We’ve become used to electric cars becoming a lot more affordable in the past two years, and there’s a glut of new EV models on the way, all costing less than €25,000 in their basic forms.
Battery prices have come down, in a wholesale sense, and carmakers have figured out the production knots of making electric cars.
Even so, the price for the new Skoda Peaq is enough to incite a sharp intake of breath with just how much it undercuts its main opposition.
To recap: the Peaq is a large, seven-seat all-electric SUV, rather smooth and handsome in nature, with a spectacularly roomy interior and a huge boot.
READ MORE
In that, it’s a direct and obvious competitor for the Hyundai Ioniq 9, and the Kia EV9, both of which essay similar technical packages and seven-seat layouts.
And the Skoda is €20,000 cheaper.
The most affordable Ioniq 9 costs €78,795 with a claimed WLTP electric range of up to 620km. The best-value Kia EV9 costs €77,500 with a range of 563km.
The Skoda costs €58,150. And that’s not even for the basic version, that’s for the Selection model – well-equipped with 19 inch alloys, heated front seats and steering wheel, two magnetic wireless charging pads, an electric tailgate, and a 13.6 inch touchscreen infotainment system – with the bigger 86kWh (net) battery and a claimed range of 640km.
There is actually an even lower cost version of the Peaq, still in Selection trim, but with a smaller 58kWh battery, and a range of 452km, which costs from €54,996.
You can have a four-wheel drive version, with the bigger battery, for €59,650.
The only other seven-seat electric SUV which can compete with that Skoda pricing is the Peugeot E-5008, priced from €55,995 with a 502km range, but it’s a slightly smaller car all-round, and not as roomy as the Skoda.
[ Electric vehicles claim top spot in Irish new car marketOpens in new window ]
The Peaq will go officially on sale in Ireland shortly, and the first customer car deliveries are expected by January 2027.
According to Skoda Ireland’s brand director, John Donegan, the brand already has 1,589 ‘quote requests’ from potential customers and around 450 cars due to arrive from the factory in Mlada Boleslav, in the Czech Republic. It’s hoped that allocation might be expanded if demand like that keeps up.
It likely will – Skoda Ireland has seen a 91 per cent increase in its electric vehicle sales since last year, and EVs now account for 21 per cent of Skoda’s total European sales, spread across two models: the Enyaq and Elroq.
As well as the Peaq, those will be joined in January by the small Skoda Epiq, a compact crossover EV with ranges of either 310km or 435km depending on whether you go for the small or big battery, and a starting price of €24,559.
Donegan reckons that the recent sales landmark, whereby electric cars outpaced hybrid and petrol model sales for the first time in July, is no blip. “I think between what’s going on in the Middle East, and the general cost of living, there’s a huge focus on electric cars now, helped by the recent scrappage scheme. It’s all focused car buyers’ minds on EVs. The charging network is improving, and the choice in the market is improving.”
That said, Donegan sees the change to electric as still being of the slow and steady variety, rather than a sudden volte face (pun very much intended). “There will still be other cohorts. There’ll be fleet customers, there’ll be people who want diesel engines for the foreseeable future, and we can continue to supply them too.”
Donegan also reckons that we might start to see a gentle change in buying habits when it comes to EVs. Until now, when a model line-up has a bigger and smaller battery, customers, hungry for range, have tended to go for the bigger battery in a ratio of 80 per cent to 20 per cent. There are early signs that this is starting to change, gently, as the charging network improves and buyers become more confident in how they mentally deal with available range.
Skoda’s sales have climbed steadily in Ireland. Where it was once a niche brand, beloved of bargain hunters, now it’s very much mainstream, and with a 10 per cent market share, it lies in third place overall in the Irish car sales charts, behind Volkswagen in second place, and the market leader Toyota.
Donegan has ambitions beyond that. “Can we challenge Toyota for the number one spot? We can continue to grow this business. Where Skoda is concerned, it’s slow and steady growth.
“If you look at our performance over the last number of years, we do things in a measured fashion. But absolutely – with the dealer network that we have, with the products that we have, with the support we get from the factory, we can definitely be a number one brand in Ireland.”
[ Crisis-stricken Volkswagen is emblematic of Germany’s ailing economyOpens in new window ]
