New Skoda Epiq prototype review: Elroq’s baby brother shows plenty of promise

Verdict

The new Skoda Epiq may be the brand’s baby SUV but there’s a strong sense of maturity about this car and it looks set to deliver the impressive levels of value, space, functionality and comfort that we were hoping for from our Car of the Year’s little brother. There’s sure to be no shortage of the brand’s signature ‘Simply Clever’ touches either. A £25k starting price for the range would be the cherry on top of everything, and if the car is as well priced as we’ve been promised, Skoda is sure to have another hit on its hands.

While the forthcoming Volkswagen ID. Polo has the unenviable task of making up for all the shortcomings in its maker’s earlier EV efforts, its Czech cousin, the all-new Skoda Epiq, faces a different, but arguably greater challenge. It must match the high standards set by its best-selling siblings, the Elroq – the reigning Auto Express Car of the Year – and the Enyaq, all for the same money as a mid-range Vauxhall Corsa supermini. 

Skoda promises pricing for the new compact electric SUV will be very close to its petrol-powered counterpart, the Kamiq, which would put the starting price at around £25,000. If so, that would make it about £8,000 less than the Kia EV3, one of its biggest rivals, and put it within spitting distance of another, the Renault 4.

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The world premiere of the Epiq is set to take place in May, so we’re still a little way from knowing the official starting price and allowing you to see it in all its glory. But we can reveal plenty about it in the meantime, and we’ve even had an early taste of what it’s like on the road, thanks to a brief drive around Porto, Portugal, in a late-stage prototype sporting the most conspicuous ‘camouflage’ we’ve ever seen.

How does the Skoda Epiq look?

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Auto Express also had a sneak peek at the finished car during our time in Portugal. And while we can’t give away too much at the moment, as we’d expected, it’s incredibly close to the model displayed just a few months ago at the 2025 Munich Motor Show. 

Skoda is also keen to emphasise that the Epiq is the first car to incorporate all elements of its latest ‘Modern Solid’ design language, in contrast to the Elroq and facelifted Enyaq, which got a few details here and there. Among the most distinctive new details are the eight pill-shaped air intakes in the car’s front bumper, behind which are active shutters that help improve the aerodynamics and are flanked by air curtains, which have been much more discreetly integrated into the bumper.

The ‘Tech-Deck Face’ mask that was introduced on the Elroq has been carried over the Epiq as well. But here it’s almost framed by the new T-shaped light signature, which is repeated in the tail-lights that you can just about see through this prototype’s camouflage. 

There’s going to be plenty of cladding around the Epiq both to provide the robust 4x4-esque look buyers are after, and to protect the car from the sort of light scuff you get from driving in the city. Meanwhile the aero-optimised wheels on offer will range from 17 to 19 inches. 

What’s the Skoda Epiq like to sit in?

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We’re not allowed to show you any part of the Epiq’s interior, but somewhat bizarrely we can tell you about most of its features. 

Designed to feel spacious, cozy and uncluttered inside, the Epiq features a horizontal dashboard layout incorporating an ambient lighting strip, while the seat upholstery is made from recycled seat fabric. There’s also a 13-inch central touchscreen, while behind the steering wheel is a 5.3-inch instrument display – the same size as those in the larger, pricier Elroq. 

Also as in its sibling, there will be various design schemes for the interior. The base Studio trim will come with recycled textile upholstery, while upgrading to Loft design will add not only synthetic leather to the dashboard and doors, but also the option of grey or mint green colour. Finally, customers who opt for top-of-the-line Suite will get embossed suede and synthetic leather Tabora Brown upholstery, with more of the same across dashboard and doors.

Where are the ‘Simply Clever’ features?

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As you would expect of a Skoda, there will be plenty of ‘Simply Clever’ features dotted around the Epiq, designed to make life that little bit easier and help set this car apart from its myriad rivals. 

The classics remain, including an umbrella hidden in the driver’s door, a parking ticket holder on the windscreen and an ice scraper (now made from recycled materials) tucked in the bootlid. But there are some new additions, such as a compact bag to hopefully prevent the charging cables from becoming a tangled mess and taking up space in the boot.

Skoda claims there’s about 26 litres of storage space throughout the Epiq’s cabin, which should be plenty for the odds and ends that family life accumulates. Meanwhile, the boot is a whopping 475 litres, which is not just 75 litres bigger than the Kamiq’s, it’s also larger than the Renault 4’s (420 litres), the Kia EV3’s (460 litres) and, rather surprisingly, the Elroq’s (470 litres). 

That’s because while the rear-wheel-drive Elroq locates its e-motor under the boot floor, the Epiq is front-wheel drive and uses a more compact torsion-beam suspension system for the rear axle, which frees up extra luggage capacity. Speaking of which, there’s 1,344 litres to play with when the rear seats are folded down. 

How much range does the Skoda Epiq have?

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The Epiq is one of the four members of the Volkswagen Group’s new affordable ‘Electric Urban Car’ family being launched in 2026. The others are the Cupra Raval and VW ID. Polo hatchbacks, which are arriving just ahead of the Epiq, then later this year we’ll see VW’s own small SUV, the ID. Cross.   

All of them will use the new MEB+ platform, which has been designed to be less costly and complex than the MEB architecture that underpins the Elroq and Enyaq. Hence the simpler torsion-beam rear suspension and switch to front-wheel drive, plus the use of more cost-effective LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries in certain variants. 

The entry-level Epiq 35 uses a 37kWh (usable) LFP battery that Skoda says will offer up to 196 miles of range, while its 114bhp e-motor is good for 0-62mph in exactly 11 seconds. 

The battery pack and claimed range are the same in the Epiq 40 model, but its extra power (133bhp) cuts the benchmark sprint time down to below 10 seconds. It can also be charged slightly more quickly thanks to top-up speeds being boosted from 50kW to 90kW.

However, the top-spec Epiq 55 gets a more energy-dense 51.7kWh NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) battery capable of up to 267 miles on a single charge. The range-topper also boasts a maximum charging speed of 133kW, so a 10 to 80 per cent top-up will take just 23 minutes, while its 208bhp lets it do 0-62mph in a zippy 7.4 seconds. 

What’s the Skoda Epiq like to drive?

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Million-pound supercars would be jealous of the amount of attention the Skoda Epiq prototype got during our test drive through Porto. Passers-by on every street were smiling and taking pictures, while fellow motorists dared to take their eyes off to stare. One even gave us a thumbs up like we were rolling through town in a Ferrari Enzo – alhough the technicolour camouflage can take most of the credit for all that.

We found the ride in the Epiq to be on the firmer side, at least compared with the Elroq and Enyaq, which have a particular soothing, almost wafting quality to them. However, it’s by no means uncomfortable and it’s very well damped. The suspension did a particularly impressive job absorbing the impacts from any potholes we came across and cushioning us as we drove over the heavily cobbled streets through the old town. 

A few knocks from the suspension did make their way into the cabin during our test drive, although we should remember this was a prototype. And that aside, even from our brief drive we got the sense the Epiq would handle better on a twisty road than its larger siblings.

The steering has a pleasant and reassuring weight to it, yet it’s not so heavy that manoeuvring around town was in any way strenuous. The highlight, though, was the feel of the brake pedal. This might sound like an unusual thing to compliment a family-friendly SUV on, but it was well weighted and consistent. Plus we could not tell when the car transitioned from regenerative to physical braking – a feat that many manufacturers are still struggling to achieve. 

The prototype we drove was the top-of-the-line Epiq 55, which felt very sprightly thanks to the 290Nm of torque that its front-mounted electric motor spits out, delivering effortless acceleration up to motorway speeds. Arguably more impressive was the fact that we couldn’t detect any whining from the e-motor, which you expect in a front-wheel-drive EV.

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