Homing in on the range with Skoda Enyaq

Published on 20 March, 2022

Overview

There is a doom-laden part of this writer’s mind that is always looking to the future and thinking the worst.

Of course most of these things never happen and, even if they do, they would be very small beer compared to what is being experienced by many people in the world’s trouble spots.

Recently I was lucky enough to travel down to Mount Juliet Hotel in Co Kilkenny for a night and it all seemed a bit unreal — wining and dining with colleagues while across the other side of Europe absolute horrors were unfolding.

The bleakness of the news on the radio during the 150km drive down began a drumbeat of anxiety so small worries took on mammoth importance.

Did I have enough range in the Skoda Enyaq’s battery to get home the next day in time to take the dogs out for a walk? Where would I get some braces for my suit as I had left the others on the bed? How would we all get on, as it had been literally years since we embarked on such a gathering?

The matter of the braces was easily sorted. I took a diversion to Thomastown, of which the wonderful Fiona O’Connell writes so often in her Lay of the Land column in this paper. In the 170-year-old Wood’s Menswear on Market Street, Katriona Murphy supplied the best pair of braces I have ever bought. She also cuts hair and offers advice, but I might be beyond redemption so didn’t ask for any.

With trousers fully supported, the night took its course — with some passion. However, the next day the range question was still there. Although I had charged the Enyaq Sportline 80 fully before leaving home it only showed a range of 330km, way down from the 520km claimed.

As I set off for home after breakfast, it promised 160km. I could have nursed it back but I knew the Kilcullen Circle K service station on the M9 had some good chargers and aimed for there.

Of course there was a queue, which shows just how bad the charging infrastructure still is. Eventually, and very conscious of other drivers waiting, I put a quick 30km or so of range into the battery and headed home.

It seems my issue with the range of the Skoda Enyaq IV Sportline isn’t uncommon. In its test review Auto Express reckons a real-world range of around 380km is realistic but that declines quite markedly in the cold weather we experience in these islands and even more when running the climate control system.

“The official combined range of 331 miles (520km) is a bit of a pipe dream,” the magazine declares. It’s a pity as the Enyaq Sportline 80, with its 77kW battery giving 204bhp, is a rather fetching and well appointed car.

There’s a massive luggage area with space for the charging cables underneath and the room for back-seat passengers is really impressive, taking its cues from the Skoda Superb.

The Enyaq is the first purpose-built EV from Skoda but it uses the well-tried Volkswagen MEB platform — which also underpins cars like the VW ID.3 and ID.4, as well as a number of Audi, Seat and Cupra models. It is fairly heavy and you feel that on country lanes, but on motorways it settles down and is a beautifully relaxed drive.

Yet that feeling disappears when the surface is rough. Passengers will feel every bump and should be wary of having full coffee cups.

Still, the build quality is very good, the tech on board is excellent and the car is full of little extras which make life that bit easier. Many of my colleagues think it is the best of the VW group EVs.

It’s not cheap with an on-the-road price, after the €5,000 SEAI grant, of €53,525 which includes a tyre and maintenance pack of €2k. However, the test car had another €4,237 of extras, including some good driver assistance and comfort packs.

There were also very smart 21-inch alloys which were perhaps responsible for the rough road issues. This made for a total of €57,762. No wonder a recent report showed EVs are still mostly for the well-heeled. A heat pump which would help the range is also an extra €1,113.

You will see a lot of Enyaqs around and a coupe version was shown off in Tuscany last weekend. I did like the car but still think the 80 Sportline is rather expensive and range shouldn’t be an issue at that price, even for an overly anxious person like myself.

BMW i4 looks the part in five-star luxury

The trip to Mount Juliet was a chance to have a get-together with the very affable BMW people, as well as seeing the new all-electric i4 — based on the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe, which in turn has a heritage building on the wonderful 3 Series.

It’s quite a looker and seemed very at ease in the sumptuous surrounds of the hotel and its golf course, which will be hosting the Irish Open again in July. Everybody loved driving it but I will hold off commenting until I take a proper test away from five star luxury.

Prices start at €63,565 and the 544bhp power on board will shoot you to 100kmh in 3.9 seconds. There’s a claimed range of 589km, but we’ll see about that.

Ford’s focus shifts to EVs

After being quite late to the party, Ford has announced it is launching a whole raft of electric vehicles. By 2024 in Europe there will be three new electric passenger cars and four new commercial EVs. There are plans to sell more than 600,000 electric vehicles in the region by 2026.

Starting in 2023, Ford will begin production of an all-new electric medium-sized crossover, built in Cologne with a second EV added to production there in 2024. In addition, the Ford Puma will be available as an EV made in Craiova, Romania, in 2024.