The New Skoda Elroq Has 281bhp, Rear-Wheel Drive*

Skoda has released a new compact electric crossover. Contain your excitement! It’s called the Skoda Elroq, and as well as continuing the Czech brand’s unusual relationship with the letter Q, it ushers in a new styling direction for VW’s slightly cooler, less pretentious cousin.

Skoda calls that corporate design ‘Modern Solid’, and it’s anchored around a new front end design called the ‘Tech Deck’. That involves the fitting of some slender new LED matrix lights and slightly tweaked bonnet lettering. Thrilling stuff, we know.

Flippancy aside, Skoda tends to make cars that are very worthy, sensible and affordable next to competitors, and the Elroq promises more of the same. It’s based on Volkswagen’s MEB scalable electric platform along with pretty much every other compact-ish EV from Skoda, VW, Cupra and Audi, plus the new Ford Explorer and Capri.

The Elroq, meanwhile, comes with three different powertrain options, all based around a single-motor, rear-wheel drive setup. The most basic is the 50, with a 55kWh battery and a motor packing 168bhp and 229lb ft of torque. Next up is the 60, which takes capacity up to 63kWh and oomph to 201bhp and 229lb ft.

Then, there’s the headline-grabbing 85. This packs an 82kWh battery, and the motor makes 281bhp and a substantial 402lb ft. Funny world we live in when Skoda makes an electric crossover with rear-wheel drive and nearly as much power as a base Porsche 718, isn’t it?

That top powertrain is perhaps best paired with the vRS-lite SportLine trim, which features lower suspension and a specific damper tune. That combo will set you back from £41,600, while at the other end of the scale, a basic SE with the 50 powertrain kicks things off at £31,500.

No acceleration figures yet, but most Elroqs are limited to 99mph, while the 85 ups things to a mighty 111mph. For once, opting for more power doesn’t mean you pay the price in range, because the battery size increases with the motor output: quoted range is “more than” 230 miles for the 50, upwards of 250 for the 60, and a maximum of 360 for the 85.

That’s a lot of numbers, but the last one you need to know is 18/10, or 18 October – that’s when UK order books open for the Elroq.