The Skoda Elroq is just such an affordable model, arriving as it will next April with a €36,545 price tag (although you will have to automatically inflate that by €777 for metallic paint). That makes its considerably cheaper to buy than Skoda’s bigger — and rather successful, being as it was the best-selling European EV in October — Enyaq, which has a starting price of €48,900.
It’s not as if the Elroq is some kind of penurious relation, either. It shares the same MEB electric car platform as the Enyaq (also shared with the VW ID lineup, the Audi Q4 e-tron, and the Cupra Born and Tavascan) and so gets the same battery and motor technology.
Ah, but there’s a catch. If you want the cheapest Elroq — and given its impressive equipment levels there’s no reason why you wouldn’t — you also have to have the smallest, 52kWh battery. This enforces a certain level of compromise in terms of range, because the claimed 375km range — well behind the 440km offered by the identically priced Kia EV3 — is actually more like 300km in real-world driving. Now, while that may actually technically be enough for most, at most times, it does mean that the Elroq 50 is not going to be the best long-haul car, especially given the parlous state of Ireland’s charging network.
Little wonder then that Skoda Ireland tells us that most Irish buyers interested in the Elroq — a car which already holds a 25,000-strong order book across Europe — are leaning towards the big-battery Elroq 85, with its 77kWh pack and a potential range of up to 570-odd-kilometres. The probable best compromise is the Elroq 60, with a range of 440km, but that doesn’t arrive until later next year.
Thankfully, no matter which battery you choose, you’ll get the same cabin and that is a very good cabin indeed. In fact, we reckon that the Elroq decisively puts Skoda ahead of VW, Cupra, Seat, and even some Audis when it comes to cabin design. There’s nothing dramatically new here — the Elroq carries over the (too-big, frankly) 13-inch touchscreen from the Enyaq and the Octavia, and the overall shape and style don’t seem too dramatically different to that of other Skoda models.
However, the sheer quality of the cabin, and its comfort, its usefulness (so much storage space), the room in the back (easily enough for four six-footers to get comfortable), and the sense of welcoming warmth as you open the door really do take some beating. It’s a cabin in which you feel instantly, happily at home, to the point where you’re slightly surprised that it doesn’t come with standard slippers and the Sky remote.
At 470 litres, the boot is somewhat smaller than that of the comparable petrol-powered Karoq SUV, but it’s usefully square and flat-floored, and there are a number of available accessories to allow you to divvy up the space as needed. One very neat touch is the net, strung under the parcel shelf, which can hold the charging cable and which distracts you from the fact that the Elroq lacks a handy ‘frunk’ in the nose.
To drive, the Elroq feels very like the larger Enyaq for the most part, which should come as no surprise. The steering is nicely weighted and feels positive, and while the Elroq is no sports car it handles tidily enough, and can even be fairly enjoyable on a twisty road. It’s actually happier on the motorway, where the exceptionally good noise suppression makes for relaxed progress, although that does just remind you afresh of how truncated the range is.
Less good is the ride quality, which on the standard 20-inch alloys just fidgets and fusses too much on anything less than a perfect surface — and when was the last time you found one of those in Ireland. Skoda has prided itself in recent years in making cars well-suited to Irish conditions, and it’s not just marketing puff either, but the Elroq does seem to drop that ball somewhat. Perhaps we should be offered the 19-inch wheels which are standard in some other markets, notably the UK.
As to whether the Elroq can be the car to unlock EV desire among Irish buyers? Well, that’s probably an unfair weight to place on the shoulders of one car, but certainly the grá that we have for Skoda in general and the tempting price point should at least help in that sense. It’s a good car, the Elroq — a great one if you consider its cabin in isolation — but once you start taking range and battery size into account, it’s not quite the bargain it initially seems.
