Skoda Enyaq vRS Review & Prices

Skoda has given its Enyaq the vRS treatment in an attempt to turn the big electric model into a more sporting EV.

It’s a bit like that mate that’s funny down the pub but struggles to win over the room at an open mic comedy night. The regular Skoda Enyaq puts a smile on your face, thanks to its sensible price and roomy cabin. The high-performance vRS tries too hard to turn that smile into a belly laugh, and the simple appeal of the car is in danger of being diluted.

It’s not that it isn’t quick. As of an early 2024 upgrade that takes the car from 299hp to 340hp, it goes from 0-60mph in 5.5 seconds, down from 6.5. But the Enyaq leaves the driver oddly detached from the experience, and somewhat bizarrely you can only have all 299 horses of power when the battery is charged to at least 88%. Below that some are let out of the paddock.

Skoda has stiffened the suspension of the vRS to make the Enyaq quicker around corners as well as down the straights, but the ride is just too hard and unforgiving, in town and out. It rattles your fillings without raising your pulse.

The Enyaq vRS does have some redeeming features though. The cabin is really practical, with lots of room to stretch out whether you are in the front or the back. Tall adults can travel in comfort. The boot is huge, too, with a few more litres of space than you’ll find in the coupé version of the Enyaq. And to complete the square, there 's also an Enyaq Coupe vRS model that's almost identical, save the sloping roofline.

Also worth pointing out is the lower price of the regular Enyaq SUV , so unless you are really smitten with the Enyaq Coupe's looks, the standard car is where the smart money goes.

The vRS battery has a net capacity of 77kW, and a range of 321 miles in WLTP tests. You’ll need to drive carefully in warm weather to get close to that. Like any electric car, the Enyaq vRS’s range will drop in cold winter temperatures.

The maximum charging speed is 135kWh, which is good rather than great. A Kia EV6 or Tesla Model Y Long Range can charge more quickly. If you find a sufficiently powerful charger the Skoda can charge to 80% in 36 minutes.

If you want a fast but practical electric SUV, the Enyaq vRS does the job. But the less powerful models are more affordable and more comfortable, and an all-round better bet for your money.

Have a look at how much money you could save on a new Skoda Enyaq vRS through Carwow, or browse our selection of used Skodas. And when you’ve made your decision, use Carwow to quickly and easily sell your current car.

The vRS is the peak of the Skoda Enyaq range, with this higher performance model costing over £50,000, although the more practical SUV-shaped model is around £1,700 cheaper than the sloping-roofed Enyaq Coupe vRS alternative that’s mechanically identical. 

You could have a Volkswagen ID4 GTX for less money than the vRS, although it’s a little more subtly branded and not quite as well equipped as the Skoda. Or the smaller, lower range but more fun to drive BMW iX1 is over £3,000 more than the Enyaq vRS.

Nothing wrong with the speed, but the Enyaq vRS doesn’t offer hot hatch fun when the road gets twisty

In town

Around town, the sporty vRS version of the Enyaq suffers from the suspension changes designed to make the car sporty. Find yourself on a badly surfaced road and it’s really not happy, which means you’ll be feeling every rut. Speedbumps and potholes are also something to dread. 

But at least visibility is good - certainly better than the Coupe version of the Enyaq with its letter-box rear window and thick rear pillars, and the car has a decent turning circle. It is though a shame that there’s no one-pedal driving feature, where the stronger level of regenerative braking would bring the car to a complete halt without needing to use the brakes. There is a ‘B’ mode rather than Drive, but it just increases the level of brake energy regeneration, rather than making it a full one-pedal mode. 

You do get front and rear parking sensors and a rear parking camera, although a bird’s-eye camera and the park assist system are only available as part of a very expensive options pack.

On the motorway

As you’d expect with this amount of power, the Enyaq vRS is certainly nippy, and has a decent pick-up even from a cruising speed, where some EVs can feel a little flat. 

The acoustic glass fitted as standard means the cabin is fairly peaceful, although a little tyre noise does creep in; an Audi Q4 e-tron would be quieter. 

At speed, that harder sportier feeling over the bumps is still present, and it doesn’t make for the most relaxing of motorway cruisers, which is especially noticeable as the regular Enyaq is so good at that. Maybe the dynamic chassis control system, which lets you choose between different driving modes, would help with that, but unfortunately it’s not fitted as standard, only as part of the same very expensive options pack as the bird’s eye camera.

It’s also worth noting that the Enyaq vRS has a maximum towing weight of 1,400kg, which is 200kg less than a Kia EV6, and a world away from the petrol-powered Skoda Kodiaq SUV’s minimum of 1,800kg.

On a twisty road

Here’s where the case starts to fall apart for the vRS version of the Enyaq. It’s fine, there’s good traction thanks to the 4x4 system standard on all vRS models, but it never feels like a sporty, fun or entertaining car to drive. It’s certainly got rapid acceleration between bends, but it’s nowhere near the enjoyment you’ll find from a clear piece of country road if you were in a Kia EV6, Tesla Model Y or BMW iX1. You feel like you’re being bounced around rather than the car being planted firmly and composed on the road. 

Basically, Skoda’s own Octavia vRS has spoiled us into thinking you can combine massive practicality and fun-to-drive characteristics. The Enyaq’s fast, but not fun enough.

Typical Skoda - the Enyaq is full of clever touches and features. Shame the Czech brand wasn’t clever enough to switch the fuse box to give it a full-size glove box though

One of the biggest benefits of going for the vRS, apart from the power, is that you get some really lovely and affectionate sports seats, that hug the body nicely and are electrically adjustable on the driver’s side. 

There’s also a different steering wheel to the rest of the Enyaq range, with the sportiest car getting a nice chunky vRS-branded wheel. 

As you’d expect from a Skoda, there’s plenty of stowage up-front, with a big area in the centre behind the lozenge-shaped gear selector and hefty door bins that are felt-lined to avoid having to listen to stuff sliding around in there white you’re driving. You also get a pair of USB-C charging points and a wireless charging pad, although the glovebox is surprisingly small - only half the size of the opening thanks to the fuse box not being switched across to the other side in the conversion from left-hand to right-hand drive. 

There’s also an ISOFIX child seat mounting point on the front seat, which some will find handy. 

Space in the back seats

The Enyaq vRS is great for four adults, with plenty of head and leg room in the back. It’s not even too bad for three full-size people across the back, with the central seat being fairly wide, and the flat floor meaning there’s no fighting for foot space. It’s a shame you can’t easily get your feet under those chunky front sports seats, but that’s the only downside. 

When there isn’t anyone in the middle of the second row, there’s a chunky armrest you can pull down, complete with fold-out cupholders, and there are also pockets in the back of the front seats. The door bins are, like the front doors, nice and chunky, but unlike the front doors, not lined to prevent stuff noisily sliding about. 

Boot space

If the Enyaq isn’t big enough for you, then you’ll probably need a van. At 585 litres, the boot is huge, and has a nice under-floor area to keep the charging cables away from the rest of your luggage. There are some handy hooks for stopping your shopping flying across the boot and an ice scraper built into the tailgate, while there’s no significant lip to have to lift items over to get them in. The only bad news here is that there’s nowhere to stash the parcel shelf if you’re loaded to the brim. 

Looking at the numbers, that 585 litres is just 15 better than the Coupe version of the Enyaq, but 42 litres up on a VW ID4 and 95 litres ahead of a BMW iX1 or Kia EV6. 

Drop the rear seats and you’re looking at a big chunk of square space – 1,710 litres of it in fact. And you can unleash all that room by yanking the handle in the boot area, rather than having to go round to the back seats to pull a lever. It’s not quite flat, but there’s no ridge to push heavy things across.  

There’s also no front boot, which is a shame when it’s a useful addition in other cars, especially for storing wet charging cables. 

Lovely seats and decent quality throughout, although the infotainment isn’t the car’s finest point

Poke and prod around the Enyaq at eye level and it’s all lovely from a look and feel point of view, although there are some cheaper plastics further down and, surprisingly for something you touch quite so often, on the door release. 

It’s good that some of the important climate controls have remained as buttons, such as the demist function, but too many are now contained within the touchscreen. 

Ah yes, the touchscreen system. Not the finest chapter of Skoda parent Volkswagen's history, the infotainment is prone to bugs and proves laggy to use sometimes. It’s a decent size at 13.0 inches, and combines with a tiny driver’s display that’s too small to be a great deal of use. Head-up display is only available as part of pricey options packs, along with an uprated audio system. 

But away from that, the rest of the Enyaq interior looks as good as it is functional.

Officially the Enyaq vRS will cover 336 miles on a full charge, four miles less that the Enyaq Coupe vRS with its more aerodynamic roofline, but 19 miles better than a VW ID4 GTX and 66 above the equivalent BMW iX1. Efficiency is also decent at an official 3.9 miles per kWh, just shy of the Coupe vRS, level with the ID4 and ahead of the iX1. 

During our test, where it's fair to say the car wasn’t driven in the most efficient way, we saw 3.2 miles per KWh, which would mean a little under 250 miles in the real world. And that’s a decent result. 

Looking at charging times, when using a public charger capable of delivering the Enyaq vRS’s pretty decent 175kWh maximum will take 28 minutes to take the battery from 10-80%, while a 7kW home charge from 0-100% will take a touch over 12 hours, or 7.5 if you’ve got an 11kW home charger.  

From a taxation perspective, the biggest benefit of electric cars is the huge company car tax saving, while Vehicle Excise Duty is also at the lowest level for EVs.

The Enyaq scored a maximum five stars in its Euro NCAP crash test, with good results across the board. 

Standard equipment includes adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection and the travel assist plus system that brings together tech such as urban evasive steering support, traffic jam assist and lane assist plus with narrow lane assist. Basically, lots of assistance. Throw in speed assist, traffic sign recognition and crew protect assist, which prepares the car when it senses a critical situation and you’re well set.

Skoda is in the batch of manufacturers that only offers the basic three years and 60,000 miles of warranty protection, although the battery on the Enyaq is guaranteed to 70% operational capacity after eight years or 100,000 miles. 

There have been few reports of problems with the Enyaq, with the infotainment system bearing the brunt of any complaints.