New Skoda Epiq 2026 review: excellent in almost every way

Verdict

The new Skoda Epiq is excellent in every way a small SUV should be: comfort, practicality, functionality, value, style, handling, the lot. The fact it’ll be eventually available for less than £25,000 is just the cherry on top. Sure, the faithful Kamiq’s electric counterpart isn’t the most fun, affordable or innovative car in its class, but trumps the competition in other areas. Plus, perhaps more importantly, it meets the high expectations we had for our former Car of the Year’s baby brother.

While so many cars have a bland alphanumerical hodge-podge for a name – the Toyota bZ4X, for instance, or the Leapmotor B03X – there are still those christened with something more timeless that can even evoke a sense of excitement, like Nomad, Interceptor or Valkyrie. Then there’s the all-new Skoda Epiq, which has been bestowed with the most ambitious moniker we’ve heard in a long time. And now we can finally find out whether or not it lives up to it.

The small pure-electric SUV must also meet the incredibly high standards set by the Skoda Elroq – the former Auto Express Car of the Year – and the best-selling Skoda Enyaq. Not to mention some of its excellent competitors, such as the Kia EV2, Ford Puma Gen-E, MINI Aceman and, two-time winner our Small SUV of the Year award, the Renault 4.

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Cash £20,497

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Priced from £24,885, amazingly the Epiq is available for less than its petrol-powered counterpart, the Skoda Kamiq, and is right in the middle of the moshpit that is the small SUV class. Although, the new kid on the block is more expensive than its retro-inspired French foe, which starts from £23,445 thanks to the Government's Electric Car Grant.

The Epiq does receive a £1,500 grant, but only for versions with the bigger battery at the moment. We’ll get into all that later. 

Similar to the old Skoda Yeti – which we hope you all remember – the Epiq has rugged quality about it from chunky bumpers, roof rails and lots of plastic cladding. For the Tour de France followers out there, those eight pill-shaped air intakes in the front bumper were apparently not inspired by 4x4s, but by the grooves in a cycling helmet. Behind them are active shutters that help improve the aerodynamics.

Those ‘rough-and-tumble’ elements are balanced out with more contemporary styling features like the sleek ‘Tech-Deck Face’ shared with the Elroq, and a new T-shaped light signature at the front and rear. The black loop across the nose cleverly conceals the main headlight units.

Inside, the Epiq feels very familiar because the interior is so much like the Elroq’s, including the 13-inch central touchscreen, 5.3-inch driver’s display and a row of physical shortcut buttons. That said, the dashboard design is different and features some metal-effect trim to contrast against the fabrics and other sustainable or recycled materials used throughout the cabin.

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The Epiq also features a slicker new Android-based infotainment system than other Skodas. It focuses on customisation, being easy to use and allows owners to download third-party apps like YouTube or Spotify. Of course if you prefer, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come as standard.

We found all the menus loaded quickly and the new system was indeed easy to navigate through, with the large icons and shortcut cut buttons helping with that. The one gripe we did have was trying to find certain settings requires you to play with a graphic of the car or the cabin, which can be distracting when you’re meant to be focused on the road.

Sadly, the Epiq doesn’t feature a proper set of physical climate controls like its cousin, the Volkswagen ID. Polo. There are temperature controls permanently displayed on either side of the touchscreen, but to adjust anything else you have to use a separate menu or get friendly with Skoda’s virtual assistant Laura, which now gets help from ChatGPT to answer certain questions.

Unsurprisingly for such an affordable electric car, there’s a fair amount of hard black plastic dotted around the interior, particularly around the centre console and on the doors. Yet, in no way does the Epiq make you feel like you’re sitting in the cheap seats, thanks to the other choices of materials and impressive tech. Plus, overall build quality feels very solid.

There’s enough space for six-foot adults to sit comfortably in the back, even if taller passengers do find their knees touching the front seats. Headroom is more than ample at least, and if you’ve got young kids, there are three sets of Isofix mounting points in this car.

Meanwhile, boot capacity is a whopping 475 litres, which is 75 litres more than the Kamiq offers. It also trumps the Kia EV2’s 362 litres, the Renault 4’s 420 litres and even the larger Elroq’s 470 litres.

That’s because every Elroq has a motor under the boot floor, whereas 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. Fold the rear seats down, and you’ve got 1,344 litres to play with.

On top of that you have Skoda’s famous ‘Simply Clever’ features that always make us feel like the brand has put so much more thought into its cars. 

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Some of these are familiar fare, like an umbrella handily hidden in the driver’s door, a parking ticket or permit holder on the windscreen and an ice scraper tucked in the bootlid. But a new addition is a compact bag for the charging cable that attaches to the back of the rear seats, making it much easier to access the cable when you have a bootful of stuff than if it was under the floor.

The Epiq does offer some additional storage under the bonnet, but only 25 litres’ worth, making it barely big enough for the charging cable, and bafflingly, it’s not fitted as standard. We probably wouldn’t bother.

The sub-£25k ‘Epiq 40’ model is arriving a little later on, and will feature a 37kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery that Skoda says should offer roughly 190 miles of range. Meanwhile, its 133bhp e-motor will provide enough oomph for 0-62mph in around 10 seconds.

For now, the only version available is the pricier Epiq 55 starting from £26,200 (with the ECG applied). This gets a larger, more energy-dense 52kWh Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) battery that’s good for up to 272 miles on a single charge, which trumps both the Renault 4 and Ford Puma Gen-E. 

During our testing, which included lots of time cruising on the motorway, we managed to average an outstanding 4.7 miles per kWh. At that rate, we’d get nearly 245 miles from a single charge.

This particular version also boasts a maximum charging speed of 105kW, which might sound extraordinary by 2026 standards, but the Epiq can maintain its peak speed for a long time apparently so a 10 to 80 per cent top-up takes just 24 minutes.

During our test drive into the Austrian alps, we found the top-spec Epiq has plenty of pep in its step, with the 208bhp on tap enough for 0-62mph in a zippy 7.4 seconds and easy overtaking on the motorway. 

We noticed some wind noise from around the side mirrors, and road noise too, but overall it’s a refined and quiet EV. Once off the autobahn and switch into B mode for strong regenerative braking, the Epiq’s one-pedal driving ability and good all-round visibility helps make it very easy to drive in town.

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The ride is on the firmer side, at least compared with the Elroq and Enyaq, which have a particular soothing, almost wafting quality to them. But this seems to be a trait of all the small cars based on the new MEB+ platform the Epiq shares with the ID. Polo and Cupra’s Raval, and the little Skoda is certainly not uncomfortable. 

It’s well damped, in fact, and the suspension did a good job absorbing the impacts from the few potholes we encountered on the smooth Austrian tarmac. We did notice some vibrations coming through the car as we went over rougher, washboard-type road surfaces, but that’s really our only complaint. Even so, it’ll be interesting to see how it copes on our less perfect roads in the UK.

We wouldn’t say the Epiq is fun to drive necessarily, but it definitely handles well on a twisty road. You have the nippy acceleration, plus nicely weighted steering, and a solid and consistent feel to the brake pedal which is a joy, frankly, after driving so many electric cars with a spongey or grabby brake pedal when brands haven’t figured out how to properly blend the regenerative and physical braking. All this gives you the confidence to hustle the baby SUV, when the mood takes you.

Rather refreshingly, we also had no irritating bonging or nannying from the Epiq’s various safety and driver-assistance systems, and hopefully it’ll continue to keep to the background once on our shores. 

While there’s only one powertrain on offer right now, the Skoda Epiq is available in three specifications: SE L, Edition and a special First Edition. We have been promised a more athletic-looking SportLine trim will join the line-up eventually as well.

Standard kit includes LED headlights, a Loft Grey animal-free interior, that 13-inch display, wireless smartphone connectivity, keyless start, parking sensors, adaptive cruise control and plenty of safety systems.

Upgrading to Edition trim costs an extra £2,750, but in return adds a reversing camera, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, cooled wireless charging pad, sat-nav, electric folding mirrors and Skoda’s Travel Assist Plus system, plus other luxuries.

Finally, for £31,450, the limited First Edition model comes with all the bells and whistles, plus some eye-catching ‘Navajo Orange’ accents as a nod to the Epiq concept model revealed in 2024. 

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