Skoda Elroq review

Our opinion on the Skoda Elroq

It would be easy to dismiss the Skoda Elroq as just a shortened Skoda Enyaq, but there’s much more to the Czech firm’s latest electric car than that. It’s so good, in fact, that we’ve not only awarded it our best mid-size SUV award, but our overall Car of the Year trophy, too. 

But why has the Elroq been so highly praised? Well, there’s a significant price saving for starters compared with its bigger sibling, and yet the Elroq doesn’t really sacrifice much in terms of practicality, refinement or performance. The Elroq offers a decent driving range, impressive performance and all of the practical touches that Skoda is now famous for, giving us more than enough reasons to give this outstanding electric car the nod over its closest rivals.

About the Skoda Elroq

With so many electric vehicles of varying shapes and sizes available at the £30,000-£40,000 mark, it can be hard to pin down how each settles into different size classes. In the case of the Skoda Elroq, it’s closer to a full-size SUV than many similarly priced rivals, such as the Kia EV3 and Renault Megane E-Tech. 

At nearly 4.5 metres long and 1.6 metres tall, it’s best to view the Elroq as a slightly shorter version of Skoda’s Enyaq. It’s better value than the Enyaq, though, because like-for-like the Elroq is nearly £6k less than its big brother. 

And after several encounters with Skoda’s newcomer to date, that vast gulf in price for very little difference in substance makes the Elroq feel like a bit of a bargain.  

You only need to know the origin of the car’s name to get a pretty good handle on where the newcomer slots into Skoda’s range and the wider market. Elroq is a portmanteau of Electric and Skoda Karoq, so this is a car pitched at the family SUV market. It also sits on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform, but it’s slightly longer and taller than the Volkswagen ID.3, and shorter than Skoda’s own Enyaq. 

While the Enyaq starts at around £40,000, the Elroq, when fitted with a matching powertrain, costs roughly £5,600 less. Go for the absolute base model, and the range starts from £31,500. But if you look further into those figures – and the rest of the Elroq’s on-paper specs – it’s hard to see what buyers will lose by going for the smaller car.

The Skoda Elroq is offered in four trim levels – SE, SE L, Edition and SportLine – and with a choice of three motors, each paired with its own capacity of battery. The Elroq 50 with the headline sub-£32,000 starting price offers up 168bhp and 310Nm, paired with a 55kWh battery for a range of 232 miles. 

We think the mid-range Elroq 60 is the sweet spot in the line-up. It costs around £2,000 extra and comes with a 63kWh battery paired to a single motor that produces 201bhp – a combination capable of up to 265 miles on a single charge. 

Meanwhile, the Elroq 85 is priced from just under £39,000, offers up 282bhp and 545Nm and features an 82kWh battery for a range of up to 355 miles. At the top of the tree is the vRS which introduces four-wheel drive to the Elroq range. This version has two electric motors, which combined produce 335bhp, while battery capacity goes up to 84kWh in order to counteract some of the inefficiencies its heavier four-wheel drive system will have on the overall driving range. 

Entry-level SE trim is available exclusively on the Elroq 50, but even this comes with LED headlights, a 13-inch central touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a five-inch Virtual Cockpit driver’s display, a height-adjustable boot floor, a rear view camera, cruise control and several other driver assistance features.

Choosing the Elroq 60 means an upgrade to SE L trim, which adds a heated steering wheel and front seats, sat-nav, drive mode select, front parking sensors and preparation for a tow bar. It also unlocks the option of Lodge or Suite interior themes for £600 or £1,800 respectively.

Next up is Edition specification, offered on the Elroq 60 and 85 models, which expands the kit list to include 19-inch alloy wheels, dark chrome exterior trim, acoustic side windows for better refinement, a wireless charging pad, additional USB-C charging ports in the rear, keyless entry and extra driver assistance systems, such as adaptive cruise control. 

As the name suggests, SportLine gives the Elroq a more dynamic look with 20-inch alloy wheels, gloss black exterior trim, matrix LED headlights, and sports suspension that lowers the ride height by 15mm. Meanwhile, the interior gets sports seats with suede and artificial leather upholstery, a three-spoke steering wheel with paddles to adjust the regenerative braking and a set of aluminium pedals. It costs around £3,000 to upgrade to SportLine from Edition, which puts the most expensive Elroq over the £40,000 mark. 

You’ll need to add a further £5,000 in order to get into a vRS Elroq, and while that does mean you have the aforementioned four-wheel drive system and extra power, you also get a head-up display, a 12-speaker Canton sound system with a 675-watt output, and dynamic chassis control adaptive suspension. 

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On the road, the Elroq does everything a family car needs to. It’s composed, grippy and neatly balanced, and offers better comfort than much of the competition as well. Within a few metres of pulling away, it immediately feels solid and substantial, and the suspension is well judged: compliant enough that it doesn’t jostle its occupants around as some rivals might, yet sufficiently firm that it manages to keep its composure through the turns.

Electric motors, 0-60mph acceleration and top speed

There are three motor options in the Elroq range, each matched to a different battery size. The base 50 model has 168bhp and 310Nm, with energy supplied by a 55kWh battery (of which 52kWh is usable). Our preferred 60 version increases battery capacity to 63kWh (with 59kWh of usable capacity) and gets 201bhp and the same 310Nm, while the 85 turns the dial to 282bhp and 545Nm, with an 82kWh battery (77kWh usable). The range-topping vRS provides 335bhp, the same 545Nm of torque, and a slightly larger capacity 84kWh (79kWh usable) battery.

The Volkswagen Group has certainly improved the throttle mapping on its most recent MEB-based electric cars compared with earlier models. Where before even the fairly potent versions felt quite lethargic to move off, the current cars, such as this Elroq, are considerably more sprightly. There’s still plenty of travel in the throttle, so it’s easy to drive smoothly at low speeds, but it feels like there’s loads of enthusiasm as you push the pedal harder, too. The resulting 0-60mph times are 8.7 seconds, 7.7 seconds, 6.4 seconds and 5.4 seconds, respectively.

Town driving, visibility and parking

From the off, the Elroq feels sturdy, with none of the irritating jiggle that many rivals suffer from at low speeds. Even on our test car’s optional 20-inch wheels, the ride is fairly supple without being unduly soft and bouncy. The 9.3-metre turning circle is superb for a car of this size, too. 

One area where we feel that the Elroq could improve is braking. While we have no issues with its stopping power, the pedal itself feels soft – and therefore not particularly confidence inspiring – through the first part of its travel. We’d like the option to adjust brake regeneration via steering wheel-mounted paddles, which the Renault Megane has. Only buyers of the Elroq SportLine and range-topping vRS get this very useful feature.

B-road driving and handling

While the suspension feels fairly forgiving around town, it is firm enough to give the Elroq decent body control as the speed increases and the roads get twistier. The steering is light and not exactly generous with its feedback, but it allows drivers to guide the Elroq precisely and confidently, using a fairly generous amount of grip and a well-judged level of body roll.

With the power going to the rear wheels, the balance is very neutral, with harder acceleration gently pushing the back around a turn. It’s a stretch to call Skoda’s newcomer fun, but it’s possible to flow the Elroq along a road better than a Kia EV3. 

The vRS, despite some suspension tuning, generally just feels like a slightly sharper handling version of the standard Elroq. Its wide-section Hankook tyres provide plenty of grip, and allow you to carry some speed on the twisties. Its extra power is easily controlled by its four-wheel drive system, making it effortless to drive at pace. The Elroq vRS is hardly what you’d call entertaining, though, especially when compared with cars like the (admittedly far pricier) Hyundai Ioniq 5 N with its drift driving mode and simulated gear changes that provide a more engaging experience. The vRS lacks any synthesised interior sounds to mimic those of an engine working hard when driving quickly, which limits the feeling of being exhilarated behind the wheel or your sense of connection to the car.

Motorway driving and long-distance comfort

Strong stability and impressive comfort are both a part of the Elroq’s motorway make-up. Combined with the lack of vibration from the electric powertrain, it’s a relaxing car over long distances. 

Road noise is a little more hushed than in alternatives such as the EV3, and the Skoda sits solidly on its chosen course, with fewer steering corrections needed than in many of the newcomer’s rivals.

“We’ve driven both the Elroq 50 and Elroq 85 so far. There may be a near 120bhp difference between them, but at no point did we feel the base model was lacking power. It delivers brisk acceleration and there’s still enough oomph left for overtaking on the motorway without burying your foot in the carpet.” – Alex Ingram, chief reviewer

Decent efficiency and low Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) rates for company-car drivers work with Skoda’s competitive asking price to make the Elroq’s numbers stack up nicely. A heat pump (a less energy-intensive way of warming the interior in cold weather) is a pricey £1,000 optional extra, but even without it, the Elroq proved to be fairly efficient during our testing. 

Electric range, battery life and charge time

There are four battery capacities available to buyers, and while the overall ranges aren’t quite class-leading, they are very competitive for the money. The base Elroq has a 55kWh unit, which covers 232 miles between charges, based on WLTP figures. 

The 63kWh car, which makes up the bulk of the line-up, increases that figure to 265 miles, while the 82kWh unit offers 355 miles, which is just 20 miles short of the official range of the Kia EV3. The flagship vRS uses an 84kWh battery, but its heavier and less efficient four-wheel drive system has an impact on the range, which is 339 miles between charges.

We tested the Elroq with the 63kWh battery, and we averaged 3.7 miles/kWh during our time with the car, which was a little down from Skoda’s official claim of 3.9mi/kWh. Our figure was achieved with plenty of motorway driving and in cool conditions, both of which tend not to be flattering for an EV’s range. So while that translates into a range of 218 miles in real-world driving, warmer weather and more typical driving at lower speeds will see that figure climb much closer to the official claim.

With a maximum charging speed of 145kW, the Elroq 50 with a 55kWh battery manages a 10-80 per cent top-up in 25 minutes from the right ultra-rapid charger. Alternatively, fully replenishing the battery via a standard 7.4kW home wallbox will take around seven hours. The mid-range Elroq 60 benefits from a bigger 63kWh battery and can hit a peak of 165kW, so charging from 10-80 per cent takes 24 minutes. Meanwhile, a 7.4kWh home charger takes around nine hours to fully recharge the battery. 

The Elroq 85 models feature an even larger 82kWh battery (77kWh usable) and will peak at 175kW, but due to its larger battery, charging from 10-80 per cent will take 28 minutes. That extra battery size means a 7.4kWh home charger can take up to 12 hours to fully recharge. The slightly larger still 84kWh battery in the vRS version also takes around 12 hours to recharge from a typical home charger, but its higher peak DC charging speed of 185kW means a 10-80 per cent top up can be done a little quicker, in 26 minutes.

Skoda lets the driver pre-condition the battery en route to a charging station, ensuring that the pack is in optimal condition for rapid charging when you arrive. By doing this, we found the Elroq regularly hit its claimed charging speeds, but as with any other electric vehicle, the maximum rate tails off as the charge increases.

Insurance groups

There’s quite a disparity in insurance groups the higher you climb up the Elroq ladder. The entry-level car is in group 22, while the 60 SE L version rises to group 27. The 85 SportLine trim sits in group 34 while the top-spec vRS is in group 37.

In general, the Elroq starts in a lower insurance group than the Kia EV3 and should, therefore, be more affordable to insure than its rival.

Tax

As an EV, the Skoda sits in the lowest Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax band, which, as of April 2025, starts at three per cent. That means that company car drivers in the standard rate income tax band will face deductions of only £200 a year for the Elroq 60 SE L model.   

Electric cars are no longer exempt from vehicle excise duty (VED) road tax, and the majority of the Elroq range sits below the £40,000 luxury car tax threshold. Be warned, some versions of the 85 and the vRS are above this limit and incur a hefty surcharge payable from the second time the vehicle is taxed up until it is six years old. On the plus side, the Elroq should be able to escape the London congestion charge, at least until December 2025.

Depreciation

Across the range, the Elroq is predicted to hold on to roughly half of its original value after three years or 36,000 miles. That’s better than the Kia EV3 (45-48 per cent) and Renault Megane (45-49 per cent) over the same period. 

The Elroq is the first car to be designed fully according to Skoda‘s new ‘Modern Solid’ philosophy, which gives the car a modern, eye-catching look. It’s also the first model to carry the brand’s new family face – now also adopted by the Enyaq – but many other details are largely similar to its big brother, to the point that most people will be hard pressed to spot differences. The new car’s shorter, stockier proportions, particularly from the side, are the only real giveaway.

Step inside and it’s all very familiar, too; apart from some subtly different interior trims, the cabin design is largely the same as the Enyaq’s, right down to the stubby gear selector on the floating centre console and the bank of large shortcut buttons across the dashboard. The interior feels well built, all the key touchpoints are solid and we like the different material choices you get with each interior theme. 

Interior and dashboard design

Anyone who has experienced recent Skodas will find the cabin familiar, because the Elroq’s overall layout is nearly identical to the Enyaq’s. In other words, it’s a clean, uncluttered design that’s easy to figure out. SportLine and vRS trim levels have sportier details like a three-spoke steering wheel and aluminium pedals. 

It’s a shame that the Elroq doesn’t get the rotary multi-function climate control dials used by the latest Skoda Superb and Skoda Kodiaq. There is a bank of physical switches lower down that provides shortcuts to everything from rapid window demisting to driving modes, while the on-screen temperature controls are large and easy to reach on the move.

Materials and build quality 

For the past four or five years, Skoda has delivered levels of perceived quality that punch above other Volkswagen Group alternatives. Indeed, it’s only really the Peugeot E-3008 that offers a greater feeling of solidity and plusher materials in the family-SUV segment, but the French model costs significantly more than the Elroq.

Infotainment, sat-nav and stereo

Elroqs in SE L trim have all the equipment that most buyers will need. This builds on the SE’s standard kit list, which includes 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, dual-zone climate control, blind-spot detection, a reversing camera and ambient interior lighting, with a heated steering wheel and front seats, front parking sensors and built-in satellite navigation.

The driver gets a small digital instrument panel. While this doesn’t look as fancy as some of the bigger displays used in rivals, it presents the most important information clearly and without any unnecessary clutter. You can get a head-up display that projects the speed and other information onto the windscreen within the driver’s line of sight, but that’s only available as part of the rather pricey Advance pack on SE L trim and above, or comes as standard on the most expensive vRS trim.

The Elroq’s 13-inch infotainment screen is standard on all models. Set aside its awkward dash-top placement, and it’s a far cry from the glitchy and confusing touchscreen system of earlier MEB-based cars. Its main menu is separated into useful widgets of varying sizes, while customisable shortcuts make the most commonly used settings easier to reach. We’d like a little more scope for choosing exactly which features can be selected for the shortcut menu, but that aside, the system looks great, loads quickly and is easy to use.

A fairly ordinary sounding eight-speaker sound system comes as standard, with a 12-speaker, 675-watt Canton sound system being available as part of the Advance or Maxx equipment packages on SE L and Edition trims, or as standard on vRS. Wireless phone charging isn’t available on SE, but can be fitted to SE L trim as part of the Maxx pack. Edition trim and above gets this fitted for free, though.

“The Elroq comes with a choice of interior finishes. The SE, SE L, and Edition variants’ standard Loft design uses woven fabric on the dashboard and seats. SE L and Edition trims can be upgraded to Suite with part leather across the dash and seat faces. But Lodge has the more eye-catching two-tone light grey/black upholstery highlighted by orange seat belts and stitching.”  – Alex Ingram, chief reviewer

An SUV-sized car for hatchback money, the Elroq is impressively spacious compared with similarly priced alternatives.

The Elroq feels very roomy up front, thanks in part to the large amount of glass around the cabin, so visibility is great, too. Meanwhile, passengers in the back are spoiled for space.

Dimensions and size

The most obvious comparison to make is between the Elroq and the Enyaq, since they share so much. The Elroq is shorter by around 200mm, but it’s fractionally wider, so cabin space is similar between the two – it’s in the boot where the big differences lie. The Elroq is also larger than similarly priced rivals such as the Renault Megane and Kia EV3. 

Driving position, seats & space in the front

The driver is treated to a seat and steering wheel with a wide range of adjustment. You can add an electric driver’s seat with memory function to SE L and SportLine trims as part of the Advance pack, or the Maxx pack if you’re buying the vRS. 

The deep windscreen gives a good view of the road, and the ridges in the bonnet help to position the extremities of the car’s front end. The back window isn’t huge, but there’s still better rearward visibility than in a Kia EV3 or Renault Megane. A well-thought-out cabin has deep cup-holders, a big storage bin beneath the central armrest and wide door pockets.

Seats & space in the back

Head and knee room in the back is excellent; against the tape measure it’s pretty much a match to what you’ll get in the larger Enyaq. Like a lot of electric cars, the rear floor in the Elroq is high to accommodate the battery underneath. This can leave long-legged passengers without much under-thigh support, but Skoda’s simple yet effective solution is to extend the seat bases. 

ISOFIX mounts are easy to reach, which, combined with large doors, makes installing a child seat fairly simple. It seems a little stingy that only Edition models and up get additional USB ports for those in the back, though.

Boot space

The only place where the Elroq sacrifices anything to the more pricey Enyaq is in the boot. Even so, 470 litres will be plenty for most families, and there’s underfloor storage for the charging cables, plus a load of smart little shelves and nooks to the side for holding smaller items in place. The rear seats fold in a typical 60/40 layout to reveal a 1,580 litre black hole, whereas the Kia EV3 only manages 1,250 litres of space.

The parcel shelf can be positioned at different heights, while an optional transport package introduces a range of nets that can be fixed to various parts of the boot to hold things securely, and a reversible boot floor. 

Then there’s the now-trademark Skoda umbrellas and ice scraper/tyre tread-depth gauge. The latter is stowed in the boot trim rather than its usual home in the fuel filler flap of internal combustion-powered Skodas.

“Back-seat occupants benefit from almost as much storage as those in the front. Small secondary pockets in the front seat backs are ideal for holding a smartphone. If you go for the optional Storage Pack, a removable plastic storage box fits neatly into the floor behind the centre console. Without it, the floor area is almost totally flat, so it feels roomy.” – Alex Ingram, chief reviewer

Skoda achieved an underwhelming 23rd place (out of 32) in our 2024 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey for manufacturers. It scored strongly for space, but was let down by its infotainment tech, although we believe this will be less of an issue over the coming years, given just how much Skoda, and the entire Volkswagen Group, has improved its previously clunky, buggy tech.

Euro NCAP hasn’t tested the Elroq yet, but we expect it to match the five-star score of the mechanically and structurally similar Enyaq.

Best buy: Skoda Elroq 60 SE L

It’s a shame that the biggest battery isn’t offered in SE L trim, because that has everything we could want. Edition is well specced, while the large battery gives added peace of mind. If you can manage with the shorter range, then the SE L 60 is a great option. 

All Skodas come with a three-year warranty, while the Elroq gets eight years of cover for the battery pack. A single year of roadside assistance is the bare minimum that car manufacturers currently provide.

Service intervals for the Elroq come every two years, and Skoda offers buyers a package that allows the cost of this maintenance to be spread across monthly payments.

Skoda Elroq alternatives

The Skoda Elroq competes in a very busy segment of compact electric SUVs. But bearing in mind the level of kit and the sheer amount of car for the money, it looks very strong against the competition. Take the excellent Kia EV3, for example; its longest-range model can go 375 miles based on WLTP numbers – 20 miles more than the Skoda at its best – and it’s competitively priced, too, with that figure available from the Air trim at around £36,000. 

But battery aside, the Elroq holds a narrow lead when it comes to comfort, refinement and handling, as well as having better in-car tech and much more space, too. Renault’s EV line-up is in fantastic form right now, too, but even that has a tough challenge to face here, as the Elroq is offering buyers Scenic size for Megane money. 

Potential buyers may also be cross-shopping the Elroq with the Hyundai Kona Electric and Volvo EX30, or perhaps the MINI Countryman Electric, with its funky interior and sense of fun.

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Skoda Elroq pictures

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